Got Zinc? New Zinc Research Suggests Novel Therapeutic Targets Aug 1, 2009
Specifically, cell activation stimulated the zinc transporter in T cells called "ZIP8," which transports stored zinc into the cell cytoplasm where it then alters the expression of a T cell protein in a way needed to fight infections. "As the debate over zinc supplementation in healthy individuals continues," said John Wherry, Ph. (Science Daily)
Important Insight Into Apoptosis Or Programmed Cell Death Jul 31, 2009
Under normal circumstances, there is a high distribution of RanGTP in the nucleus and a low concentration of RanGTP in the cytoplasm (the body enveloping the cell's nucleus). It is this gradient of RanGTP that exist across the nuclear-cytoplasmic boundaries that serves as a track and directs the transport of proteins and other molecules into and out of the nucleus. (Science Daily)
Potential New Drug Target For Diabetes And Alzheimer's Disease Jul 24, 2009
Humanin is found in mitochondria structures that populate the cytoplasm of cells and provide them with energy. The peptide was first detected in brain nerve cells in 2001, and subsequent studies suggest that it protects nerve cells from death associated with Alzheimer's and other brain disease. (Science Daily)
Calculation of the relative metastabilities of proteins in subcellular compartments of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Jul 18, 2009
The relative metastability fields of subcellular homologs of glutaredoxin and thioredoxin indicate a trend from less to more oxidizing as mitochondrion - cytoplasm - nucleus. Representing the overall amino acid compositions of proteins in 23 different compartments each with a single reference model protein suggests that the formation reactions for proteins in the vacuole (in relatively oxidizing conditions), ER and early Golgi (in relatively reducing conditions) are relatively highly favored,... (BioMed Central)
How Dachshunds Got Such Short Legs Jul 17, 2009
The mRNA then leaves the cell's nucleus and enters the outer region of the cell, called the cytoplasm. There the mRNA is read by tiny molecular machines, called ribosomes, which use the information to assemble proteins. (Science Daily)
Core Nuclear Pore Elements Likely Shared By All Eukaryotes Jul 14, 2009
These proteins are conserved at the structural level, especially the pore coat and the core scaffold, but also the unfolded proteins that traffic molecules through the complex between the nucleus and cytoplasm, says Chait, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor and head of the Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry and Gaseous Ion Chemistry. All of the main elements are there. (Science Daily)
Hydrophobic, Hydrophilic and Hydrog... Jul 2, 2009
In the membranes the hydrophobic faces of each layer are in contact and the phosphates are in contact with either the cytoplasm or the outside of the cell. The copyright of the article Hydrophobic, Hydrophilic and Hydrogen Bonds in is owned by. (Suite101.com)
New Images May Improve Vaccine Design For Deadly Rotavirus Jun 27, 2009
"Since they have no membrane of their own, they must therefore perforate a cellular membrane to gain access to the cytoplasm (the interior of the cell)," he said. The new research shows that as rotavirus matures inside an infected cell, it assembles a kind of "armor" coating made principally of VP7 and a "spike" protein called VP4. (Science Daily)
Breakthrough In Understanding Severe Asthma Has Potential For New Treatment Jun 17, 2009
It relaxes muscle cells by pumping calcium out of the main body of the cell, the cytoplasm, and into an internal compartment called the sarcoplasmic reticulum ... They discovered that in people with moderate asthma SERCA2 levels were reduced, lowering the cells' capacity to remove calcium from the cytoplasm. (Science Daily)
Structure Of HIV Protein Shell Revealed Jun 17, 2009
For HIV to infect human cells, the virus binds to cell surface receptors, and then the capsid is delivered into the cytoplasm of the cell. Now, in an advance, online issue of the journal Cell published on June 11, 2009, Professor Mark Yeager and colleagues at The Scripps Research Institute, the University of Virginia, and the University of Utah describethe first high-resolution molecular structure of the hexagonal protein building block, called CA, that makes up the HIV capsid. (Science Daily)
How Prion Protein Damages Brain Cells: Findings Could Advance Understanding Of Mad Cow Disease, Related Disorders Jun 16, 2009
Rather than being on the cell s surface, some PrP is exposed to the cytoplasm, the gelatinous interior of the cell. Moreover, several studies from Dr. Hegde s group and others showed that when too much of a cell s PrP is exposed to the cytoplasm in laboratory mice, they develop brain deterioration ... "We realized that in at least some cases, PrP might be inflicting its damage by interfering with something in the cytoplasm.". (Science Daily)
Jefferson researchers identify critical marker of response to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer Jun 5, 2009
The protein, called Hu antigen R (HuR), is a stress response protein found in the cytoplasm of pancreatic tumor cells ... In a clinical correlate study that included 32 resected pancreatic cancer patients who received gemcitabine, patients who had low cytoplasmic HuR levels had a 7-fold increased mortality risk compared to patients with high levels ... "Normally, patients higher HuR cytoplasmic levels have a worse prognosis, since HuR expression is associated with advanced malignancies," Dr.... (EurekAlert!)
