Probing protein's role in cell biology to understand how it might fight cancer
(Lehigh University) Funded by a $1.6 million Project Research Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, researchers from Lehigh University, the University of Virginia, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working to unlock the mysteries of a protein that plays a crucial regulatory role in human health and disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - May 5, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Geisel Professor Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Ta-Yuan (T.Y.) Chang, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), considered to be one of the country’s premier scientific societies. (Source: News at Dartmouth Medical School)
Source: News at Dartmouth Medical School - April 29, 2021 Category: Hospital Management Authors: Timothy Dean Tags: News Press Release Chang Laboratory National Academy of Sciences Source Type: news
Preventing Engrailed-1 activation in fibroblasts yields wound regeneration without scarring
Skin scarring, the end result of adult wound healing, is detrimental to tissue form and function. Engrailed-1 lineage–positive fibroblasts (EPFs) are known to function in scarring, but Engrailed-1 lineage–negative fibroblasts (ENFs) remain poorly characterized. Using cell transplantation and transgenic mouse models, we identified a dermal ENF subpopulation that gives rise to postnatally derived EPFs by activating Engrailed-1 expression during adult wound healing. By studying ENF responses to substrate mechanics, we found that mechanical tension drives Engrailed-1 activation via canonical mechanotransduction sig...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 22, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Mascharak, S., desJardins-Park, H. E., Davitt, M. F., Griffin, M., Borrelli, M. R., Moore, A. L., Chen, K., Duoto, B., Chinta, M., Foster, D. S., Shen, A. H., Januszyk, M., Kwon, S. H., Wernig, G., Wan, D. C., Lorenz, H. P., Gurtner, G. C., Longaker, M. T Tags: Cell Biology, Medicine, Diseases, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Regeneration without scarring
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - April 22, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Purnell, B. A. Tags: Cell Biology, Medicine, Diseases twis Source Type: news
Circuit design for control of metabolism
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - April 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Ray, L. B. Tags: Cell Biology, Engineering twis Source Type: news
Goblet cell diversity
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - April 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Ash, C. Tags: Cell Biology, Molecular Biology twis Source Type: news
Decoupling transcription factor expression and activity enables dimmer switch gene regulation
Gene-regulatory networks achieve complex mappings of inputs to outputs through mechanisms that are poorly understood. We found that in the galactose-responsive pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the decision to activate the transcription of genes encoding pathway components is controlled independently from the expression level, resulting in behavior resembling that of a mechanical dimmer switch. This was not a direct result of chromatin regulation or combinatorial control at galactose-responsive promoters; rather, this behavior was achieved by hierarchical regulation of the expression and activity of a single transcripti...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Ricci-Tam, C., Ben-Zion, I., Wang, J., Palme, J., Li, A., Savir, Y., Springer, M. Tags: Cell Biology, Engineering reports Source Type: news
An intercrypt subpopulation of goblet cells is essential for colonic mucus barrier function
In this study, however, we delineated their specific gene and protein expression profiles and identified several distinct goblet cell populations that form two differentiation trajectories. One distinct subtype, the intercrypt goblet cells (icGCs), located at the colonic luminal surface, produced mucus with properties that differed from the mucus secreted by crypt-residing goblet cells. Mice with defective icGCs had increased sensitivity to chemically induced colitis and manifested spontaneous colitis with age. Furthermore, alterations in mucus and reduced numbers of icGCs were observed in patients with both active and rem...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Nyström, E. E. L., Martinez-Abad, B., Arike, L., Birchenough, G. M. H., Nonnecke, E. B., Castillo, P. A., Svensson, F., Bevins, C. L., Hansson, G. C., Johansson, M. E. V. Tags: Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Lockdown for genome parasites
(IMBA- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) Researchers at GMI - Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences - uncover an ingenious mechanism by which Arabidopsis safeguards the integrity of its genome. The paper is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - April 8, 2021 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Structure and dynamics of the CGRP receptor in apo and peptide-bound forms
