http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Understanding the structure of proteins is a vital first step in developing new drugs, but to date, researchers have had difficulty studying the large number of proteins that are normally embedded in the cell membrane, a family of proteins that includes those involved in cancer-related signaling processes. However, using nanoparticles, scientists from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have found a way to preserve membrane proteins intact, enabling detailed analysis of their structure, molecular functions, and interaction with potential anticancer agents. http://www.physorg.com/news167412954.html Nanotechnology Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:40:01 EST news167412954 A new study by scientists at the University of Iowa shows why muscle membranes don't rupture when healthy people exercise. http://www.physorg.com/news167578418.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:34:04 EST news167578418 Applying biological molecules from cell membranes to the surfaces of artificial materials is opening peepholes on the very basics of cell-to-cell interaction. http://www.physorg.com/news167488713.html Nanotechnology Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:39:11 EST news167488713 (PhysOrg.com) -- Surgical removal of a tissue sample is now the standard for diagnosing cancer. Such procedures, known as biopsies, are accurate but offer only a snapshot of the tumor at a single moment in time. http://www.physorg.com/news167335574.html Nanotechnology Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:10:01 EST news167335574 (PhysOrg.com) -- Self-assembling and self-organizing systems are the Holy Grails of nanotechnology, but nature has been producing such systems for millions of years. A team of scientists has taken a unique look at how thousands of bacterial membrane proteins are able to assemble into clusters that direct cell movement to select chemicals in their environment. Their results provide valuable insight into how complex periodic patterns in biological systems can be generated and repaired. http://www.physorg.com/news166199996.html Biology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:43:15 EST news166199996 Tiny flying machines can be used for everything from indoor surveillance to exploring collapsed buildings, but simply making smaller versions of planes and helicopters doesn't work very well. Instead, researchers at North Carolina State University are mimicking nature's small flyers - and developing robotic bats that offer increased maneuverability and performance. http://www.physorg.com/news166163661.html Electronics Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:35:05 EST news166163661 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the bustling economy of the cell, little bubbles called vesicles serve as container ships, ferrying cargo to and from the port - the cell membrane. Some of these vesicles, called post-Golgi vesicles, export cargo made by the cell`s protein factory. http://www.physorg.com/news165846340.html Biology Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:32 EST news165846340 Every cell lining the small intestine bristles with thousands of tightly packed microvilli that project into the gut lumen, forming a brush border that absorbs nutrients and protects the body from intestinal bacteria. In the June 29, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Matthew McConnell, Matthew Tyska, and colleagues now find that microvilli extend their functional reach even further using a molecular motor to send vesicles packed with gut enzymes out into the lumen to get a head start on breaking down their substrates. http://www.physorg.com/news165488833.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:07:42 EST news165488833 In a landmark technical achievement, investigators in the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology have used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to determine the structure of the largest membrane-spanning protein to date. http://www.physorg.com/news165158481.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:10:02 EST news165158481 Research suggests a new level of regulation for cellular export process by molecules previously assumed to be dedicated to import activities. http://www.physorg.com/news165152678.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:45:06 EST news165152678 A revolutionary new protein stabilisation technique has been developed by scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council which could lead to 30 per cent more proteins being available as potential targets for drug development - opening up exciting possibilities in drug discovery. http://www.physorg.com/news165148787.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:40:17 EST news165148787 Underneath their smooth surface mitochondria harbor an elaborately folded inner membrane. It holds a multitude of bottleneck like invaginations, which expand into elongated cavities. Now researchers have identified two proteins linked in an antagonistic manner that are relevant for governing inner membrane structure. http://www.physorg.com/news165064938.html Biology Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:22:53 EST news165064938 An enzyme known to play a key role in the development of emphysema serves as the first line of defense against bacterial infection of the lung, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. They also found that the antimicrobial activity comes from a small portion of the enzyme that is structurally and sequentially unique in nature. http://www.physorg.com/news164464613.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:10:10 EST news164464613 Water is a crucial ingredient for life, but its level inside cells must be carefully regulated to maintain proper cell shape and size. In this week's issue of the open access journal PLoS Biology, scientists from the University of Gothenburg describe the highest resolution three-dimensional structure yet of a membrane protein, in this case of a protein channel known as an aquaporin that regulates water flow into and out of yeast cells. Virtually all living organisms use aquaporins to regulate water flow between the cell and its surroundings. http://www.physorg.com/news164338349.html Biology Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:40:01 EST news164338349 Researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital - along with colleagues at the University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia - may have found a chink in the armour of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the microorganism which causes AIDS. They have pinpointed the key cellular machinery co-opted by HIV-1 to hijack the human cell for its own benefit. Their study was published in May in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news163864198.html Chemistry Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:50:20 EST