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High-speed atomic force microscopy sheds light on structure, dynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins

Kanazawa University’s pioneering high-speed atomic force microscope technology has now shed light on the structure and dynamics of some of life’s most ubiquitous and inscrutable molecules – intrinsically disordered proteins.

29 Dec 2020

Researchers discover protein crucial for growing life-saving blood stem cells

A group of scientists from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and Columbia University in New York City has discovered a protein that is crucial for expanding the usually scarce, life-saving blood stem cells.

11 Dec 2020

New model helps assess the effect of epigenetic changes on gene expression

Researchers have developed a mathematical model to quantitatively assess the impacts of particular epigenetic changes on the transcription rates.

11 Dec 2020

Repair proteins can help healthy cells to avoid damage during cancer therapy

A key way radiation therapy and chemotherapy work is by making highly lethal double-strand breaks in the DNA of cancer cells.

10 Dec 2020

Research reveals fundamental insights into the causes of severe birth defects

Research by Kai Jiao, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and in Germany has yielded fundamental insights into the causes of severe birth defects known as CHARGE syndrome cases. These congenital birth defects include severe and life-threatening heart malformations.

3 Dec 2020

Using 3D mapping techniques to unravel mystery of blood stem cells

Princess Margaret scientists have revealed how stem cells are able to generate new blood cells throughout our life by looking at vast, uncharted regions of our genetic material that hold important clues to subtle biological changes in these cells.

26 Nov 2020

Scientists discover new functions of key cellular machine involved in human cancers

Utah scientists have discovered new functions of a key cellular machine that regulates gene packaging and is mutated in 20% of human cancers. The study was published in print today in the journal Molecular Cell.

20 Nov 2020

Study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms of adipogenesis

The impairment of adipogenesis, the process in which fat cells (also known as adipocytes) accumulate to become fat tissue, can lead to many diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart conditions.

15 Oct 2020

DNA structural changes play key role in the recovery phase after DNA damage

A research team from Cologne has discovered that a change in the DNA structure - more precisely in the chromatin - plays a decisive role in the recovery phase after DNA damage. The key is a double occupation by two methyl groups on the DNA packaging protein histone H3 (H3K4me2).

15 Oct 2020

Novel mechanism restores cell function after DNA damage

Scientists have found that a modification in the DNA structure— specifically in the chromatin—plays a key role in the recovery stage following DNA damage.

15 Oct 2020

Two proteins compete to give shape to plants

In an elegant choreography, plants take cues from their environment and channel them into flowers, roots, or branches.

13 Oct 2020

Researchers identify mechanism that silences “parasitic” DNA-elements in pluripotent stem cells

Every eukaryotic organism contains the so-called transposons, which are abundant DNA-elements.

13 Oct 2020

Cancer mutations occur in distinct patterns based on 3D structure of the genome

A new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has discovered that mutations found in cancers do not accumulate randomly, but are found in distinct patterns that vary based on the three-dimensional organization of the genome in the cell as well as the underlying factors causing the mutations.

6 Oct 2020

Type and direction of force on a cell can alter gene expression

Tissues and cells in the human body are subjected to a constant push and pull - strained by other cells, blood pressure and fluid flow, to name a few.

5 Oct 2020

Epigenetic alterations drive late-onset Alzheimer's disease

New findings suggest that late-onset Alzheimer's Disease is driven by epigenetic changes -- how and when certain genes are turned on and off -- in the brain. Results were published today in Nature Genetics.

29 Sep 2020

Researchers identify a driver of drug resistance in some cancers

Patients with BRCA1/2 mutations are at higher risk for breast, ovarian and prostate cancers that can be aggressive when they develop - and, in many cases, resistant to lifesaving drugs.

24 Sep 2020

Researchers discover a mechanism that leads to the growth of cell nuclei

By far the most important process in cell development is how cells divide and then enlarge in order to multiply. A research team headed by Freiburg medical scientist Prof. Dr. Robert Grosse has now discovered that bundled fibers of actin within a cell nucleus play an important part in how they enlarge after division.

23 Sep 2020