Autophagy in major human diseases

In a consensus article, Federico Pietrocola, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, KI, and colleagues explore the pathophysiological relevance of autophagy in human illnesses, while highlighting the therapeutic ...

Quality control of mitochondria as a defense against disease

Scientists from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital in Canada have discovered that two genes linked to hereditary Parkinson's disease are involved in the early-stage quality control of mitochondria. The protective ...

A protein that can mean life or death for cells

Each cell in an organism has a sensor that measures the health of its "internal" environment. This "alarm" is found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is able to sense cellular stress and trigger either rescue responses ...

Hereditary neurodegeneration linked to ADP-ribose modification

Attaching chains of the small molecule ADP-ribose to proteins is important for a cell's survival and the repair of DNA damage, making this process a promising target for the development of new cancer drugs. Researchers have ...

The Handicraft of Cellular Transport Complexes

(PhysOrg.com) -- A protein complex, which is an important link in a cellular transport chain, also initiates the assembly of the next link in the chain. This newly-won insight will now allow a better understanding of a transport ...

Slimming gene regulates body fat

Scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their entire fat reserves. Therefore the ...

Researchers Shed Light on Muscle Growth Regulator

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research at the University of Cincinnati has led to the first published structure of myostatin, a protein that regulates muscle growth in animals, offering hope for major advances in the fight against muscle-wasting ...

page 2 from 2