News tagged with surface protein

Subtle differences can lead to major changes in parasites

Researchers have found the subtle genetic differences that make one parasite far more virulent than its close relative.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Shedding light on how body fends off bacteria

To invade organisms such as humans, bacteria make use of a protein called flagellin, part of a tail-like appendage that helps the bacteria move about. Now, for the first time, a team led by scientists at The ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

DNA nanorobot triggers targeted therapeutic responses

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a robotic device made from DNA that could potentially seek out specific cell targets within a complex ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

New technology allows scientists to watch cancer cells in action at unprecedented resolution

A photograph of a polar bear in captivity, no matter how sharp the resolution, can never reveal as much about behavior as footage of that polar bear in its natural habitat. The behavior of cells and molecules can prove even ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Overgrazed grasslands tied to locust outbreaks

While residents of the United States and much of Europe think of locust plagues as biblical references, locust swarms still have devastating effects on agriculture today, especially in developing countries ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Nanoparticle proteomics: Characterizing protein-nanoparticle interactions in biofluids

New insights about how the human body interacts with nanoparticles at the protein level were published by an EMSL user team in the December 2011 issue 23 of Proteomics.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Perfect micro rings woven from muscle fibers: A biological model system that dead-ends in 'absorbing state'

Supplied with sufficient energy, a freight train would ride the rails as far as they go. But nature also knows systems whose dynamics suddenly turn into a kind of endless loop. Like in a hamster wheel, a train ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 15, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Why do some influenza virus subtypes die out?

Every so often we hear about a new strain of influenza virus which has appeared and in some cases may sweep across the globe in a pandemic, much as the H1N1 virus did last year. What happens to the old seasonal viruses? In ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Chemists reveal the force within you

A new method for visualizing mechanical forces on the surface of a cell, reported in Nature Methods, provides the first detailed view of those forces, as they occur in real-time.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 09, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Shedding light on a photosensitive protein

Even without eyes, many single-celled organisms can perceive and react to light. This is achieved via rhodopsins, proteins at the cell surface that trigger responses to specific wavelengths of light by directing ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 04, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2 | with audio podcast

How to count nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of a substance can be counted and the size distribution can be determined by dispersing the nanoparticles into a gas. But some nanoparticles tend to aggregate when the surrounding conditions change. Scientists ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Oct 11, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A closer look at cells

Many substances and nutrients are exchanged across the cell membrane. EPFL scientists have developed a method to observe these exchanges, by taking a highly accurate count of the number of proteins found there. ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jul 27, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Researchers discover a new switch in resistance to plant diseases

Powdery mildew is a tricky pathogen: The fungus can manipulate barley in a way that it is not only granted entry into the plant, but also gets the plant's cells to supply it with nutrients. A team of researchers at Technische ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 12, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Entry prohibited for AIDS viruses: Peptide triazole inhibitors disrupt cell-free HIV-1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The initial entry of HIV-1 into host cells remains a compelling yet elusive target for the development of agents to prevent infection, a critical need in the fight against the global AIDS ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Inspired by teflon, researchers create super durable proteins

(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 50 years ago, NYU-Poly alumni John Gilbert was asked to evaluate a newly- developed material called Teflon. His experiments using the fluorinated polymer as a surface coating for ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 04, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast