New protein structures to aid rational drug design

In a major advance for rational drug design, a Texas A&M AgriLife team has described several protein structures of a crucial player in cellular processes. The advance could bring new ideas for treatments of diseases such ...

The membrane structure of inner ear protein prestin is revealed

As mammals, we have very sensitive hearing, thanks to a process known as cochlear amplification. This amplification is down to sensory cells in the inner ear called outer hair cells (OHCs), and it is thought to depend on ...

Protein domain structures affect the quality of stem cells

The original iPS cells were reprogrammed by transducing four genes: OCT3/4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC. Later experiments would show that c-MYC can be replaced with MYCL. Both are MYC proteins and thus oncogenes, but animal experiments ...

Universal mechanism of regulation in plant cells discovered

All plant cells obtain their energy mainly from two organelles they contain—chloroplasts (responsible for photosynthesis) and mitochondria (responsible for the biochemical cycle of respiration that converts sugars into ...

Bringing bad proteins back into the fold

A study led by UT Southwestern has identified a mechanism that controls the activity of proteins known as chaperones, which guide proteins to fold into the right shapes. The findings, published online today in Nature Communications, ...

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