Microscopy News and Research

Latest Microscopy News and Research

Plectasin's Velcro-Like Binding Holds Promise for Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance

A small antibiotic called plectasin uses an innovative mechanism to kill bacteria. By assembling into large structures, plectasin latches onto its target on the bacterial cell surface comparable to how both sides of Velcro form a bond.

24 May 2024

Cryo-EM Study Reveals Cas7-11-CRISPR Complex Regulation Mechanisms

In a recent study published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Chinese researchers studied the cryo-electron microscopy structures of the CRISPR-Cas7-11 nuclease, both alone and in complex with the regulatory protein tetratricopeptide repeat fused with Cas/(human enhancer of filamentation 1) HEF1-associated signal transducer (TPR-CHAT).

24 May 2024

Exploring the Evolution of Mitosis: Lessons from Close Relatives of Fungi and Animals

Cell division is one of the most fundamental processes of life. From bacteria to blue whales, every living being on Earth relies on cell division for growth, reproduction, and species survival.

23 May 2024

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes carrying vincristine sulfate are effective in killing cancer stem cells

Whether loading vincristine sulfate into mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes could improve the targeted delivery of the drug specifically to cancer stem cells.

21 May 2024

Brookhaven Scientists Unravel Evolutionary Origins of Plant Lignin

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected.

20 May 2024

Bristle Biogenesis of Platynereis dumerilii: Microvilli as Nature's 3D Printers

A new interdisciplinary study led by molecular biologist Florian Raible from the Max Perutz Labs at the University of Vienna provides exciting insights into the bristles of the marine annelid worm Platynereis dumerilii.

14 May 2024

New Insights Into Centromere Structure: Two Subdomains Revealed

Researchers from the Kops group in collaboration with researchers from the University of Edinburgh, made a surprising new discovery in the structure of the centromere, a structure that is involved in ensuring that chromosomes are segregated properly when a cell divides.

14 May 2024

AI Deciphers the Complex Wiring of the Human Brain

Though it may not seem like much, one cubic mm of brain tissue exists. That small square, however, holds 230 mm of blood vessels, 150 million synapses, and 57,000 cells, totaling 1,400 terabytes of data. That is why researchers from Google and Harvard have just achieved something truly amazing.

10 May 2024

New Technique Reveals Microscopic Heart Vessels with Unprecedented Clarity

A new imaging technique tested in patients could improve the evaluation of cardiac conditions and undiagnosed chest pain.

7 May 2024

New Technique Reveals Plant's Defense Mechanism

Researchers at the Danforth Plant Science Center and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, working with Tessa Burch-Smith, PhD, are breaking new ground in their investigation of how viruses, essential molecules, and information are transferred between cells in plants.

30 Apr 2024

Study Reveals Molecular Assembly of One of the Most Common Anti-Phage Systems

One of the many secrets to bacteria's success is their ability to defend themselves from viruses, called phages, that infect bacteria and use their cellular machinery to make copies of themselves.

29 Apr 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Lipid Droplet Proteins in Arabidopsis Thaliana Leaves

Lipid droplets (LDs) serve as storage organelles found in plant leaves and seeds. While the functions of seed LD proteins in lipid metabolism are well understood, many leaf LD proteins remain unidentified.

24 Apr 2024

First Comprehensive Map of Protein Movement in Yeast Cell Cycle Revealed

An international team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has mapped the movement of proteins encoded by the yeast genome throughout its cell cycle.

23 Apr 2024

Enhancing Drug Discovery Through Automated Protein Labeling

Exact protein observation in cells is crucial for many scientific fields, but it has proven to be a difficult technical task, particularly in living cells where each protein needs to have its fluorescent label applied separately.

22 Apr 2024

Soil Bacteria Use Umbrella Toxins to Fight Back

Scientists have found that soil bacteria called Streptomyces secrete toxic protein particles in the shape of umbrellas that are meant to suppress competitors, particularly those that belong to their species.

18 Apr 2024

New Method Reveals Dynamic Protein Structures in Real Time

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a powerful, new technique to generate "movies" of changing protein structures and speeds of up to 50 frames per second.

17 Apr 2024

Study Reveals How Cells Recycle Proteins in Response to Nutrient Starvation

A new study details how nutrient-starved cells divert protein transport stations to cellular recycling centers to be broken down, highlighting a novel approach cells use to deal with stressful conditions.

15 Apr 2024

Unraveling the Key to Suppressing Protein Misfolding in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Proteins known as oligomeric chaperones help suppress the formation of misshaped proteins that cause a variety of degenerative and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's.

13 Apr 2024

Unveiling Mechanisms to Block Tau Aggregation

The buildup of aberrant, misfolded tau proteins in the brain is the cause of a variety of neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Fronto Temporal Dementia (FTD), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), and Cortico Basal Degeneration (CBD).

4 Apr 2024

Rare YKT6 Gene Variants Linked to New Neurological Disorder

A recent collaborative study has discovered rare variants in the YKT6 gene as the cause of a new neurological disorder characterized by developmental delays along with severe progressive liver disease and a potential risk for liver cancer.

2 Apr 2024