Life Science Articles

RSS

Missing Self Hypothesis for Natural Killer Cells

Natural killer cells are an integral part of the human immune system, representing the front line of defence against tumor-forming cells and pathogens. These cells utilise several different methods to differentiate between abnormal cells and the host’s own cells, and are coordinated by biochemical signals derived from the activation of their own cell-surface receptors.

3 Aug 2018

Bioactive Microbial Metabolites

Bioactivity or biological activity of the metabolite may be in vitro, in vivo, or at the level of whole organism.

2 Aug 2018

Nucleic Acid Labeling Applications

Nucleic acids may be labeled at their 3’ end, 5’ end, or throughout the molecule, depending on the desired application. Myriad of enzymatic or chemical methods are utilized to generate nucleic acids labeled with enzymes, radioactive phosphates, or fluorophores.

2 Aug 2018

Sources of Mycoplasma in Cell Culture

Cell culture is a commonly used method to study cells when in vivo study is not possible. It involves growing cells outside of the body of an animal, in controlled settings.

2 Aug 2018

Mycoplasma Detection and Prevention in Cell Cultures

Mycoplasmas are small, hard to detect bacteria that can infect cell cultures. Contamination can be kept to a minimum by following these steps.

2 Aug 2018

Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery

Nanocarriers are nanoparticles that carry medicinal drugs to targeted sites in the body, whilst minimizing damage to the surrounding tissue.

2 Aug 2018

Cell Metabolism Assays

Many different assays are used to detect and measure cellular metabolism, depending on the metabolite being investigated.

1 Aug 2018

Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity (ADCC)

ADCC is the killing of a target cell which is coated with antibodies by an effector cell of the immune system. It is also referred to as the kiss of death.

1 Aug 2018

Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) Microscopy

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy technique which can overcome the diffraction limit.

1 Aug 2018

Macropinocytosis Pathway

Endocytosis is the process by which cells take in molecules from their surroundings. Clathrin-dependent endocytosis requires the recruitment of clathrin to help curve the plasma membrane into the vesicle which absorbs the molecules. More recently, it was discovered that other, non-clathrin-dependent pathways existed. Macropinocytosis is one such pathway, creating larger vesicles without the use of clathrin.

1 Aug 2018

MicroRNA Profiling

MicroRNAs, or miRNAs, are small RNAs that regulate gene expression after transcription has taken place.

1 Aug 2018

What is Protein A?

Protein A is a 42KDa cell surface protein which is found on the cell walls of 90% of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strains.

1 Aug 2018

Types of IgG

IgG is the type of immunoglobulin most commonly found within human serum and can be broken down into four sub-classes: IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4.

31 Jul 2018

Nanoencapsulation in Pharmaceuticals

Nanoencapsulation is often used in the pharmaceutical industry to protect drugs from premature degradation and increase their stability in the blood.

31 Jul 2018

Nucleic Acid Labelling Overview

Scientists often need to label nucleic acids such as RNA and DNA during experiments. Methods can be enzymatic or chemical.

31 Jul 2018

Effects of Mycoplasma Contamination on Research

Mycoplasma are bacteria which infect cell cultures, changing mammalian cell properties and skewing research results. Because of this, mycoplasma contamination is treated very seriously.

30 Jul 2018