The bacteria that cause the shigella intestinal disease use a toxin that exploits a physical force in the membrane of cells. Though difficult to block, it is possible to fight with nanoparticles exploiting the same force.
Bio & Medicine
Dec 22, 2016
0
29
Life is flexible. All living cells are basically squishy balloons full of water, proteins and DNA, surrounded by oily membranes. Those membranes stand up to significant amounts of stretching and bending, but only recently ...
Biochemistry
May 4, 2016
0
43
Glycoproteins such as the mucins are assumed to be heavily involved in oncogenesis and metastasic spread. They are part of a strategy developed by malignant cells to resist or dodge the cell death machinery specialized for ...
Biochemistry
Nov 26, 2015
2
436
Although present almost everywhere - food, soil, toothpaste and especially tap water -, the fluoride ion is highly toxic to microorganisms and cells. To avoid death, cells must remove fluoride that has accumulated inside ...
Biochemistry
Sep 7, 2015
0
115
Understanding the planet's history is crucial if we are to predict its future. While some records are preserved in ice cores or tree rings, other records of the climate's ancient past are buried deep in the seafloor.
Earth Sciences
Aug 26, 2015
0
58
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in recording the current in membrane channels of contracting cardiac cells. To do this, the scientists combined an atomic force microscope with a widely used method for measuring ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 17, 2015
0
25
To understand diseases like Parkinson's, the tiniest of puzzles may hold big answers. That's why a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have determined how two potentially ...
Biochemistry
Jan 30, 2015
0
67
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of cell surface receptors in our cells, involved in signal transmission across the cell membrane. One of the biggest questions is how a signal recognized at the extracellular ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 9, 2014
0
1
Consider the nearest water surface: a half-full glass on your desk, a puddle outside your window, or a lake across town. All of these surfaces represent liquid-vapor interfaces, where liquid meets air. Molecules of water ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 16, 2014
0
0
The lipid-rich membranes of cells are largely impermeable to proteins, but evolution has provided a way through – in the form of transmembrane tunnels. A new study shows in unmatched detail what happens as proteins pass ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2014
0
0
