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Researchers Explain How a Single Mutation Causes Ataxia

Worldwide, only a handful of patients are known to suffer from episodic ataxia type 6, a neurological disease that causes transient loss of muscle control.

4 Apr 2023

Study suggests new strategy for treating arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy

University of Utah Health scientists have corrected abnormal heart rhythms in mice by restoring healthy levels of a protein that heart cells need to establish connections with one another.

20 Mar 2023

Pungent ginger constituent puts white blood cells on heightened alert

Ginger has a reputation for stimulating the immune system. New results from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (Leibniz-LSB@TUM) now support this thesis.

15 Feb 2023

Researchers decipher genomic mechanisms involved in complex eye disease

Researchers at Tel Aviv University identified a new genetic risk factor for the complex eye disease AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration), a leading cause for loss of eyesight at an advanced age.

7 Feb 2023

Blending multiple maps uncover new genetic causes of blindness

In a new study, Ran Elkon and Ruth Ashery-Padan of Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues discovered a new genetic risk factor for adult-onset macular degeneration (AMD) by combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci.

18 Jan 2023

Specific genetic variant resulting in the early onset of epilepsy identified

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) researchers have identified a particular genetic variant in SCN1A, the most common genetic epilepsy, that contributes to an earlier start of epilepsy with clinical features different from other epilepsies.

1 Dec 2022

Nonconducting W434F mutant varies in structure and conformation

Potassium (K+) channels are tiny, highly specialized conduits found in every live cell that transfer K+ ions in an exceedingly selective and quick manner across cell membranes.

13 Oct 2022

Metrion Biosciences appoints Dr Benedetta Montagnini as Head of European Business Development

Metrion Biosciences Limited (“Metrion”), the specialist ion channel contract research and drug discovery company, today announced the appointment of Dr Benedetta Montagnini as Head of European Business Development. Driven by the uptake of its ion channel discovery services, the appointment follows the recent creation of a Client Services team as Metrion expands its operations and enhanced drug discovery capabilities, internationally.

From Metrion Biosciences Limited 9 Jun 2022

Researchers analyze the significance of two-pore channels in plant cells

TPCs (two-pore channels) are old ion channels found in both animal and plant cells. These ion channels serve key roles in biological activity in numerous tissues in animals, including humans, like the brain and nervous system.

From Tokyo University of Science 3 May 2022

3D structure of protein channel helps shed light on sensitive touch response of Venus fly traps

Scientists at Scripps Research have revealed the three-dimensional structure of Flycatcher1, an aptly named protein channel that may enable Venus fly trap plants to snap shut in response to prey.

18 Feb 2022

Metrion Biosciences expands ion channel drug discovery service capabilities and in-house expertise

Metrion today announced it has expanded its capabilities and expertise through the addition of automated low volume liquid handling capability.

From Metrion Biosciences Limited 7 Dec 2021

Mysterious protein clusters found on neurons are calcium-signaling “hotspots”, study reveals

For 30 years, mysterious clusters of proteins found on the cell body of neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain, both intrigued and baffled James Trimmer.

From The University of California, Davis 15 Nov 2021

Researchers use prime editing to correct mutations causing cystic fibrosis in organoids

A team of scientists rectified mutations that result in cystic fibrosis in cultured human stem cells.

11 Aug 2021

World’s first cancer cell model helps modern cancer research and drug development

For many years, computer models have been standard tools in fundamental biomedical research.

5 Jul 2021

Study analyzes how resistance proteins defend plants from pathogens

Disease resistance proteins function as main immune receptors in plants, detecting pests and pathogens and initiating robust defense responses.

13 May 2021

Catechin-type flavonoid compounds in tea relax blood vessels by activating ion channel proteins

A new study from the University of California, Irvine shows that compounds in both green and black tea relax blood vessels by activating ion channel proteins in the blood vessel wall.

9 Mar 2021

An outlook on latest trends in peptide drug discovery and development

Currently, there are more than 80 peptide drugs on the global market and about twice as many in clinical development. Due to their beneficial properties, these biomolecules play already an important role in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hormone disorders, HIV infection, and multiple sclerosis.

11 Feb 2021

Synthetic biomolecule resembles dual stimuli-responsive channel

For the first time, researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and the University of Tokyo in Japan have produced a new artificial transmembrane ion channel—based on a naturally found transmembrane channel that plays a role in neuron signaling—that reacts to both electrical and chemical stimuli.

2 Feb 2021

MIT chemists determine molecular structure of SARS-CoV-2 protein

MIT chemists have determined the molecular structure of a protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This protein, called the envelope protein E, forms a cation-selective channel and plays a key role in the virus's ability to replicate itself and stimulate the host cell's inflammation response.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 16 Nov 2020

Novel machine learning algorithm helps identify binding sites in drug targets

Scientists from the iMolecule group at Skoltech Center for Computational and Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (CDISE) developed BiteNet, a machine learning (ML) algorithm that helps find drug binding sites, i.e. potential drug targets, in proteins.

27 Oct 2020