In a compost heap, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans finds a richly laid table: at a length of just one millimeter, the worm feeds on bacteria that decompose organic material. It is essential that the animal avoids sunlight—and ...
Biotechnology
Aug 2, 2023
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4
A common activity in our daily household chores is separating paper, glass, cans, and plastic to deposit them in the appropriate containers. Through recycling, we can reduce resource consumption, save energy, and minimize ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 19, 2023
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12
Researchers from City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, have identified how a protein receptor targeted by about 33% of all federally approved medication works. ...
Biochemistry
Dec 5, 2022
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103
Receptors found on cell surfaces bind to hormones, proteins, and other molecules, helping cells respond to their environment. MIT chemists have now discovered how one of these receptors changes its shape when it binds to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 6, 2022
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100
Inside your body on the surface of cell membranes, a metaphorical communication and traffic network is underway as hormones—or chemical messengers—bind to cell membrane receptors to fine tune how the cell behaves. Once ...
Biochemistry
Mar 22, 2022
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77
Body cells communicate with each other, receive signals from the outside world and react to them. A central role in this communication network is attributed to receiver proteins, called receptors, that are anchored at the ...
Biotechnology
Feb 26, 2021
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116
Together with lipids, membrane proteins are a central component of all biological membranes and fulfill important functions in transport and information transfer within and between cells. The majority of membrane proteins ...
Evolution
Dec 22, 2020
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797
James L. Thomas, associate professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at The University of New Mexico, assisted by local high school student Ennis Quinn, has been using computational modeling to explain unusual patterns ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 19, 2020
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7
MIT Media Lab researchers have discovered that shortened versions of immunity-related protein receptors, long written off as incomplete and therefore nonfunctional, can bind with their natural counterparts on the cell membrane ...
Biotechnology
Oct 29, 2020
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33
A cell's membrane acts as a natural shield, a fence around the cell that protects and contains it. It mediates processes that let nutrients through and let waste out, and it acts as a physical barrier to the entry of toxic ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 15, 2020
0
5