Serum to save the skin from untimely "death" Jun 4, 2009
Cell-CPR also contains phospholipids, proteins, oxygen, elements of cytoplasm and mitochondria, vitamins and minerals. All these work together in synergy to help your skin get a better shot at youth. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Sugarcoating fruit fly development May 30, 2009
Over 25 years ago scientists discovered that many proteins in the nucleus and cytoplasm have a small sugar molecule, called GlcNAc, attached to them. The enzyme that adds this sugar is called Ogt but since its discovery it has remained elusive why attaching GlcNAc to proteins is important. (EurekAlert!)
Viruses Are Sneakier Than We Thought May 28, 2009
The product of this process is a piece of messenger RNA, which then emerges from the cell's nucleus (the section of the cell containing DNA) into the cell cytoplasm (the main cellular compartment) and is translated there into the protein corresponding to the DNA's message. Polyadenylation is the process whereby Poly(A) tails are added to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in the nucleus before they are transported into the cytoplasm ... During KSHV infection, however, SOX removes PABP from the cytoplasm and... (Science Daily)
Common Assisted Reproductive Techno... May 26, 2009
Advanced infertility treatments now include in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, zygote intrafallopian transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection ... Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) ... During an ICSI procedure, a single sperm is injected into the egg s cytoplasm (fluid center), allowing the sperm to bypass the egg s protective outer layer. (Suite101.com)
Secrets of a cell May 25, 2009
And cytoplasm drains from the "corpse" of the intruder like blood from a street punk who crossed Dirty Harry. In leading laboratories in Boston and beyond, a revolution is afoot in the way scientists visualize cells. (Boston Globe)
Waxy plant substance key for absorption of water, nutrients May 23, 2009
Some nutrients use a symplastic route, moving through cells' cytoplasm to gain access to the plant. Others use an apoplastic route, moving through the outer cell walls. (EurekAlert!)
The future of personalized cancer treatment: An entirely new direction for RNAi delivery May 17, 2009
This allows the resultant fusion protein to enter the cell and deliver the siRNA into the cytoplasm where it specifically targets mRNAs from cancer-promoting genes and silences them. To determine the ability of this PTD-DRBD fusion protein to deliver siRNA, the researchers generated a human lung cancer reporter cell line. (EurekAlert!)
It's 'Cell Idol' May 12, 2009
About 125 students were involved in the project which started with research about scientists who were instrumental in the cell s discovery, and was completed with the three-dimensional, cut-away models that depict a cell s insides, including its nucleus, mitochondria and cytoplasm. Along the way, students created cartoons that showed what each scientist contributed to the discovery of the cell, and made cell folders that represented the different parts of a cell. (Racine Journal Times, WI)
Moms have more say in gene expression May 9, 2009
In addition to the mother's mitochondria (the powerhouse of cells), we inherit the cell cytoplasm of our mothers, which influences how the nuclear DNA is expressed, via epigenetic processes such as methylation, said David Bjorklund of Florida Atlantic University. The maternal environment extends from the egg to the placenta after conception. (MSNBC -- Health)
Why Are Scientists Sending Yeast Into Outer Space? May 7, 2009
Like human cells, yeast cells have a typical structurea nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria, and other components surrounded by cell walls. Yeast also shares many genes with human cells, so if you want to find out what a particular drug does to a certain human gene, you can often test it on yeast cells first. (Slate)
Extreme makeover: Stanford scientists explore new way to change cell's identity May 6, 2009
"At a certain threshold, a switch is flipped and the cell becomes committed to a specific fate." Although the precise molecular regulators of such a switch have not yet been identified, Blau speculates that proteins or small RNAs in the cytoplasm of the predominant cell modify the gene expression program of the minority nuclei. In addition to homing in on these regulators, the researchers are repeating the experiment with a variety of different cell types. (EurekAlert!)
