Probing the surface of white blood cells to enhance immune system medicine
...Disruption of the putative receptors on microvilli tips that mediate this process could have significant therapeutic benefits. Drugs that eliminate lymphocyte microvilli could lead to a less toxic form of immune suppression for transplant recipients. Since many cancer cells share the same mechanism of ext...MIT team explains yin-yang of ginseng
...owth of blood vessels; more of the other component tips the scale the other way. "We found that this composition really matters for the ultimate outcome," said Shiladitya Sengupta, a postdoctoral associate in MIT's Biological Engineering Division. Further, the team found that the way ginseng extracts ar...Make a splash for public health this summer
...he public health needs of swimming pools, offering tips on how to recognize risky swimming facilities and how to promote cleaner, healthier pools. What's at stake, according to noted Michigan State University microbiologist Dr. Joan Rose, is your personal health and the health of your family. "Improperly...Tufts University groundbreaking research on caterpillar locomotion
...of caterpillars to climb using curved hooks at the tips of the abdominal prolegs is being examined. This gripping is passive but very strong (similar to Velcro hooks) and can be actively released. To examine these questions, Trimmer and his research team are using 3D kinematics, electromyography, hydra...Mimicking humpback whale flippers may improve airplane wing design
...cations not only to airplane wings but also on the tips of helicopter rotors, airplane propellers and ship rudders," said Howle. The purpose of the tubercles on the leading edge of humpback whale flippers has been the source of speculation for some time, said Fish. "The idea they improved flipper aerody...World's oldest modern hummingbirds described in Science
...5 times larger than their craniums even though the tips of the beaks are lost. Details from their shoulder joints and upper arm bones suggest that the birds rotated their wings like today's hummingbirds. "The tip of the wing makes a figure 8," Mayr explained. This wing motion allows hummingbirds to hover...Spiders make best ever Post-it notes
... (AFM) to measure this force. The flexible contact tips of the setules are triangular (pictures available ...Germany, said, "We found out that when all 600,000 tips are in contact with an underlying surface the spider can produce an adhesive force of 170 times its ...Citizens asked to monitor impact of invasive bird species
...s can do. The Birdhouse Network recommends several tips to discourage house sparrows from nesting. These tips include avoiding the use of filler grain, such as milo, millet or cracked corn, at bird feeder stati...Biologist's find alters the bacteria family tree
...'s genes. These organisms will be more toward the tips of the lines, while those with genes that closely ...or will be closer to the center of the tree. "The tips of the tree use oxygen, so they first originated the use of oxygen," explained Blank. Opening New ...Carnegie Mellon U. develops microgel to recover enzymes for manufacturing, research assays
...e complexes were then attached irreversibly to the tips of up to four PNA strands in a way that led to cross-linking of different TWJs, resulting in the microgel. At room temperature, individual microgel particles are suspended in solution, but lowering the temperature causes the microgel particles to clu...Scripps Research scientists find deafness gene's function
...ed in the stereocilia. These tip links connect the tips of stereocilia and are also thought to be important for the transmission of physical force to mechanically gated ion channels. For years, the molecules that make up the tip link were not known. Now Mueller and his colleagues have identified one of th...A shocking surprise: High voltage + rats = ozone, reopens power-line debate
...surface charge that protrude from the surface. The tips can elongate and grow so sharp that droplets and even electrons can be ejected. Since most mammals are mostly water and produce surface moisture in sweat glands, saliva and eyes, perhaps here is a connection. Goheen and his co-authors suggest that al...New way to lock DNA-slicing enzyme onto chromosomes could lead to novel anti-cancer drugs
...and bottom ends of the C-shaped enzyme so that the tips of the open ends of the enzyme were pulled together and locked Top 1 into place around the DNA. The Top 1 then acted as a roadblock to the enzyme machinery behind it. "We found that Top 1 didn't even have to cut the DNA once it locked down on it in ...Chemical gradient steers nerve growth in spinal cord
...ted by a receptor known as Frizzled3, found at the tips of these growing neurons. Commissural axons in Fr...s through each step. These cues act on the growing tips of axons, long narrow processes sent out by neurons in search of other nerve cells. Axons are tippe...Chromosomes are 'nibbled' before they fuse, researchers report
...telomeres, get too short. Much like the plastic tips on shoelaces, telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes. When telomeres get too short, cells usually die. If they don't, the unprotected ends drag the chromosomes through an ugly assortment of fusions that lead to rearrangements, deletions and insert...Exercise and healthy weight delay cancer even among women with highest genetic risk
...rily have the strong family history of cancer that tips a woman off that she is high risk. In many of these cases, the mutation came from the father. "There is a misperception out there, even among physicians, that the mutation is always passed down by the mother, but it can also come from the father," Gr...Molecule found to be critical for kidney development
...ted tissue branched an average of 10 times and the tips of these branches had consistent, small diameters; tubes in treated tissue only branched a maximum of eight times and their branches were more irregularly shaped. For the most part, the treated cells successfully passed through the first stage of de...Researchers find a pattern in evolution of lizard groups
...ges early in its history, lineages produced at the tips of the tree are more likely to explore a wide diversity of ecological roles." Lizards have been on the earth for more than 200 million years. There are as many lizard species as there are mammal species, and they make excellent models to study for e...New growth-stimulating cue identified for nerve cells
...le-like axons, hoping to understand how these cell tips reach out to distant targets. It's knowledge that might one day help researchers learn how to rebuild nerves lost to spinal cord injuries or diseases like Huntington's. Now, a Johns Hopkins team studying a family of proteins best known for repelling ...... longer detect two distinct pressure points on the tips of their index fingers. Monitoring changes in the...for three hours that stimulated a patch of skin on tips of their right index fingers. This coactivation boosts the number of neurons involved in processing ...