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)
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!)
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!)
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)
Mind-reading Machine Mar 24, 2008
cell The most basic part of a living thing, made up of a jelly-like substance called cytoplasm that is enclosed by a thin membrane. The cells of plants and animals have a nucleus, which contains the genes and other structures. (Science News for Kids)
Rays' Baldelli suffers from genetic malady Mar 15, 2008
Mitochondria produce energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is then transported to the cytoplasm of a cell for use in numerous cell functions. Baldelli has been betrayed by his body and within a few weeks the 26-year old could become an ex-Ray, which, if you pardon the pun, add insult to the injury. (Tampa Bay, TheInsiders.com)
NALP5 — A Major Parathyroid Autoantigen in APS-1 Mar 6, 2008
NALP5 was predominantly expressed in the cytoplasm of parathyroid chief cells. Conclusions NALP5 appears to be a tissue-specific autoantigen involved in hypoparathyroidism in patients with APS-1. (New England Journal of Medicine)
Key Step In Programmed Cell Death Discovered Mar 3, 2008
HtrA2 is made in the cell's cytoplasm and is transported into the mitochondria, where the enzyme must have a region removed for it to be active. This requires snipping away 133 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. (Science Daily)
Tool kit to track drug toxicity Feb 26, 2008
The reason for this, according to this new study, can be traced to mitochondria, those tiny organelles floating around in cellular cytoplasm, often described as the cell's battery packs. Findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. (Times of India)
New chemical tool kit manipulates mitochondria, reveals insights into drug toxicity Feb 25, 2008
The answers, it turns out, all boil down to mitochondria, those tiny organelles floating around in cellular cytoplasm, often described as the cells battery packs. A research team led by Harvard Medical School assistant professor and Broad Institute associate member Vamsi Mootha has developed a toolkit that isolates five primary aspects of mitochondrial function and analyzes how individual drugs affect each of these areas. (EurekAlert!)
Two-way Cell Talk Provides Clues About Neuromuscular Disease Feb 23, 2008
22, 2005) Researchers have identified that Dishevelled doesn't only function in the cytoplasm and at the cell membrane it must also pass into the nucleus. A study published today in Journal of. (Science Daily)
Novel link between excessive nutrient levels and insulin resistance Feb 22, 2008
His experiments revealed that within minutes activation of the insulin signaling network coaxes OGT out of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm. It travels to the plasma membrane and hooks up with PIP3. (EurekAlert!)
Genetic Pathway Critical To Disease, Aging Found Feb 22, 2008
A key enzyme in the new pathway, dubbed Star-PAP by its Wisconsin discoverers, functions as part of a complex that controls the expression of messenger RNA, all-important molecules that carry genetic information from the nucleus of a cell to the cytoplasm where proteins are made ... "The tail," Anderson explains, "is like a postage stamp that enables messenger RNA to exit the nucleus of the cell and enter the cytoplasm where the genetic message is translated into protein.". (Science Daily)
Solubility enhancement of aggregation-prone heterologous proteins by fusion expression using stress-responsive Escherichia coli protein, RpoS Feb 19, 2008
As an N-terminus fusion expression partner, RpoS increased significantly the solubility of many aggregation-prone heterologous proteins in E. coli cytoplasm, indicating that RpoS is a very effective solubility enhancer for the synthesis of many recombinant proteins. RpoS was also well suited for the production of a biologically active fusion mutant of Pseudomonas putida cutinase. (BioMed Central)
Expression of the "stem cell marker" CD133 in pancreas and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas Feb 9, 2008
Cytoplasmic CD133 staining was observed in some non-epithelial malignancies ... In a small subset of ductal cells and in cells in centroacinar position, we also observed expression in the cytoplasm ... Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas showed a varying degree of apical cell surface CD133 expression, and cytoplasmic staining in a few tumor cells was noted. (BioMed Central)
RNA-associated introns guide nerve-cell channel production Feb 6, 2008
Introns are commonly looked on as sequences of "junk" DNA found in the middle of gene sequences, which after being made in RNA are simply excised in the nucleus before the messenger RNA is transported to the cytoplasm and translated into a protein ... The investigators believe that this is a general mechanism for the regulation of cytoplasmic RNAs in neurons. (EurekAlert!)
Active Mechanism Locks In The Size Of A Cell's Nucleus Feb 1, 2008
This mechanism, however, doesn t reside within the nucleus as many once thought, but instead comes from the cell s cytoplasm ... During cell growth, the volume of each nucleus became directly proportional to the amount of surrounding cytoplasm ... Particularly, the two nuclei at the ends of the rods, which were surrounded by relatively more cytoplasm, grew faster than the two nuclei between them. (Science Daily)
New Method Exploits Ancient Mechanism To Switch Genes On And Off At Will Jan 30, 2008
During heat shock, a protein called heat shock factor-1 travels from a cell s cytoplasm to the nucleus, where it binds to a specific sequence of DNA. This interaction initiates the transcription of heat shock protein, a shield that deflects excess heat from cells and protects them from damage. Since these two proteins are expressed at a specific time when organisms experience heat shock at a specific temperature scientists had long designed transgenes to be expressed the moment heat shock... (Science Daily)
New Technique Quickly Detects Cancer Jan 28, 2008
If proteins are in their original position, floating freely in the cell's interior, or cytoplasm, a large percentage of them will flow out of the cell upon electroporation, Lu said. If translocation has occurred, in which proteins migrate from the cytoplasm to tightly bind to the interior of the cell membrane, few will be able to leave. (Science Daily)
Deafness and seizures result when mysterious protein deleted in mice Jan 25, 2008
The missing protein is a particular vesicular neurotransmitter transporter, a machine within nerve cells that ferries chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, from the fluid-filled cytoplasm into vesicles that are positioned at the tips of nerve cells and serve to release neurotransmitters onto neighboring cells. Transporters and neurotransmitters work together to make possible essentially all neural communication in the brain. (EurekAlert!)
