Tag: molecular

Synapses are specialized brain structures where learning and memory occur. The efficient transmission of synaptic signals relies on the delicate structure and complex molecular composition of the synapses. However, the small size (several hundred nanometers in diameter) and heterogeneous nature of the synapses pose significant challenges in direct observation of the molecules inside synapses. Based

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have revealed new details about how joint inflammation evolves in rheumatoid arthritis, and the cells that prolong the inflammatory attack. In both laboratory models and human clinical samples, the research team pinpointed immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells as an unexpected source of the inflammatory protein GM-CSF in

The heart’s ability to beat normally over a lifetime is predicated on the synchronized work of proteins embedded in the cells of the heart muscle. Like a fleet of molecular motors that get turned on and off, these proteins cause the heart cells to contract, then force them to relax, beat after life-sustaining beat. Now

Advanced bowel cancer cells have very few “molecular flags” on their surface, helping to explain why they may be hard for the immune system to detect, a new study has shown. Molecules on the surface of tumor cells, arising from faults in their DNA, help the immune system pick them out as cancerous—enabling immune cells

About 40 percent of the affected patients with Huntington’s disease—a neurodegenerative pathology- show depression symptoms, even in early stages before the apparition of the typical motor symptoms of the disease. An altered function of Cdk5 kinase—an essential enzyme in several cell signalling pathways- could explain the physiopathology of the depressive-like behaviour in Huntington’s disease, according

An approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of a protein channel that is missing in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, operating as a prosthesis on the molecular scale, says new research from the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa. Cystic fibrosis is a lifelong

In a study published today in Science, UT Southwestern and Rockefeller University researchers used advanced microscopes to determine at atomic resolution the structure of a molecular complex implicated in birth defects and several cancers. The Hedgehog signaling pathway, which transmits information to embryonic cells, is crucial to human health. Insufficient signaling during development leads to

Synapses, the structures that allow neurons to pass signals to one another, are essential to neuronal function. Proper formation and responses to stimulation of synapses both during development and in adulthood are fundamental to mammalian brains, but the molecular processes governing formation and modulation of compartmentalized synaptic assemblies are unclear. In a recent study, a

Keratinocyte skin cells are common targets of the beta subtype of human papilloma virus. This usually harmless infection causes skin disease in people with rare gene mutations.[/caption] You’re probably infected with one or more subtypes of the human papilloma virus—and, as alarming as that may sound, odds are you will never show any symptoms. The

FRIDAY, July 20, 2018 — Ultrarare, nonsynonymous variants are seen in 64 percent of victims of sudden unexplained death in the young (SUDY), with 10 of the 27 variants considered pathogenic or likely pathogenic, according to a study published in the June 19 issue of Circulation. Garrett W. Shanks, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,

In a small study of military personnel who had suffered head trauma and had reported memory and mood problems, UCLA researchers found brain changes similar to those seen in retired football players with suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, occurs in

In response to antibiotics, a gene regulation network found in the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii acts to boost both virulence and antibiotic resistance. Edward Geisinger of Tufts University School of Medicine and colleagues present new insights into this system in a study published in PLOS Pathogens. A. baumannii is a multi-drug resistant bacterium that spreads in

(HealthDay)—The EtpA adhesion molecule, which is secreted by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strain H10407, is a dominant ETEC blood group A-specific lectin/hemagglutinin, according to a study published online May 17 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Pardeep Kumar, Ph.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues examined the molecular basis

A type of molecular ‘rabble-rouser’ that triggers pancreatic cancer to become aggressive and spread around the body has been identified by scientists. The team behind the early-stage research, led by Imperial College London and funded by Pancreatic Cancer UK, say the findings may open avenues for treatments that target these molecules. The molecules, called microRNAs,

The discovery of a new mechanism involved in depression – and a way to target it with a drug as effective as classical antidepressants—provides new understanding of this illness and could pave the way for treatments with fewer side effects. In a study published in Nature Medicine, a team of scientists at McGill University and