Everything in balance? How a molecular switch controls lipid metabolism

Overactive or absent protein stops energy flow

06-Jul-2023 - Our body’s fat metabolism plays a vital role in energy production in our body. A research team at the University of Basel, has discovered a molecular switch that regulates lipid metabolism in our cells. This switch controls the storage or conversion of lipids into energy. All organisms need ...

Using light to switch drugs on and off

Photopharmacology is a new field of medicine that is predicted to have a great future

22-Feb-2023 - Scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have used the Swiss X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL and the Swiss Light Source SLS to make a film that could give a decisive boost to developing a new type of drug. They made the advance in the field of so-called photopharmacology, a discipline ...

Autophagy: The molecular regulation of self-eating

Discovery of a molecular switch

14-Feb-2023 - Autophagy, or “self-eating”, is an essential cellular quality control mechanism that clears the cell of protein aggregates and damaged organelles. This mechanism is inactive under normal conditions and only triggered upon persistent cellular stress. Researchers from the Gregor Mendel Institute of ...

Molecular Switch for Addiction Behaviour

Newly discovered mechanism determines how strongly mice respond to cocaine

21-Dec-2021 - A molecular switch influences addiction behaviour and determines how strong the response to addictive drugs is. A research team at Heidelberg University and the Sorbonne University in Paris (France) made the discovery in mice treated with cocaine. The researchers led by Prof. Dr Hilmar Bading ...

Living longer or healthier?

Genetic discovery suggests they can be separated

22-Jul-2019 - Aging research indicates that better healthspan--the quality of life as we age--may be more important than lifespan. In a report published in Nature Communications, a surprising new genetic discovery by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of ...

Tox "exhausts" immune cells

Molecular switch for reduced immune cell function discovered

19-Jun-2019 - Tumors and certain viral infections pose a challenge to the human body which the immune system typically fails to hand. In these diseases it switches to hypofunctional state that prevent adequate protection. A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has achieved a major ...

Identity crisis of satiety neurons leads to obesity

01-Feb-2019 - Obesity − as research in the past decade has shown − is first and foremost a brain disease. Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München, partners in the German Center for Diabetes Research, have now discovered a molecular switch that controls the function of satiety neurons and therefore body ...

Molecular switch may serve as new target point for cancer and diabetes therapies

10-Aug-2018 - If certain signaling cascades are misregulated, diseases like cancer, obesity and diabetes may occur. A mechanism recently discovered by scientists at the Leibniz- Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and at the University of Geneva has a crucial influence on such ...

Cracking the code of Huntington's disease

24-Mar-2017 - Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes patients to lose their ability to move, speak, and even think. It is caused by a gene mutation that produces an abnormal form of the protein huntingtin, which aggregates and builds up inside neurons of the cortex and striatum. Small ...

Tugging at cells with molecules and light

A new method for cellular stimulation

20-Dec-2016 - Everyone is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells – if they were laid end to end, they would circle the globe 60 times. Most of these cells arise from mitosis and differentiation of a single egg cell. To orientate themselves, they constantly explore their environment and communicate with ...