Our immune system is working every day to protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites, but it can also detect when our own cells are damaged. Research led by Lancaster University has now discovered how skin cells alert the immune system, when their DNA is damaged in the absence of infection. This DNA damage can […]
Novel role of protein in important pathways that lead to cancer malignancy
Japanese researchers have revealed for the first time that a specific protein plays a critical role in the development and metastasis of highly aggressive prostate and breast cancer cells. The study reports that large amounts of the fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5), a kind of transport protein for fatty acids, promotes processes associated with cancer […]
Misfolded proteins serve as ‘inherited memory’ of toxic insults
Protein aggregates have a bad reputation in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but in bacteria, inheritance of aggregates by daughter cells may help protect against the same toxic stresses that triggered them in parental cells, according to a new study publishing 28 August in the open access journal PLOS Biology, by Sander […]
A novel synthetic antibody enables conditional ‘protein knockdown’ in vertebrates
Research groups led by Dr. Jörg Mansfeld of the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden (BIOTEC) and Dr. Caren Norden of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) have developed a novel synthetic antibody that paves the way for an improved functional analysis of proteins. They combined auxin-inducible “protein knockdown” with […]
In apoptosis, cell death spreads through perpetuating waves
Inside a cell, death often occurs like the wave at a baseball game. What starts with two hands flung skyward prompts another, and another, until the wave has rippled far and wide across the whole stadium. This kind of a rolling surge, spurred by the activity of one or a few things, is known as […]
Can rare lymphocytes combat rheumatoid arthritis? Immunologists have identified the key role of ILC2 during the onset of inflammatory arthritis
Immunologists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg have demonstrated that ILC2, a group of rare lymphoid cells, play a key role in the development of inflammatory arthritis. ILCs have several functional similarities to T-cells and are important agents of our congenital immune system. The FAU researchers’ findings could form the basis for new approaches for treating rheumatoid arthritis. […]
Common skin cancer can signal increased risk of other cancers
People who develop abnormally frequent cases of a skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma appear to be at significantly increased risk for the development of other cancers, including blood, breast, colon and prostate cancers, according to a preliminary study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The increased susceptibility is likely caused […]
Discovery could lead to better treatment for leukemia
Previous research has revealed that patients with acute myeloid leukemia who also have a particular mutation in a gene called NPM1 have a higher rate of remission with chemotherapy. About one-third of leukemia patients possess this favorable mutation, but until now, how it helps improve outcomes has remained unknown. Scientists from the University of Illinois […]
New lung cell type discovered: A previously unknown airway cell type may be a key to efforts to cure cystic fibrosis
In separate studies published online in Nature on Aug. 1, two independent research teams report the discovery of a new, rare type of cell in the human airway. These cells appear to be the primary source of activity of the CFTR gene, mutations to which cause cystic fibrosis, a multiorgan disease that affects more than […]
New method discovered to view proteins inside human cells: Scientists develop tagging device using Ferritin
Scientists at the University of Warwick have created a new way to view proteins that are inside human cells. Using Ferritin, a large protein shell that our cells use to store iron, the researchers have found a method they have called FerriTag that allows an electron microscope (EM) to view proteins precisely unlike current methods. […]