Scientist brings artificial life one step closer Jan 25, 2008
"By itself, [it] doesn't do anything, but when you install it on a computer, then you have a working computer system. It's the same with the genome: the genome is the operating system for a cell and the cytoplasm is the hardware that's required to run that genome.". The work comes out of a larger effort by the institute to discover the minimum number of genes needed for a life form. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Heads Or Tails? Scientists Identify Gene That Regulates Polarity In Regenerating Flatworms Dec 10, 2007
Beta-catenin proteins are signaling molecules that reside in the cell's cytoplasm, and are known to turn on important developmental genes when a cell is exposed to a secreted protein in the Wnt family. The researchers thus went on to study the expression of Wnt genes during regeneration, and found that different members of the gene family were active at different locations across the planarian's head-to-tail axis. (Science Daily)
Cell biology sideshow draws a crowd Dec 6, 2007
And spirit he got, as a pair of roadmap cheerleaders a word play on the US National Institutes of Healths roadmap for medical research performed a choreographed tribute to cytoplasm, pom-poms in clutch. The cheerleaders were NIH researchers Clare Waterman and Margaret Gardel. (Nature News Service)
Structure Of Largest Nonvirus Particle Ever Crystallized Modeled Nov 28, 2007
Vaults are large, barrel-shaped particles found in the cytoplasm of all mammalian cells; they may function in innate immunity. As naturally occurring nanoscale capsules, vaults may be useful to engineer as therapeutic delivery vehicles. (Science Daily)
blog conversation Nov 22, 2007
This will identify the origin and likely source of surrogate cytoplasm. This means that donor DNA/cell samples and cloned samples must be available to a nominated independent lab. (Nature News Service)
Intervening In The Deadly Cycle Of HIV Reproduction Nov 7, 2007
An important step in the lifecycle of HIV and a potential point of attack for treatment is as follows: The viral RNA produced in the nucleus of the host cell is transported as a long strand out through pores in the cell membrane into the cell s cytoplasm, where it is translated into proteins or packed into a viral shell. This discharge is an active process carried out by a viral protein called Rev. For this process, many Rev units have to attach to a binding site on the viral RNA, called the... (Science Daily)
How Does The Antitumor Drug Get To The Cell Nucleus? Nov 6, 2007
10, 2001) A study by two researchers at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine into the communication between the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells may aid in the development of molecular. (Oct. (Science Daily)
Bacteria Use Plant Defense For Genetic Modification Oct 25, 2007
"We were able to show that VIP1 is a protein that regulates various genes designed to defend against bacterial invasion. However, VIP1 only occurs initially in the cytoplasm of cells and - in order to fulfil its role as a regulator - it then needs to migrate into the nucleus. It is precisely this movement that the bacterium exploits in order to inject its T-DNA into the nucleus." Prof ... Hirt explains further - "Plants have an immune defence mechanism that is triggered when the plant detects... (Science Daily)
Medical Nanoimaging Pinpoints Cause Of Cataracts Oct 25, 2007
A connexon is an assembly of 6 connexin molecules and forms a gap junction between the cytoplasm of two adjacent cells. The supramolecular architecture of junctional microdomains in native lens membranes N. Buzhynskyy, R. Hite, T. Walz, S Scheuring. (Science Daily)
New Role For Well-known Protein: Could Lead To Lead To Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Treatments Oct 23, 2007
The work revolves around septins--proteins known since the 1970s to play an essential function in the process through which the cytoplasm of a single yeast cell divides. "In yeast, septin is localized exactly at the neck between the yeast mother cell and the bud or emerging daughter cell," Sheng said. (Science Daily)
What Is ATP? Oct 18, 2007
In more primitive prokaryotes ATP synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm and cytoplasmic membrane. Additional Organic Chemistry Resources. (Suite101.com)
The Forgotten Code Cracker Oct 17, 2007
DNA, he knew, resided in the cell nucleus, whereas protein synthesis took place in the cytoplasm ... Also known as cell sap, it is a mass of cells denuded of their membranes, the result being a quantity of free cytoplasm in which the original cellular organelles and other structures remain largely intact and functional. (Scientific American)
Flavonoids Govern Cell Processes, Enhance Health Oct 16, 2007
2005: "Identification of actin as quercetin-binding protein: an approach to identify target molecules for specific ligands , in: Anal. Biochem. 346:295-9. 2. B?hl, M., Tietze, S., Sokoll, A., Madathil+, S., Pfennig, F., Apostolakis, J., Fahmy, K., Gutzeit, H.O.: "Flavonoids affect actin functions in cytoplasm and nucleus , in: Biophysical Journal, Vol. 93, Nr. 8 (2007). (Science Daily)
