Every human cell is encased in a five-nanometer-thick lipid membrane that protects it from the surrounding environment. Like a gatekeeper, the membrane determines which ions and molecules can pass through. In so doing, it ...
Biochemistry
Apr 3, 2018
0
415
Researchers from the University of Bristol have found a way to mimic the way cells in living organisms 'talk' to the world around them by creating a world-first synthetic receptor which can respond to chemical signals just ...
Biochemistry
Mar 6, 2017
0
25
Using a unique single-molecule force measurement tool, a research team has developed a clearer understanding of how platelets sense the mechanical forces they encounter during bleeding to initiate the cascading process that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 15, 2016
0
25
Scientists have captured atomic level snapshots showing how one key enzyme modifies a protein involved in turning genes on or off inside cells. Understanding this process-which is particularly important when cells are first ...
Biochemistry
Jul 18, 2016
0
91
The front line of the human immune system is made up of T-cells: white blood cells that circulate in the body and scan for foreign invaders and infections. If a T-cell surface receptor detects a threat during its surveillance, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2016
0
659
Bacteria are best known as free-living single cells, but in reality their lives are much more complex. To survive in harsh environments, many species of bacteria will band together and form a biofilm—a collection of cells ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 24, 2015
0
66
Jialing Xiang, professor of biology at Illinois Institute of Technology, and her collaborators have solved a longtime mystery: how protein kinase (Akt), a key player in cell signaling, "moves" from the cytosol (fluid inside ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 30, 2015
0
15
In biology and medicine, we often need to detect biological molecules. For example, in cancer diagnostics, doctors need quick and reliable ways of knowing if tumor cells are present in the patient's body. Although such detection ...
Biochemistry
Jul 22, 2015
0
30
The circumstances in which a protein closely associated with Parkinson's Disease begins to malfunction and aggregate in the brain have been pinpointed in a quantitative manner for the first time in a new study.
Biochemistry
Feb 2, 2015
0
54
During embryonal development of vertebrates, signaling molecules inform each cell at which position it is located. In this way, the cell can develop its special structure and function. For the first time now, researchers ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 14, 2015
0
78
