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All Articles Tagged As: cell membrane
 | Charged atoms, or ions, move through tiny pores, or channels, embedded in cell membranes, generating the electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with one another. In new research, scientists have shown how an unusual protein plays a key role in temporarily blocking the movement of ions through these channels. Preventing ions from moving through the channel gives cells time to recharge so that they can continue firing. ...> Full Article |
Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life. Instead of complex enzymes embedded in membranes, they used a simple metal ion as the catalyst. By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins.
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A new study describes an innovative new computational model that realistically simulates the complex conditions found in biological systems and allows for a more accurate look at ion channel function at the level of individual atoms. The research, published in the Biophysical Journal, provides a remarkably detailed look at the function of a bacterial channel that kills brain cells in people with bacterial meningitis and provides insight into mechanisms that underlie deadly antibiotic resistance.
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Many substances and nutrients are exchanged across the cell membrane. EPFL scientists have developed a method to observe these exchanges, by taking a highly accurate count of the number of proteins found there. Their research has just been published in the journal PLoS ONE.
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The quest for better ways of encapsulating medicine so that it can reach diseased parts of the body has led scientists to harness -- for the first time -- living human cells to produce natural capsules with channels for releasing drugs and diagnostic agents. The report appears in ACS' journal Nano Letters.
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 | A team of scientists working at NIST and University of California, Irvine recently developed a way to magnify cell membranes dramatically and watch them move, revealing a surprising dependence on cholesterol within this boundary between the cell and the outside world. ...> Full Article |
The discovery by UCLA biochemists of a new method for preventing oxidation in the essential fatty acids of cell membranes could lead to a new class of more effective nutritional supplements and could potentially help combat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and perhaps Alzheimer's disease.
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 | Mix two parts cornstarch and one part water. Swirl your fingers in it slowly and the mixture is a smoothly flowing liquid. Punch it quickly with your fist and you meet a rubbery solid -- so solid you can jump up and down on a vat of it. It turns out that cell membranes behave the same way. ...> Full Article |
 | Berkeley Lab scientists have designed an electrical link to living cells engineered to shuttle electrons across a cell's membrane. This direct channel could yield cells that can read and respond to electronic signals, or efficiently transfer sunlight into electricity. ...> Full Article |
 | Despite clear evidence that Hsp12 -- a so-called heat shock or stress protein -- helps cells survive life-threatening conditions, how it works was an open question until now. The surprising answer is revealed in the Aug. 27 issue of Molecular Cell, where German researchers explain how they discovered the function of Hsp12, a protective mechanism unlike any previously observed. Unfolded within the cell's aqueous cytosol, Hsp12 folds into helical structures to stabilize the cell membrane. ...> Full Article |
A specific type of fat present in cell membranes also serves as a cellular pH sensor, a team of University of British Columbia researchers has discovered.
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 | Bubbles created with pairs of laser pulses lead to needle-sharp jets that can inject material into a single cell. ...> Full Article |
 | Berkeley Lab scientists have created "molecular paper," the largest two-dimensional polymer crystal self-assembled in water to date. This entirely new sheet material is made of peptoids, engineered polymers that can flex and fold like proteins while maintaining the robustness of manmade materials. ...> Full Article |
 | Stanford engineers have created a nanoscale probe they can implant in a cell wall without damaging the wall. The probe could allow researchers to listen in on electrical signals within the cell. That could lead to a better understanding of how cells communicate or how a cell responds to medication. The probe could also provide a better way of attaching neural prosthetics and with modification, might be an avenue for inserting medication inside a cell. ...> Full Article |
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