Molecular & Structural Biology

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Study Highlights Key Protein-Lipid Interactions in Mitochondrial Energy Production

By studying mutations in yeast and human cells, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have found that biochemical bonds between fats and proteins in the mitochondrion, the cell's powerhouse, play a crucial role in how our cells produce energy.

10 Jun 2024

Dundee Scientists Reveal Inner Workings of PINK1 Molecular Switch in Parkinson's Disease

Scientists at the University of Dundee have uncovered the inner relay of a molecular switch that protects the brain against the development of Parkinson's disease.

10 Jun 2024

Study Unveils Broader Immune Response in EBV-MS Connection

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may have a greater effect on the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) than previously believed due to a higher level of cross-reactivity, which occurs when the immune system binds to the incorrect target.

10 Jun 2024

New research identifies and mitigates bias in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing

A phenomics approach to study proximity bias and the unrelated chromosomal truncations.

10 Jun 2024

Genetic Insights into Salt Gland Formation and Stress Responses in Sea Lavender

Basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors are essential for various plant processes, including growth, development, and stress responses.

7 Jun 2024

Breakthrough Study Identifies Critical Protein for Blood Stem Cell Self-Renewal

UCLA scientists have identified a protein that plays a critical role in regulating human blood stem cell self-renewal by helping them sense and interpret signals from their environment.

6 Jun 2024

Study Unveils Key Mechanism of Telomere Maintenance by CST–Polα/Primase

The length of telomeres that protect the ends of our chromosomes should be tightly regulated. Those that are too long predispose to cancer, and those that are too short lose their protective ability, resulting in telomere disorders with serious health consequences.

6 Jun 2024

Coordinated Proteins Aid the Immune System in Detecting and Destroying Threats

Bacteria, parasites, and viruses—the immune system tackles them all. Cells known as macrophages are at the forefront of the human immune response, recognizing intruders and controlling how the entire immune system responds.

6 Jun 2024

AMPLON Simplifies DNA Amplification for Diverse Medical Applications

A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has created a novel method for target DNA sequence amplification, testing, and analysis.

6 Jun 2024

Researchers Identify Molecular Stop Signal in Cell Division Monitoring

Every second, many million cells divide throughout the body. During nuclear division (mitosis), the genetic material must be divided correctly and fully amongst daughter cells; faults in this process can result in improper development or genetic diseases, and many cancer cells have an uneven number of chromosomes.

5 Jun 2024

Graph Neural Networks: A Novel Approach to Deciphering Gene-Enhancer Interactions

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed a new computational method for linking molecular marks on our DNA to gene activity.

4 Jun 2024

Protein SRSF1 Plays Unexpected Role in Unwinding Complex RNA Structures

RNA transcription is the genomic process in which a cell produces a duplicate of a gene's DNA sequence.

31 May 2024

C. elegans Study Reveals Impact of Embryonal Amphetamine Exposure

Amphetamine is a psychostimulant that has been used to treat a variety of brain dysfunctions. However, it is a highly abused drug.

31 May 2024

Efficient Gene Editing with Compact Cas12a Protein

Researchers have created an innovative version of a critical CRISPR gene-editing protein that has effective editing activity and is small enough to be bundled into a non-pathogenic virus capable of delivering it to targeted cells.

31 May 2024

Engineered DNA PROTAC Shows Promise for p53-R175H Mutant Cancers

A synthetic bicomponent compound specifically targets and eliminates a mutant protein associated with multiple forms of cancer.

30 May 2024

Structural Insights into a Novel Gene-Editing Tool

Yutaro Shuto, Ryoya Nakagawa, and Osamu Nureki of the University of Tokyo conducted collaborative research to ascertain the spatial organization of different processes within a unique gene-editing instrument known as “prime editor.”

30 May 2024

LoCoHD: A Novel Method for Comparative Protein Structure Analysis

In a paper recently published in Nature Communications, the HUN-REN-ELTE Protein Modeling Research Group (Institute of Chemistry) has laid the foundations for a mathematical method, allowing the computer-assisted comparison of the three-dimensional structures of proteins.

30 May 2024

Unmasking XPD’s Mechanism in DNA Damage Detection and Repair

The way the protein XPD recognizes severe DNA damage and regulates its repair was uncovered by researchers at the University of Würzburg, under the direction of Caroline Kisker and Claudia Höbartner.

29 May 2024

Modifying Cellular Interactions Near Amyloid Plaques May Offer New Alzheimer's Treatments

Researchers at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine have achieved a big breakthrough in Alzheimer’s disease research by discovering a new technique to potentially slow or even stop disease development.

28 May 2024

Spiking neuron bridges the gap between biological and artificial neurons

Engineers from the University of Liège have made significant advances in the design of artificial neural networks by developing a new form of spiking neuron. The Spiking Recurrent Cell (SRC) is a novel model that combines ease of implementation with the capacity to replicate the dynamics of biological neurons.

28 May 2024