Protein assembly is essential for the formation of ordered biological structures, but imagine engineering one. This is exactly what researchers at Tokyo Tech have now accomplished with protein needles. By regulating the tip-to-tip ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 6, 2022
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75
The principle that form follows function does not only apply to design and architecture. It also applies to biology. Every organism is a universe that lives thanks to the activities of tens of thousands of nanomachines, whose ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 7, 2021
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10
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have set out to harness the potential of self-assembling peptides (SAPs) in intracellular spaces. They present a de novo designed peptide, Y15, which displays a strong ...
Biotechnology
Jun 28, 2021
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12
Of all the proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the pathogen that causes COVID-19), the spike protein is the one that gets the most attention. This attention is well-deserved—the spike protein is essential for latching on ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 17, 2021
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203
New Army-funded synthetic biology research manipulated micro-compartments in cells, potentially enabling bio-manufacturing advances for medicine, protective equipment and engineering applications.
Biotechnology
Apr 28, 2021
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25
The conversion of light into chemical energy by plants and photosynthetic microorganisms is one of the most important processes in nature, removing climate-damaging CO2 from the atmosphere. Protein complexes, so-called photosystems, ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 22, 2021
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97
A team of ETH researchers led by Karsten Weis has developed a method that allows them to study the assembly process for large protein complexes in detail for the first time. As their case study, the biologists chose one of ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 22, 2020
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26
Many proteins are required to maintain the structure, and to preserve the genetic integrity, of DNA. Sliding clamps are proteins that increase the efficiency of DNA replication. Without these proteins, cells would not be ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 10, 2020
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86
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet characterize a GTPase involved in ribosome biogenesis in mitochondria. The study, published in Nucleic Acid Research, reveals new details of a complex process that enables mitochondria ...
Biotechnology
Dec 7, 2020
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13
The influenza A virus is surrounded by a lipid bilayer that forms the outermost layer much like the plasma membranes on our own cells. Immediately under this lipid bilayer is a dense protein layer formed from M1 matrix protein. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 10, 2020
0
97