Cells and Viruses Oct 15, 2007
Their genetic material is naked within the cytoplasm, ribosomes their only type of organelle. Eukaryotes. (Suite101.com)
RNA-binding Protein Key To One Form Of Muscular Dystrophy Oct 14, 2007
RNA (ribonucleic acid) or messenger RNA takes the "message" about which proteins to make from the DNA to the protein manufacturing apparatus in the cell's interior or cytoplasm ... It binds genetic material in the nucleus of the cell, trapping the RNA there and preventing it from transporting the RNA messages into the cell's cytoplasm. (Science Daily)
Adult stem cells lack key marker Oct 11, 2007
But because the signal was seen equally in samples from both knockout and normal animals, and because it was observed in the cytoplasm (Oct4 is a nuclear protein), they concluded that it was nonspecific staining. They then created animals that would express fluorescent protein (GFP) wherever Oct4 was expressed. (The Scientist)
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells Oct 2, 2007
Their genetic material is naked within the cytoplasm, ribosomes their only type of organelle. Prokaryotes are most always single-celled, except when they exist in colonies. (Suite101.com)
UVA researchers explain cell response to skin-damaging UV rays Oct 2, 2007
We detail in this paper how a certain protein, called SOCS7, moves from the cytoplasm into the cell nucleus and essentially instructs the cell to stop dividing via a protein called NCK. The role of SOCS7 is both to stop outside signals from being relayed to the cell and to switch on the cells response to radiation damage. Cancer can arise if the repair work is not performed properly. (EurekAlert!)
Promising Genetic Therapy Uses RNA Interference Oct 1, 2007
In many RNAi studies, including the one that the MIT/Alnylam team was following up on, researchers use retroviruses to deliver genes that code for short hairpin RNA, which is a precursor to siRNA. Once the gene is incorporated into the cell's DNA, short hairpin RNA is synthesized and transported from the cell nucleus to the cytoplasm for further processing ... In the current MIT/Alnylam study, siRNA was delivered directly to the cell cytoplasm, so it did not compete with the export of microRNA..... (Science Daily)
Bacterial Cell Wall Oct 1, 2007
Their genetic material is naked within the cytoplasm, and ribosomes are their only type of organelle. The term nucleoid refers to the region of cytoplasm where chromosomal DNA is located, usually a singular, circular chromosome ... This rigid structure of peptidoglycan, specific only to prokaryotes, gives the cell shape and surrounds the cytoplasmic membrane. (Suite101.com)
Prokaryotic Cells Oct 1, 2007
Their genetic material is naked within the cytoplasm, ribosomes their only type of organelle ... These ribose sugar bodies are made of rRNA and proteins and exist either free within cytoplasm or attached to the plasma membrane ... This is the cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" within the cytoplasm previously thought to be a feature only of eukaryotic cells. (Suite101.com)
Eat Less To Live Longer: Calorie Restriction Linked To Long Healthy Lives Sep 27, 2007
Mitochondria, a kind of cellular organ that lives in the cytoplasm, are often considered to be the cell's battery packs. When mitochondria stability starts to wane, energy is drained out of the cell, and its days are numbered. (Science Daily)
Controlling For Size May Also Prevent Cancer Sep 26, 2007
When the Hopkins team engineered the cells to stop or slow growth, Yap in those cells has its phosphate attached and moves from the nucleus--the brain center of the cell--into the main body of cells, or cytoplasm. "A drug that somehow turns off Yap might also stop cancer cells from growing," says Pan, "and manipulating the Hippo pathway could provide a way to grow organs to a pre-determined size for transplantation.". (Science Daily)
New Insights into the Control of Stem Cells: Keeping the Right Balance Sep 24, 2007
Two of the main compenents of the Wnt pathway are the proteins beta-catenin and TCF/LEF. In normal cells, the level of beta-catenin in the cytoplasm is regulated by a complex of proteins to which it is bound and which label it for destruction in the waste basket of the cell, the proteasome ... If APC is mutated, beta-catenin gets rid of its chains, accumulates in the cell s cytoplasm and moves into the cell s nucleus ... Professor Dr. Hans Clevers from the Hubrecht Laboratory and Centre for... (Science Daily)
New Clue To Why Eating Fewer Calories Can Help You Live Longer Sep 23, 2007
The mechanism that triggers cell death is depletion in NAD+, an important enzyme involved in cell signalling that is found inside mitochondria, and also in the cell's nucleus and cytoplasm (the thick liquid that fills the cell) ... Another surprising discovery was that even when the NAD+ in the cytoplasm and nucleus of cells was depleted, the mitochondrial NAD+ levels stayed viable enough to keep cells alive. (Medical News Today)
