A better trigger for targeted drug delivery

Biomolecular 'nanocarriers' formed by the careful assembly of protein subunits are common in nature and perform a range of essential roles in biological processes, powered by the biological energy carrier adenosine-5'-triphosphate ...

Blueprint for plant immune response found

Washington State University researchers have discovered the way plants respond to disease-causing organisms, and how they protect themselves, leading the way to potential breakthroughs in breeding resistance to diseases or ...

Cellular energy audit reveals energy producers and consumers

Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is the cellular energy currency that is as valuable to the human body as the dollar is to the US economy. Too high or too low levels of ATP in some cell types have been linked to a variety ...

Sleeping sickness parasite uses multiple metabolic pathways

Parasitic protozoa called trypanosomes synthesize sugars using an unexpected metabolic pathway called gluconeogenesis, according to a study published December 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by David Horn of ...

The powerhouse of the future: Artificial cells

Energy production in nature is the responsibility of chloroplasts and mitochondria and is crucial for fabricating sustainable, synthetic cells in the lab. Mitochondria are not only "the powerhouses of the cell," as the middle ...

Titan supercomputer analyzes bacterial photosynthetic system

Despite the grand diversity among living organisms, the molecule used to store and transmit energy within aerobic, or oxygen-using, cells is remarkably the same. From bacteria to fungi, plants, and animals, adenosine triphosphate ...

In creation of cellular protein factories, less is sometimes more

Ribosomes are the cellular machines that make proteins, the molecules that carry out the majority of life's functions. To make ribosomes, cells need to make an abundance of amino acids (the raw material of proteins) and adenosine ...

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