Carnegie Mellon computational biologist Russell Schwartz receives prestigious CAREER award
...uctures, such as enzyme complexes, ribosomes, cell membranes and viruses. By modeling the chemical reactions that occur among individual molecules, Schwartz hopes to develop a more complete and accurate simulation of complex cell systems. Schwartz plans to apply this model to study how viruses assemble inside...Biologists discover nerve activity, not just genetics controls kinds of neurotransmitters produced
...e cells by altering the current through nerve cell membranes with drugs or by genetic manipulation. They found that increases in activity increased the levels of neurotransmitters that inhibit the activity of nerve cells across the synapse and decreased the levels of neurotransmitters that stimulate nerve cel...RNAi delivery system crosses blood-brain barrier to target brain cancer
... seeks out the human insulin receptor found in the membranes of brain cancer cells. The insulin receptor antibody latches on to the tumor's insulin receptors. The liposome, and its contents, uses the insulin receptor to gain entry to the tumor cell. Within the tumor cell, the plasmid payload is released from t...Gene at root of urban air pollution's lung effects
... lipopolysaccharide, a component of bacterial cell membranes ubiquitous in the environment, particulate matter, and high and low doses of ozone. TLR4 encodes a component of the innate immune system, the body's first line of defense against foreign invaders. Earlier work linked the gene to the lung's response t...Measurement clarifies role between protein structure and cell adhesion
...onfigurations may serve as scaffolds that hold the membranes apart and regulate the intercellular space," Leckband said. "The scaffolds would allow some molecules in -- like some proteins that activate the immune response -- while excluding others."...Inflammation, hypertension are focus of major new MCG research program
...ucing the ability of these fatty acids inside cell membranes to relax smooth muscles, increase blood flow and reduce inflammation. Dr. Inscho is piecing together the roles of interleukin-6 as well as the cytokines TNF- and TGF- in the problems that occur in the microvasculature of kidneys in hypertension. ...Engineered virus provides impetus in search for HIV vaccine
...y tissues and of reovirus that infects the mucosal membranes of the gut. To develop this potential vaccine vector, a key protein of reovirus that allows it to enter the gut has been exchanged into adenovirus to retarget this non-infectious gene therapy vector into mucosal surfaces. "This mucosal targeting ...Study suggests insect-derived antimicrobial peptides could be used as drug-delivery vehicles
...d not normally be able to penetrate mammalian cell membranes and tissues. In their study, published online toda...idates for transporting peptidic cargo across cell membranes in general, and for potential use in therapeutic applications as well as in vaccine development," Ot...Frog skin and supercomputers lead Penn chemists to designing better bacteria killers
...he modified arylamide polymer can disrupt the cell membranes of bacteria without harming the membranes of other types of cells, such as our own." The key to both magainin and the arylamide polymers is t...Devastating parasitic weed may be felled by toxin borrowed from flies
...broad spectrum of activity. Sarcotoxin attacks the membranes of many different bacteria, but is relatively safe for higher organisms. It is interesting that it also is effective against parasitic plants and we want to understand the mechanism." Why doesn't it also attack the host? The researchers demonstrated ...A&M researcher studying genes of mosquitoes
... studying cell receptors, the proteins in the cell membranes involved in the transfer of information from one area of the cell to another. The process is regulated by hormones. Hormones are released from the brain and nervous system, bind to the receptors and "tell these tissues" to activate a variety...Researchers show chronic sinusitis is immune disorder; antifungal medicine effective treatment
...crease in the inflammatory thickening of the sinus membranes compared to the control group. Inflammation in the mucus also decreased significantly in those receiving the drug, compared to placebo, and 70 percent of patients on the medication had a decrease in the amount of nasal swelling, results showed. "We...Fetal lungs provide a signal initiating labor, UT Southwestern researchers find
... preterm labor frequently have an infection of the membranes that surround the fetus, and the number of macrophages in the wall of the uterus increases with the initiation of preterm labor. When women go into labor at term, they also have an increase in macrophages in the uterus," Dr. Mendelson said. This led...Microbe's trick provides a template for willowy crystals
...ed in strands of a polymer that grow from the cell membranes of the microbes, which are more than likely metabolizing iron from the mine environment. "We are dealing with microbes that probably oxidize ferrous iron and reduce oxygen," says Banfield. "The product, ferric iron, then precipitates. The precipitat...Researchers model embryo implantation and tumour metastasis in fruit flies
... mutate the proteins, two different extraembryonic membranes fail to maintain contacts and the result is death ...asigin molecules were depleted, the extraembryonic membranes could not establish close contacts, equivalent to mammalian embryos not implanting. In addition, Dr....Schering-Plough scientists identify protein essential for cholesterol absorption from intestine
...rotein is specifically located on the brush border membranes of jejunal enterocytes, the side of the cell that comes in direct contact with the contents of the small intestine. The jejunum is the specific region of the small intestine where the majority of cholesterol absorption occurs. To confirm the role o...New study may explain how fats damage neurons in Alzheimer's patients
...ad suspected that changes in fat metabolism in the membranes of nerve cells played a role in Alzheimer's but we had not been able to establish a direct link," Mattson said. "With this study, we have been able to illustrate how alterations in membrane lipids can lead to neuronal dysfunction and death." The new ...Powerful machines are coming in small packages
...king on include micromachined gas-liquid contactor membranes for portable heat pumps, high-temperature microchannel arrays for increasing the efficiency of fuel reforming, and microfluidic integration for improving the shelf-life of tissue-based sensors. "We're trying to take large amounts of fluids down throu...Scripps scientists say genetic mutation doesn't protect against HIV and plague
...tein of 332 amino acids that inserts into the cell membranes of human CD4+ T helper cells. HIV particles use CCR5 to gain entry into CD4+ T cells. The CCR5 32 mutation -- a deletion of 32 bases of DNA from the CCR5 gene -- was first identified in 1996 in individuals who seemed to be protected from infection w......he body's own immune system attacks the insulating membranes surrounding nerve fibers. This damage results in loss of sensations and paralysis. Although genetic, infectious or environmental factors are thought to induce MS, the exact cause of the disease is still not known. Dr. David with his Ph.D. student ...