Tag Archives: structure

‘Molecular scaffolding’ found that maintains skin structure, organization

A study by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Biology, shows how interactions between skin stem cells — the cells responsible for the constant renewal of skin — maintain the architecture of this organ. "We knew that these junctions were important in skin stem cells but the cellular components involved in their structure and function were not yet understood," says Mirna Pérez-Moreno, head of the Epithelial Cellular Biology Group that led the study. Using skin cells derived from mice, researchers have discovered that one of the key elements in the formation and stabilisation of these junctions are microtubules, tubular structures that are part of all cells and that serve as pillars to maintain their form and function. "We have seen for the first time that skin stem-cell microtubules connect with cell-cell junctions to form velcro-like structures that hold the cells together," says Marta Shahbazi, a researcher on Pérez-Moreno’s team and the first author of the study…

Cell division discovery could offer fresh insight into cancer

Scientists have explained a key part of the process of cell division, by which cells are able to keep our organs functioning properly. They discovered a set of proteins that stabilise the sequence of events in which cells duplicate their DNA and then separate into two new cells, each identical to the original. Flaws in this delicate, complex operation can lead to cancer. The findings help explain a fundamental process in all living things, in which cells must continually divide to keep the organism alive and well…

‘Nanosponge vaccine’ fights MRSA toxins

The nanosponges at the foundation of the experimental "toxoid vaccine" platform are bio-compatible particles made of a polymer core wrapped in a red-blood-cell membrane. Each nanosponge’s red-blood-cell membrane seizes and detains the Staphylococcus aureus (staph) toxin alpha-haemolysin without compromising the toxin’s structural integrity through heating or chemical processing. These toxin-studded nanosponges served as vaccines capable of triggering neutralizing antibodies and fighting off otherwise lethal doses of the toxin in mice. Toxoid vaccines protect against a toxin or set of toxins, rather than the organism that produces the toxin(s)…

Events coordination during embryogenesis

The study, published October 29 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, analyzes how the timing of gene expression is regulated in the notochord, the evolutionary and developmental precursor of the backbone. The notochord is the main feature that sets humans, mice, sea squirts and related animals (collectively known as chordates) apart from flies, worms and mollusks, and is essential for their development. A crucial player in the development of the notochord is the Brachyury gene, which encodes a DNA-binding protein that switches on the expression of numerous notochord genes and ensures their sequential deployment during the formation of this pivotal structure…

Protein ‘motif’ crucial to telomerase activity

Their findings are published in the October 8 issue of the journal Structure, available online now. "Telomerase is a unique protein-RNA complex where the protein subunit uses its RNA component as a template to add identical fragments of DNA to the end of chromosomes," said Emmanuel Skordalakes, Ph.D., associate professor in the Gene Expression and Regulation program of Wistar’s NCI-designated Cancer Center. …

Targeted therapy boosts lung cancer outcomes

In a trial involving patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor cells harbored an abnormal ALK gene, those who received the oral drug crizotinib, which acts directly on ALK, went a median time of 7.7 months before their disease began to worsen, compared to 3 months for patients who received traditional chemotherapy. Patients treated with crizotinib also had a better quality of life than those treated with standard chemotherapy. The findings will be released as an advanced online publication by the New England Journal of Medicine on June 1. …

Biologists take snapshot of fleeting protein process

The biological "freeze-frame" shows the initial step in the formation of actin, a sturdy strand-like filament that is vital for humans. Actin filaments help cells maintain their shape. The filaments, which are called F-actin, also play key roles in muscle contraction, cell division and other critical processes. "One of the major distinctions between cancerous cells and healthy cells is their shape," said study co-author Jianpeng Ma, professor of bioengineering at Rice and the Lodwick T. …