Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Discovery of Unexpected Proviral Effect of Guanylate-Binding Protein 1 (GBP1)

02-Apr-2024 - A research team from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has gained important insights into the role of the human guanylate-binding protein 1 (GBP1) in hepatitis C virus infection. Their results show that GBP1 performs a previously unknown function, that of a proviral factor, during the HCV life cycle. ...

World's first confocal light microscope to study chiral molecules

This discovery is a major breakthrough that will allow researchers to analyse previously unexplored parts of biology and chemistry

03-Feb-2022 - Scientists from Durham University’s Chemistry Department have developed the world’s first laser scanning confocal microscope that can harness Circularly Polarised Light (CPL) to differentiate left and right-handed molecules, also known as chiral molecules. The microscope, known as CPL Laser ...

Help for stressed-out cells in a crisis

Biologists discover a new function of mitochondria as the "patron saints" of protein folding

31-Jan-2022 - According to a team of researchers at the University of Münster, mitochondria provide unexpected help for cells in a crisis by respiring away harmful substances. A current study produced by the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants (IBBP) shows three things: that this mechanism can be ...

Deadly combination: new direct trigger for cell death discovered

Understanding the basic mechanisms that lead to cell death is essential for the development of therapies for cancer and other diseases

17-Jan-2022 - Scientists led by Professor Ana J. Garcia-Saez at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne have shown that apoptosis, the programmed cell death, involves a direct physical interplay between the two proteins BAX and DRP1. DRP1 can serve as a direct cell death ...

Artificial intelligence, hardware innovations boost confocal microscope’s performance

Enhancing the workhorse

29-Nov-2021 - Since artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky patented the principle of confocal microscopy in 1957, it has become the workhorse standard in life science laboratories worldwide, due to its superior contrast over traditional wide-field microscopy. Yet confocal microscopes aren’t perfect. ...

How to switch liver cancer cell growth from 2-D to 3-D structures

17-Nov-2017 - Paving the way for testing experimental drugs in more realistic environments, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered how to make tiny colonies of cells grow in useful new ways inside petri dishes. The research team's discoveries might help ...

The architecture of odor perception

Olfactory glomeruli have a unique structure

22-Sep-2016 - Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now quantified and mapped the functional units of the olfactory center in the brains of vinegar flies responsible for the perception of odors. They found out that the so-called olfactory glomeruli in the antennal ...

Merck announces 2016 recipients of € 1 Million grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation

Four research grants awarded out of 260 proposals from 45 countries

19-Sep-2016 - Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced recipients of the fourth annual Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation (GMSI) during a symposium at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) in London. This year, 260 ...

Researchers watch skin cells 'walk' to wounds

13-Jun-2016 - Skin cells typically spend their entire existence in one place on your body. But Washington State University researchers have seen how the cells will alter the proteins holding them in place and move to repair a wound. "And they walk," said Jonathan Jones, director of WSU's School of Molecular ...

Trapping and watching motile cells

A new approach enables rapid characterization of living suspension cells in 4 dimensions

01-Apr-2015 - Optical imaging of highly motile cells or cells in suspension, such as bacterial systems, yeast cells, and immune cells, is a challenging task, in many cases it is just not possible. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), for example, can spread very efficiently from an infected T cell to an ...