G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are key regulators of information transmission between cells and organs. Despite this, we have only a limited understanding of the behavior of GPCRs in the apo state and the conformational changes upon agonist binding that lead to G protein recruitment and activation. We expressed and purified unmodified apo and peptide-bound calcitonin gene–related peptide (CGRP) receptors from insect cells to determine their cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures, and we complemented these with analysis of protein conformational dynamics using hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass s...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 8, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Josephs, T. M., Belousoff, M. J., Liang, Y.-L., Piper, S. J., Cao, J., Garama, D. J., Leach, K., Gregory, K. J., Christopoulos, A., Hay, D. L., Danev, R., Wootten, D., Sexton, P. M. Tags: Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
QSER1 protects DNA methylation valleys from de novo methylation
DNA methylation is essential to mammalian development, and dysregulation can cause serious pathological conditions. Key enzymes responsible for deposition and removal of DNA methylation are known, but how they cooperate to regulate the methylation landscape remains a central question. Using a knockin DNA methylation reporter, we performed a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in human embryonic stem cells to discover DNA methylation regulators. The top screen hit was an uncharacterized gene, QSER1, which proved to be a key guardian of bivalent promoters and poised enhancers of developmental genes, especially those residing in D...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 8, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Dixon, G., Pan, H., Yang, D., Rosen, B. P., Jashari, T., Verma, N., Pulecio, J., Caspi, I., Lee, K., Stransky, S., Glezer, A., Liu, C., Rivas, M., Kumar, R., Lan, Y., Torregroza, I., He, C., Sidoli, S., Evans, T., Elemento, O., Huangfu, D. Tags: Cell Biology, Development, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Pollen PCP-B peptides unlock a stigma peptide-receptor kinase gating mechanism for pollination
Sexual reproduction in angiosperms relies on precise communications between the pollen and pistil. The molecular mechanisms underlying these communications remain elusive. We established that in Arabidopsis, a stigmatic gatekeeper, the ANJEA–FERONIA (ANJ–FER) receptor kinase complex, perceives the RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR peptides RALF23 and RALF33 to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the stigma papillae, whereas pollination reduces stigmatic ROS, allowing pollen hydration. Upon pollination, the POLLEN COAT PROTEIN B-class peptides (PCP-Bs) compete with RALF23/33 for binding to the ANJ&ndash...
Source: ScienceNOW - April 8, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Liu, C., Shen, L., Xiao, Y., Vyshedsky, D., Peng, C., Sun, X., Liu, Z., Cheng, L., Zhang, H., Han, Z., Chai, J., Wu, H.-M., Cheung, A. Y., Li, C. Tags: Botany, Cell Biology r-articles Source Type: news
Targeting microRNAs could unmask hidden vulnerability in breast cancer stem cells
(Rockefeller University Press) Researchers in Italy have identified a pair of microRNA molecules that help maintain a population of cancerous stem cells that drive the growth of breast cancers and initiate tumor relapse after treatment. The study, which will be published April 2 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), reveals that targeting these microRNAs makes cancer stem cells more susceptible to some chemotherapies and could potentially improve the prognosis of patients with aggressive forms of breast cancer. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - April 2, 2021 Category: Biology Source Type: news
USC Stem Cell study identifies molecular 'switch' that turns precursors into kidney cells
(Keck School of Medicine of USC) Kidney development is a balancing act between the self-renewal of stem and progenitor cells to maintain and expand their numbers, and the differentiation of these cells into more specialized cell types. In a new study from the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, a team of scientists demonstrates the importance of a molecule calledβ-catenin in striking this balance. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - April 1, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Optogenetics: Light regulates an enzyme
(University of W ü rzburg) New tool for cell biology: W ü rzburg researchers have developed a light sensor with an enzyme function that can be switched on and off with different light colours. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 29, 2021 Category: Biology Source Type: news