news163864198 The genome of complex organisms is stashed away inside each cell's nucleus, a little like a sovereign shielded from the threatening world outside. The genome cannot govern from its protective chamber, however, without knowing what's going on in the realm beyond and having the ability to project power there. Guarding access to the nuclear chamber is the job of large, intimidating gatekeepers known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), which stud the nuclear membrane, filtering all of the biochemical information passing in or out. In new research, scientists have for the first time glimpsed in three dimensions an entire subcomplex of the NPC; it's the key building block of this little understood and evolutionarily ancient structure, an innovation fundamental to the development of nearly all multicellular life on earth. http://www.physorg.com/news163599774.html Biology Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:24:31 EST news163599774 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arkansas researchers have characterized a membrane receptor protein and its binding mechanism from chloroplasts in plants and determined that it shares a commonly shaped binding site and mechanism with a similar protein found in E. coli. http://www.physorg.com/news163172312.html Chemistry Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:39:32 EST news163172312 In-growth and new generation of blood vessels, which must take place if a wound is to heal or a tumor is to grow, have been thought to occur through a branching and further growth of a vessel against a chemical gradient of growth factors. Now a research team at Uppsala University and its University Hospital has shown that mechanical forces are considerably more important than was previously thought. The findings, published today in the journal Nature Medicine, open up a new field for developing treatments. http://www.physorg.com/news163071316.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:36:10 EST news163071316 (PhysOrg.com) -- Diagnosis and treatment in one go: Korean researchers led by Tae Gwan Park and Jinwoo Cheon have developed the basis for a four-in-one agent that can detect, target, and disable tumor cells while also making them macroscopically and microscopically visible. http://www.physorg.com/news160820306.html Chemistry Wed, 06 May 2009 09:19:25 EST news160820306 Scientists may need to rethink the design of drugs meant to block HIV from infecting human cells, according to a study that appears in the May 1st issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. That's because the new report shows that HIV doesn't enter cells in the way that experts had generally assumed it did. http://www.physorg.com/news160316570.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:23:27 EST news160316570 Researchers from Durham University's Centre for Bioactive Chemistry are developing methods that show how proteins interact with cell membranes when a virus strikes. Using their approach, the team hopes to find new ways to disrupt and disarm 'enveloped viruses' before they spread in our bodies. http://www.physorg.com/news160213230.html Chemistry Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:41:15 EST news160213230 (PhysOrg.com) -- 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 addition to ferrying tiny amounts of cargo, the nanoneedle can also be used as an electrochemical probe and as an optical biosensor. http://www.physorg.com/news160142450.html Nanotechnology Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:02:03 EST news160142450 As municipalities across the United States reduce their dependence on groundwater sources to mitigate environmental impacts like subsidence and flooding, there is a growing need for better purification processes to keep contaminants found in surface water sources out of the public tap. http://www.physorg.com/news159541848.html Chemistry Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:11:43 EST news159541848 Breast cancer cells in the laboratory that don't respond to tamoxifen may be producing high amounts of cholesterol in order to provide a kind of shield against the drug, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). http://www.physorg.com/news159464522.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:42:31 EST news159464522 Scientists in Michigan are reporting discovery of the secret behind the fabled healing power of the main ingredient in turmeric - a spice revered in India as "holy powder." Their study on the ingredient, curcumin, appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.physorg.com/news159438178.html Chemistry Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:23:23 EST news159438178 A single crafty protein allows the deadly bacterium Salmonella enterica to both invade cells lining the intestine and hijack cellular functions to avoid destruction, Yale researchers report in the April 17 issue of the journal Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news159106541.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:16:05 EST news159106541 (PhysOrg.com) -- For a decade, Alzheimer's disease researchers have been entrenched in debate about one of the mechanisms believed to be responsible for brain cell death and memory loss in the illness. http://www.physorg.com/news159031657.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:28:27 EST news159031657 With the human genome in hand, biochemists have cataloged the 3-D structures of thousands of proteins isolated from living cells. But one important class of proteins -- those stuck in the cell membranes -- has proven difficult to extract and study in 3-D crystals. Now an international team of scientists has developed a way to train such molecules to line up neatly on the surface of water in thin, tissue-like layers called nanofilms. This technique should allow biochemists to better see and study the molecules and may lead to a new generation of molecular electronics and ultra-thin materials only one molecule thick. http://www.physorg.com/news158930443.html Chemistry Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:22:17 EST news158930443 (PhysOrg.com) -- The basis of all life forms are vesicles: membrane-enclosed, liquid-filled `bubbles` made of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Cells, which are separated from the surrounding medium by their cell membrane, are really just big vesicles. Small vesicles play a critical role in the intracellular transport of biomolecules. http://www.physorg.com/news157013196.html Chemistry Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:47:07 EST news157013196 An easily implementable technique to avoid reblockage of arteries that have been cleared through angioplasty and stent insertion has been developed by researchers led by Prof. Boris Rubinsky of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. http://www.physorg.com/news155809905.html Biology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:32:50 EST news155809905