Nanoneedle: Small In Size, Huge In Applications May 6, 2009
ScienceDaily (May 6, 2009) Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells ... In the paper, Yu and collaborators describe how they deliver, detect and track individual fluorescent quantum dots in a cell's cytoplasm and nucleus ... When placed in a cell's cytoplasm or nucleus, the bonds with the linker molecules break, freeing the cargo. (Science Daily)
Nanoparticle Delivery System Developed To Induce Immunity To Certain STDs May 5, 2009
Vaults are barrel-shaped nanoscale capsules found in the cytoplasm of all mammalian cells that can be engineered to serve as potential therapeutic delivery devices. "The primary goal of vaccines is to generate robust cell-mediated immune responses at mucosal surfaces while reducing overall inflammation caused by infection," Kelly said. (Science Daily)
Parkinson's: Neurons Destroyed By Three Simultaneous Strikes May 4, 2009
Outside the compartments in the cell's cytoplasm, however, Drs. Sulzer and Mosharov found that dopamine - in concert with calcium and alpha-synuclein is toxic. (Science Daily)
New study overturns orthodoxy on how macrophages kill bacteria Apr 28, 2009
The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, shows that macrophages focus their most potent poisons, known as reactive oxygen species (ROS), on targets outside the cytoplasm ... "It's been assumed that reactive oxygen species kill the bacteria by going into the cytoplasm and causing DNA damage," said medical microbiology professor James Slauch, who led the study ... To test this hypothesis, Slauch and graduate student Maureen Craig looked at the superoxide dismutases that are part of the... (EurekAlert!)
Brain metastases hijack neuron-supporting cells to resist chemotherapy Apr 20, 2009
Another theory is that the P glycoprotein (PGP), a membrane protein that expels drugs from a cell's cytoplasm, blocks chemotherapy. "Our work and others' showed that using drugs that are totally resistant to PGP, or blocking PGP itself, did not improve survival," Fidler said. (EurekAlert!)
RNA Used To Reprogram One Cell Type Into Another Apr 18, 2009
Essentially the team extracted and produced mRNA from an astrocyte, then used phototransfection to create pores in the neuron cell membrane to flood it with an excess of astrocyte mRNAs, which reside in the neuron host cell cytoplasm. Because there are now so many astrocyte mRNAs versus neuron mRNAs, they take over like a virus and the astrocyte mRNAs are translated into astrocyte proteins in the cytoplasm. (Science Daily)
Scientists Closer To Creating Safe Embryonic-like Stem Cells Apr 14, 2009
Produced in the nucleus and released into the cytoplasm, microRNAs home in on messenger RNAs that share part of their genetic sequence. When they find them, they latch on, preventing the messenger RNA from being processed by the protein-making machines known as ribosomes. (Science Daily)
Naturally Fluorescent Molecules May Serve As Cancer Biomarker Apr 7, 2009
"We realized that the fluorescence intensity not only depends upon the concentration of NADH but also on its structure -- free or enzyme-bound -- as well as its place inside the cell -- in the cytoplasm (non-nucleus part of the cell) or in mitochondria," explained Heikal. "Since a free NADH molecule would rotate -- tumble -- faster than enzyme-bound NADH, we were able to develop a technique called rotational diffusion imaging to establish a direct measure of the concentrations of free and... (Science Daily)
Seeing Single RNA Molecules Inside Living Cells: Researchers Develop New Method Apr 7, 2009
The toxin created several tiny holes in the cell membrane that allowed the probes to enter the cell's cytoplasm ... Previous studies showed that these techniques were able to image an accumulation of probes inside a cell, but the current study demonstrated that individual probes without cellular targets could be observed homogenously distributed in the cytoplasm with no localization or aggregation. (Science Daily)
alpha-Sarcin catalytic activity is not required for cytotoxicity Apr 4, 2009
Although it is widely held that the protein synthesis inhibition caused by the toxin leads to cell death, it has not been directly shown that catalytically inactive mutants of alpha-sarcin are non-toxic when expressed directly within the cytoplasm of cells ... In this report, we assay alpha-sarcin cytotoxicity and ability to inhibit protein synthesis by direct cytoplasmic expression ... In addition, both mutant and wildtype variants of alpha-sarcin localize to the nucleus and cytoplasm, where... (BioMed Central)
The subcellular localization of IGFBP5 affects its cell growth and migration functions in breast cancer Apr 3, 2009
In cancer tissues, IGFBP5 resides mainly in the cytoplasm; however, in transfected cells, IGFBP5 is mainly located in the nucleus ... Fluorescence microscopy imaging revealed that mutation of the NLS in IGFBP5 switched the accumulation of IGFBP5 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of the protein ... Together, these findings imply that the mutant form of IGFBP5 increases proliferation and motility of breast cancer cells and that mutation of the NLS in IGFBP5 results in localization of IGFBP5 in the... (BioMed Central)
New Insights Into How Brain Responds To Viral Infection Apr 2, 2009
The researchers compared two methods of exposing a cell to this virus-like challenge one from outside the cell and the other by direct delivery into the cell's cytoplasm ... The researchers were also able to show that a sensor protein known as MDA-5 is critical for astrocytes to be able to recognize viral molecules appearing in a cell's cytoplasm, and when astrocytes were engineered to express dysfunctional MDA-5, this immune response was selectively blocked. (Science Daily)
