Scientists at the University of Liverpool have shed new light on how diving mammals, such as the sperm whale, have evolved to survive for long periods underwater without breathing.
Plants & Animals
Jun 13, 2013
0
0
A novel machine learning model developed by researchers at Michigan State University suggests that mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 genome have made the virus more infectious.
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 20, 2020
1
3215
Methamphetamine (meth) abuse is a major health concern. Understanding how meth interacts with its target proteins is crucial for the development of novel medications to address drug addiction. Previous research into the mechanism ...
Biochemistry
Nov 24, 2023
0
53
Researchers at LSTM have identified a completely new mechanism by which mosquitoes that carry malaria are becoming resistant to insecticide.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 25, 2019
0
500
A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has tested a popular hypothesis in paleo-ocean chemistry, and proved it false.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 23, 2012
15
0
A European team is investigating the role of the bacterial cell wall and the cytoskeleton in mediating cell shape. Results are expected to have broader implications for cell biology.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 4, 2012
0
0
A team of researchers working at Germany's Technische Universität Braunschweig has succeeded in using a previously known DNA origami construction technique to build a nanoantenna with a docking site. First published in the ...
In work published this week in Nature's Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, led by Associate Professor Giles Duffield and Assistant Professor Zain ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 30, 2013
3
0
MIT researchers have devised a new set of proteins that can be customized to bind arbitrary RNA sequences, making it possible to image RNA inside living cells, monitor what a particular RNA strand is doing, and even control ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 25, 2016
0
644
Every biologist knows that small structures can sometimes have a big impact: Millions of signaling molecules, hormones, and other biomolecules are bustling around in our cells and tissues, playing a leading role in many of ...
Evolution
Feb 17, 2023
1
323
Carrier proteins are proteins that transport a specific substance or group of substances through intracellular compartments or in extracellular fluids (e.g. in the blood) or else across the cell membrane. Some of the carriers are water-soluble proteins that may or may not interact with biological membranes, such as some transporters of small hydrophobic molecules, whereas others are integral transmembrane proteins.
Carrier proteins transport substances out of or into the cell by facilitated diffusion and active transport. Each carrier protein is designed to recognize only one substance or one group of very similar substances. The molecule or ion to be transported (the substrate) must first bind at a binding site at the carrier molecule, with a certain binding affinity. Following binding, and while the binding site is facing, say, outwards, the carrier will capture or occlude (take in and retain) the substrate within its molecular structure and cause an internal translocation, so that it now faces the other side of the membrane. The substrate is finally released at that site, according to its binding affinity there. All steps are reversible.
For example:
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