Subcellular structures are distinct, spatially organized physical systems within cells, encompassing membrane-bound organelles (e.g., mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes), non-membranous bodies (e.g., ribosomes, cytoskeleton, centrosomes), and specialized compartments (e.g., nucleolus, stress granules). They are defined by specific molecular compositions, biophysical properties, and emergent functions such as energy transduction, macromolecular synthesis, intracellular trafficking, signal transduction, and mechanical support. As physical systems, they exhibit dynamic self-assembly, phase separation, and regulated turnover, and their organization is governed by principles of thermodynamics, molecular crowding, and active processes driven by nucleotide hydrolysis and cytoskeletal forces.
New research from Indiana University has uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in how bacteria build the whip-like tails they use to move. The researchers found that building these tails can put stress on the protective ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 9, 2026
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Every cell relies on ribosomes, the molecular machines that read genetic instructions and use them to assemble proteins. A cell needs thousands of types of proteins at any one time, so ribosomes must be generalists, capable ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 8, 2026
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Every movement we make, from blinking to sprinting, depends on the ability of muscle fibers to contract in a rapid and coordinated way. Achieving this precision requires an intricate internal membrane network known as the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 3, 2026
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40
Researchers at VIB, VUB and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (UK) have discovered a hidden feature of human sperm cells. Using advanced imaging technologies, they discovered specialized compartments ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 1, 2026
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22
Communication between cells in plants, animals and humans takes place via specialized connecting structures. An international team led by biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and involving the University ...
Evolution
Aug 31, 2026
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57
In a new study, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine report that an experimental mRNA-based platform has the potential to help deliver next-generation mRNA therapeutics, including vaccines to fight infectious diseases, ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 20, 2026
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60
All living cells need energy, and most generate it through respiration, a series of chemical reactions normally confined to the cell membrane. Because this machinery takes up space, a cell's energy-generating capacity has ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 18, 2026
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38
Cells travel through the body both individually and in collective groups during development, wound healing and diseases such as cancer. New research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 17, 2026
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57
Like a delivery driver navigating crowded city streets, a gene-therapy-toting lipid nanoparticle faces a gauntlet of potential detours on its journey toward a cell's nucleus. First, there's entering the cell's plasma membrane; ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 13, 2026
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155
Using simple artificial cells, a research group led by Makito Miyazaki of the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan has uncovered fundamental physical principles that govern how living cells change ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 5, 2026
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