Researchers have identified a structural protein that is essential for the coordinated beating of millions of tiny cilia on the surface of comb jellies. When the protein was eliminated, the cilia began beating out of formation, stalling the locomotion of the jellies. These findings will help uncover how various organisms have adapted to life in different aquatic environments.
Read moreResearchers report the discovery of a protein, P17/PERMIT, that is key to recycling aging and damaged mitochondria. Defective mitochondria are characteristic of a number of age-related diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's. The MUSC team showed P17/PERMIT transports the machinery that produces ceramide, a molecule that signals old mitochondria for destruction, to the mitochondria. There, it can mass-produce ceramide at the location needed for mitochondrial regulation.
Read moreNew research shows that lactate, an end product of metabolism, changes the function of an immune cell known as a macrophage, thereby rewiring it to behave differently.
Read moreA new imaging technique that makes it possible to match motor proteins with the cargo they carry within a cell is upending a standard view of how cellular traffic reaches the correct destination. The research focuses on neurons and sheds light on some neurodegenerative diseases.
Read moreIt is already known that zebrafish can flexibly regenerate their hearts after injury. An international research group now shows that certain heart muscle cells play a central role in this process. The insights gained could be used to initiate a similar repair process in the human heart.
Read moreThe Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus is a pathogen that affects honey bees and has been linked to Colony Collapse Disorder, a key factor in decimating the bee population. Researchers have now analyzed in detail how the virus hijacks the cellular protein production machinery and misuses it for its own purposes.
Read moreTissue patterning is an important process during embryo formation, which ensures that groups of cells are arranged in an appropriate manner that allows them to function properly.
Read moreNeural crest cells have been thought to originate in the ectoderm, the outermost of the three germ layers formed in the earliest stages of embryonic development. But their capacity to form derivatives like bone and tooth-forming cells defies fundamental concepts in developmental and stem cell biology. A research team has found a solution to this mystery by demonstrating an earlier origin of the neural crest in chick embryos.
Read moreResearchers are exploring the development of cultured meat found that the addition of the iron-carrying protein myoglobin improves the growth, texture and color of bovine muscle grown from cells in culture. This development is a step toward the ultimate goal of growing meat from livestock animal cells for human consumption.
Read moreSwapping a single amino acid in a simple bacterial protein changes its structure and function, revealing the effects of complex gene evolution, finds a new study. The study — conducted using E. coli bacteria — can help researchers to better understand the evolution of transporter proteins and their role in drug resistance.
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