What is Genetic Engineering? Mar 26, 2009
Sometimes the inserted vector stays in the cytoplasm, the liquid medium that fills the cell, and acts like a small virus. Instead of producing harmful compounds like a virus would, however, a vector produces something that the body needs, such as a protein that the cell's normal genes are defective in producing. (Suite101.com)
Dr. Domagk, Prontosil and Sulfa Ant... Mar 25, 2009
Instead they have an enzyme (protein catalyst) that transports the PABA across their outer wall and membrane and into the bacterium's cytoplasm. Once inside PABA can be converted to the larger folic acid molecule. (Suite101.com)
How Proteins Find The Right DNA Sequences Mar 24, 2009
This is nevertheless slower than what is predicted by the established theoretical model for how DNA-binding proteins find their way to the proper place by alternating between diffusing in the cell cytoplasm and along DNA strands. "By also taking into consideration the fact that there are many obstacles in the way when proteins are to diffuse along DNA strands, we can now calculate more exactly how long it takes them to find their way," says Johan Elf, associate professor of molecular... (Science Daily)
Dr. Ehrlich, Chemotherapy for Infec... Mar 23, 2009
Membranes, nuclei, nucleoli, cytoplasm sometimes reacted differently to the same dye ... This dye showed cytoplasmic granules, that one does not. (Suite101.com)
Master Molecular Switch May Prevent The Spread Of Cancer Cells To Distant Sites In The Body Mar 18, 2009
When ESRP enhanced the splicing of an exon (red), the resulting mRNA produced luciferase protein in the cytoplasm of the cell. (Credit: Russ P. Carstens, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine). (Science Daily)
Protein Structure Determined In Living Cells, In Bacterium E. Coli Mar 14, 2009
Measurements in the living cell are challenging because it is difficult to distinguish between the protein of interest and the many other proteins in the cytoplasm. The Japanese researchers around Prof. (Science Daily)
New therapy protects lungs from runaway inflammation Mar 12, 2009
The researchers knew that NF-kappa-B moves from the cell cytoplasm to the nucleus (where it is active) in response to cellular injury or microbial agents, and they decided to try to block this nuclear translocation. They designed a small protein fragment a peptide that mimicked the nuclear transport "signal," hoping that it would compete with, and block, NF-kappa-B's movement to the nucleus. (EurekAlert!)
Well-known enzyme is unexpected contributor to brain growth Mar 12, 2009
AMPK with one version of the subunit, beta 1, was found both in the nucleus of cells and in the body of the cell, which is called the cytoplasm. AMPK with beta 2 was never found in the nucleusjust the cytoplasm. (EurekAlert!)
Live Evolution Witnessed In Controlled Environment Of Microbial Predator And Prey Mar 11, 2009
The right-hand image shows the predator inside its prey, in the process of feeding off the cytoplasm. (Credit: Copyright Edouard Jurkevitch). (Science Daily)
A eukaryotic initiation factor 5C is upregulated during metamorphosis in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Mar 9, 2009
Immunohistochemistry suggested that Ha-eIF5C was distributed into both the cytoplasm and the nucleus in the midgut, fat body and integument. Ha-eIF5C expression was upregulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). (BioMed Central)
Self-digestion As A Means Of Survival Mar 6, 2009
Unlike the proteasome, which is a complex molecular machine, autophagosomes simply consist of a double membrane that floats around in the cytoplasm. Not unlike white blood cells, they can engulf larger proteins or even whole cell organelles. (Science Daily)
Molecular Machine Turns Packaged Messenger RNA Into A Linear Transcript Feb 24, 2009
In humans and other higher organisms, the genetic information that is encoded in the DNA is stored inside the nucleus, while the factories that convert DNA instructions into proteins are located in the surrounding cytoplasm ... nter Blobel s Laboratory of Cell Biology, and his colleagues solved the crystal structure of a complex located on the cytoplasmic side of the nuclear pore nucleoportin Nup214 coupled with helicase Ddx19. (Science Daily)
Artificial cells, simple model for complex structure Feb 15, 2009
"Cells are interesting because they show organization even at the level of the cytoplasm, and while it is thought to be important for cell functions, it is not always clear how this organization is achieved," said Christine Keating, associate professor of chemistry. "We are taking a materials chemistry approach in developing simple experimental models for cytoplasm organization," she told attendees at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ...... (EurekAlert!)
Self-regulating molecular 'transformers' control intracellular protein delivery Feb 11, 2009
For example, prion disease can be caused by tiny snippets of misfolded prion proteins that accumulate in the cytoplasm of cells when the SRP pathway does not work properly. The accumulation of cytoplasmic prions leads to the degeneration of neurons, and the eventual death of the affected organism. (EurekAlert!)
Could Our Own Proteins Be Used to Help Us Fight Cancer? Feb 7, 2009
Each amino acid, for instance, has a characteristic response to water in the cellular cytoplasm. Hydrophobic amino acids abhor water and try to get away from it by nestling inside the protein structure, whereas hydrophilic amino acids prefer to face outward. (Scientific American)
