Researchers narrow search for structure of cholera toxins extracellular transport signal
...pathogenic bacteria migrate through their cellular membranes to cause disease. Using chitinase, a protein known to be secreted by V. cholerae by the same mechanism as cholera toxin, the researchers engineered a series of insertions, deletions and mutations in its amino-acid chain. Using this mutagenic ap...Unexpected links found between many RNA viruses
...g the viral RNA. These spherules are formed in the membranes of an internal cell structure called the endoplasmic reticulum, which is the site of BMV viral replication. Their studies revealed that this [+]RNA replication machinery strongly paralleled that for retroviruses. In retroviruses, a protein called Gag...Clotting cells switched on by cold
...is the formation of "lipid raft" structures in the membranes enclosing the cells. Discovering how and why plat...atelets' outer membrane. At body temperature, cell membranes are fairly fluid, like a soap bubble. The fatty molecules that make up the membrane can jostle and m...Natural antifreeze yields secrets
...roup. The antifreeze proteins also stabilize cell membranes during chilling, Crowe said. As the temperature drops, the fatty molecules that make up the cell membrane change from a semi-fluid to a gel-like state. As this happens, cell contents can leak out. In another recent paper from the UC Davis group, grad...Scientists reveal fine detail of cell's energy machinery
...nzyme involved in nitrate respiration, lies in the membranes of cells. Iwata's Laboratory of Membrane Protein Crystallography is one of a small number around the world that focuses on solving membrane protein structures using X-ray crystallography. Membrane proteins are technically difficult targets for struc...Bacteria's iron-absorbing mechanisms may open gates for new types of antibiotics
...sporters to actively pump iron through their outer membranes and into the cells. These iron-acquisition mechani...y elements across bacterial cells protective outer membranes has been widely studied. The extensive base of existing research allowed the team to focus on the ir...A gateway for Ebola/Marburg viruses
...teral mobility characteristics exist on the outer membranes of cells allowing for the colocalization of molecules necessary for the cells function. Lipid rafts have been implicated in entry, infection and budding of a variety of pathogens including intracellular bacteria and viruses such as HIV. In the March...How cold! New partnership to use chilled neutrons
...obe the elusive structure and interactions of cell membranes andtheir components, gathering information key to ...enetrating probes, valuable forstudying changes in membranes overtime. Because they behave like tinywaves of energy, neutrons also makeexcellent rulers. Dependin...High tech movies reveal information transfer within cells
...each step in the fusion process. Fusion between membranes requires an ordered cascade of protein activities that define each stage of the process. Employing advanced genetic techniques, the investigators tagged the membrane proteins that catalyze fusion with a green fluorescent protein label. This allowed...Study reveals new information on how viruses enter cells
...ll. As the tail tube punctures the outer and inner membranes of the E. coli cell, the virus' DNA is injected through the tail tube into the host cell. The DNA then instructs the bacterium to produce new viruses. So many are produced, in fact, that the E. coli eventually bursts, setting masses of new virus ...New theory of the evolution of bird flight linked to parental care
...ely have been four-legged creatures that developed membranes between their front and back legs, much like flying squirrels or bats, he asserts. And, if the cursorial theory were true, there should have been obvious useful advantages to each form that developed between the four-legged reptile and the bird, he m...Hopkins scientists identify molecular details of water transport in the lung
...y lung. The crucial movement of water across cell membranes in the lung was long thought to be a passive proce... passive movement of water and solutes across cell membranes is still very important to lung function, and in people who lack the protein it may be vitally impor...Recovery from spinal cord injury seen in mice when scarring is minimized
...tegrity of the dura, the outer layer of protective membranes that encloses the spinal cord. Doing this left both ends of the damaged cord in close proximity to each other and limited their displacement. It also had the effect of blocking inflammatory cells, particularly the fibroblasts that would normally migr...Aquaporins - the perfect water filters of the cell
...echanics of these universal water channels of cell membranes at atomic resolution using extensive computer simulations (Science 14 December 2001). Aquaporins are water channel proteins; they are located in the otherwise waterimpermeable cell membrane of many plants and animals. There they prevent bursting of ...Bacteria's natural foe fights drug-resistant infections
... test tube. S. pneumoniae normally lives on mucous membranes in the nose and throat of humans. It is from here ...ions. "This enzyme will kill pneumococci on mucous membranes within seconds," says Jutta Loeffler, M.D., first author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow at R...Seat of cellular bus system for protein passengers found by Dartmouth Medical School researchers
...ction is essential. After they are manufactured on membranes in the cell interior, the proteins are captured in...eries of steps not yet well delineated. "Internal membranes have thousands of proteins in them and some of those proteins depend on vesicles to travel to anothe...Discovery of dynamic sub-cellular processes could lead to medical applications
...shaped arrangement of layers of flattened sac-like membranes that's located in a characteristic place near the cell's nucleus. Proteins are processed through the layers of the Golgi apparatus, with enzymes in each layer causing modifications as the proteins proceed through the layers, finally to be shuttled in...Researchers describe atomic-size 'sorter' that performs vital cellular function
...oms that power many vital functions, traverse cell membranes through specialized proteins called ion channels. The proteins provide pathways between the inner part of the cell and the exterior. The selectivity filter is the essential part of the pathway. The three-dimensional image of the selectivity filter, ...Researchers building a trap for chromium six
...b. The researchers have determined how to make the membranes and how they work best, and are beginning soil column tests.......rous. "Once the fatty acid composition of the membranes of colon cells is changed," Lupton says," that sets up a different fate for the cell. A signal can go from the cellular membrane to the nucleus of the cell and tell it either to divide and become a tumor or give up the ghost and undergo programmed ce...