Macromolecules News and Research

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Structural Insights into Bacteriophages Open Doors for New Therapeutics

The viruses that infect bacteria are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. For example, a recent simple study of 92 showerheads and 36 toothbrushes from American bathrooms found more than 600 types of bacterial viruses, commonly called bacteriophages or phages.

23 Oct 2024

New Insights into Nager Syndrome Through Zebrafish Models

Nager syndrome, or NS, is a rare genetic disease that affects the development of the face and limbs, usually causing anomalies in the bone structures of the jaws, cheeks, and hands.

17 Oct 2024

Engineering Tissue Domains with a Synthetic Biology Approach

Researchers at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, demonstrate how morphogens combined with cell adhesion can generate tissue domains with a sharp boundary in an in vitro model system.

9 Oct 2024

High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy Reveals Cofilin Binding Patterns in Actin Filaments

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in eLife on deciphering the actin structure-dependent preferential cooperative binding of cofilin.

29 Aug 2024

CDCA7's Role in DNA Methylation Maintenance Revealed in Recent Study

DNA methylation is a process in which a methyl group is attached to the cytosine base of the DNA molecule, and a major way that DNA is epigenetically marked. Epigenetic modifications can act as on-off switches to regulate gene expression and help generate diverse cell types without changing the underlying DNA sequence. It is how the body ensures that brain-related genes don't get turned on in heart cells, for example.

28 Aug 2024

Unveiling the Chemical Secrets of Coral Reefs and Insights into Marine Health

What species exist on this coral reef, and how healthy are they?

7 Jun 2024

Cyanobacteria as a Key Ingredient in Sustainable Protein-Rich Foods

We all know that we ought to eat less meat and cheese and dig into more plant-based foods. But whilst perusing the supermarket cold display and having to choose between animal-based foods and more climate-friendly alternative proteins, our voices of reason don't always win.

28 Feb 2024

Scientists Reveal HIV's Secret Weapon for Invading Cell Nucleus

Around one million individuals worldwide become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, each year.

27 Jan 2024

Blockchain Fuels Search for Origins of Metabolism

Researchers from the Korea Institute for Basic Science and the Polish Academy of Sciences have utilized blockchain technology to simulate prebiotic chemical reactions on early Earth.

25 Jan 2024

New Seaweed-Based Hydrogel Redefines Wound Care

Acting as the main interface between the internal and the external world, the skin is the largest and most important organ of the human body.

18 Dec 2023

Revolutionizing Precision in Super-Resolution Microscopy

Cutting-edge super-resolution microscopy techniques can now achieve optical resolutions within the range of a few nm, corresponding to the size of cellular molecules.

4 Dec 2023

Proteomics Approach Identifies p62-Mediated Selective Autophagy of the Supramolecular Vault Complex

Our body functioning is delicately balanced between the synthesis and breakdown of various cellular components.

16 May 2023

Researchers show how the production of different macromolecules peaks at different times

Textbooks will tell you that in dividing cells, the production of new DNA peaks during the S-phase, while production of other macromolecules, such as proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides, continues at more or less the same level.

28 Feb 2023

Radical theory examines how charged macromolecules self-assemble

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that uniformly charged macromolecules, or molecules like proteins or DNA, which contain a large number of atoms all with the same electrical charge, can self-assemble into very large structures.

27 Sep 2022

Researchers analyze how clusters of molecules meet inside cells

A developing area studies how clusters of molecules gather inside of cells, similar to how oil droplets form and separate from the water in a vinaigrette.

From New York University (NYU) 15 Sep 2022

Study discovers a molecular mechanism that confers special physical properties to chromosomes in dividing human cells

The Gerlich Group at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) has identified a molecular process that gives chromosomes in dividing human cells unique physical characteristics that permit faithful transmission to the progeny.

8 Aug 2022

Computational DNA droplet recognizes a specific combination of tumor biomarker microRNAs

The formation of aqueous droplets in macromolecules by liquid-liquid phase separation (or coacervation) is a popular topic in life sciences research. DNA is particularly interesting among the numerous macromolecules that form droplets because it is predictable and programmable, both of which are desirable properties in nanotechnology.

6 Jun 2022