[Toxic Amyloids] What's in a fold?
Bacterially secreted peptides known as PSMs (phenolsoluble modulins) stimulate inflammatory responses, lyse human cells, and contribute to biofilm structuring. PSMα3 is a virulent – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Stella M. Hurtley Tags: Toxic Amyloids Source Type: research
[Antibiotic Resistance] Resistance on a background of tolerance
Bacteria survive antibiotic exposure either because they are quiescent when antibiotics are around in the highest concentrations (i.e., tolerance) or because they acquire active biochemical – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Caroline Ash Tags: Antibiotic Resistance Source Type: research
[DNA Charge Transport] DNA charged with regulating replication
DNA can transport electrical charge over long distances and has the potential to act as a signaling system. The iron-sulfur complex [4Fe4S] found in some proteins is known to be involved – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Guy Riddihough Tags: DNA Charge Transport Source Type: research
[Proteomics] How proteomes take the heat
Living organisms are very sensitive to temperature, and much of this is attributed to its effect on the structure and function of proteins. Leuenberger et al. explored thermostability – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Valda Vinson Tags: Proteomics Source Type: research
[DNA Replication] Diverse molecular choreography of replication
Accurate duplication and transmission of genetic information to the next generation requires complex molecular assemblies. Bleichert et al. review replication initiation across – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Guy Riddihough Tags: DNA Replication Source Type: research
[Inflammation] How red berries reduce inflammation
Members of the interleukin-17 (IL-17) family of proinflammatory cytokines are important in the immune response to infections. However, too much IL-17 signaling is associated with autoimmune – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: John F. Foley Tags: Inflammation Source Type: research
[Polymers] How to make opposites compatible
Polyethylene (PE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) are the two most
widely used commodity plastics and thus make up a large fraction of the waste stream.
However, – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Marc S. Lavine Tags: Polymers Source Type: research
[Protein Design] Shining a light on cell signaling
Protein kinases are proteins that are used to transmit signals within cells. Zhou et al. engineered diverse kinases so that they could be switched on and off with visible light. – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Valda Vinson Tags: Protein Design Source Type: research
[Extreme Astrophysics] Spinning up an extragalactic neutron star
Ultraluminous x-ray sources (ULXs) are strange objects in other galaxies that cannot be explained by conventional accretion onto stellar-mass objects. This has led to exotic interpretations, – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Keith T. Smith Tags: Extreme Astrophysics Source Type: research
[Vascular Disease] Faulty blood cells and heart disease
Recent studies have shown that elderly people's blood cells often harbor mutations in genes encoding certain epigenetic regulators. These mutations can lead to clonal expansion of the – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Paula A. Kiberstis Tags: Vascular Disease Source Type: research
[Cognition] Very clever bees use tools
One hallmark of cognitive complexity is the ability to manipulate objects with a specific goal in mind. Such “tool use” at one time was ascribed to humans alone, but then to primates, nex – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Sacha Vignieri Tags: Cognition Source Type: research
[Microbiome] Bacterial battles on your skin
Normal human skin is colonized by a variety of normally harmless bacteria. However, one such bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, can aggravate symptoms of atopic dermatitis. – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 23, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Lindsey Pujanandez Tags: Microbiome Source Type: research
[Neuroscience] How will this molecule smell?
We still do not understand what a given substance will smell like. Keller et al. launched an international crowd-sourced competition in which many teams tried to solve how – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 22, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Peter Stern Tags: Neuroscience Source Type: research
[Coastal Ecosystems] Missing meadows fail to mop up microbes
Seagrass meadows, a prominent feature of most healthy coastal ecosystems, are often also associated with shallow coral reefs. Many plants have bioremediation qualities, and seagrasses, – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 16, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Caroline Ash Tags: Coastal Ecosystems Source Type: research
[Antiviral Immunity] An encephalitis-boosting microRNA
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), which is related to the Zika and West Nile viruses, targets the central nervous system. The encephalitis induced by JEV inflicts neurological damage – [Read More] (Source: This Week in Science)
Source: This Week in Science - February 16, 2017 Category: Science Authors: John F. Foley Tags: Antiviral Immunity Source Type: research
