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 ...

Assembling nanomachines in bacteria

Osaka University researchers use X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy to resolve the assembly of the export gate apparatus in Salmonella. The new details of this nanomachine are expected to clarify how bacteria infect ...

Super-resolution imaging breakthrough in living cells

Edinburgh scientists have developed a new imaging technique that reveals the inner workings of living cells in stunning detail and could pave the way to a better understanding of many diseases.

3-D model shows bacterial motor in action

Nagoya University scientists in Japan and colleagues at Yale University in the US have uncovered details of how the bacterial propeller, known as the flagellum, switches between counterclockwise and clockwise rotation, allowing ...

Tiny channels carry big information

They say it's the little things that count, and that certainly holds true for the channels in transmembrane proteins, which are small enough to allow ions or molecules of a certain size to pass through, while keeping out ...

Essential virulence proteins of corn smut discovered

To infect its host plant maize, the fungal parasite Ustilago maydis uses a complex of seven proteins. Numerous findings reveal an essential role of the complex in causing disease and suggest a widespread occurence in fungal ...

page 2 from 4