Feature Channels: Cell Biology

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A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has identified how the influenza A virus manages to penetrate cells to infect them.

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy amplifies the immune system’s ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. The first CAR T-cell therapy was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. Today, there are 6 FDA-approved CAR-based therapies to treat certain types of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, all of which are available at The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

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New research has unlocked insights into how “good fat” tissue could potentially be harnessed to combat obesity and remove glucose from the blood, helping to control diabetes. Published today in Science Advances, the work is a collaboration between researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Cambridge, Free University of Brussels and University of East Anglia.

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A new study led by scientists at Uppsala University and INRAE/Université Paris-Saclay has discovered that the pro-viral host protein ZC3H11A plays a critical role in maintaining embryo viability during early development.

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Study suggests person-to-person transmission may not be the dominant mode of infection for an aggressive lung pathogen. Findings shed light on the behavior and mutation tendencies of a little-known microbe. The results should ease fears that the lung bacterium poses a grave threat for spread between individuals with compromised lung function who are waiting for lung transplants.

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The early stages of embryonic development contain many of life’s mysteries. Unlocking these mysteries can help us better understand early development and birth defects, and help develop new regenerative medicine treatments.

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A team of researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has discovered that a transcription factor, TOX2, was aberrantly increased in patients with Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL). The increased TOX2 level leads to the growth and spread of NKTL, as well as the overproduction of PRL-3 – an oncogenic phosphatase that is a known key player in the survival and metastasis of several other types of cancers. This breakthrough discovery presents a potential novel therapeutic target to treat NKTL.

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A tangle of pockets, tubes and sac-like membrane structures runs through the cells of humans, animals, plants and fungi: the endoplasmic reticulum, or ER for short.

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Applying imaging technology to plant roots, researchers have developed a new understanding of chemicals that are responsible for plant growth. The chemical “roadmap” identifies where key molecules are distributed along corn roots and how their placement factors into the plant’s maturation.

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A new method than enables researchers to dial up or tone down the amount of a certain metastatic protein inhibitor (BACH1) within a cell could provide a new path in cancer research that reassesses the effectiveness of protein inhibitors to treat disease.

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The discovery suggests that one possible approach to treat glioblastoma would be a therapy that targets the metabolic process in patients who have that genetic alteration.

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In a new study, published in Nature Cell Biology, scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) explored the location, function, gene expression, and metabolism of MAIT cells in the mouse lung.

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ASBMB announces a new cohort of 12 ASBMB Advocacy Training Program delegates who will learn about science policy and advocacy through this summer externship

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Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have used artificial intelligence models and machine-learning algorithms to successfully predict which components of amino acids that make up therapeutic proteins are most likely to safely deliver therapeutic drugs to animal eye cells.

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Scientists report six structures of the Spns2 transporter, which is linked to cancer and other diseases, including while it is bound to a small molecule inhibitor, thus aiding future therapeutic design.

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A community study involving 101 participants aged between 38 to 91 years old has found that weekly 10-min exposure to very low levels of pulsed electromagnetic field using the BIXEPS device developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore significantly improves mobility, especially in the elderly. This painless therapy produces comparable results to exercise, and also improves body composition and reduces pain

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The latest space experiments from UC San Diego and Axiom Space will explore therapies for breast and colorectal cancer aboard the ISS, and monitor astronauts’ stem cell health over time.

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Every day, millions of cells die in our body. Other than generally assumed, cells do not simply burst at the end of their lives but rather, a specific protein serves as a breaking point for cell membrane rupture.

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UC San Diego scientists develop an interactive software that enables scientists to better investigate the DNA damage response.

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In a new study published in eLife, lead author Carolyn Elya, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, reveals the molecular and cellular underpinnings behind the parasitic fungus, Entomophthora muscae’s (E. muscae), ability to manipulate the behavior of fruit flies.

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Cairns joins renowned scientists as part of the Royal Society, known for its significant role in many scientific discoveries. Cairns is the second current faculty member elected at the U.

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Tissue engineering research has shown that a skin cell type could be a new therapeutic target to accelerate the healing of burns and possibly other wounds.

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DNA is well known as the blueprint of life, necessary for an organism to facilitate living processes. DNA can be damaged by various factors such as radical metabolites, radiation, and some toxic chemicals.

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Molecular clocks in our cells synchronize our bodies with the cycle of night and day, cue us for sleep and waking, and drive daily cycles in virtually every aspect of our physiology. Scientists studying the molecular mechanisms of our biological clocks have now identified a key event that controls the timing of the clock.

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A study led by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center suggests that IL-21, a soluble molecule involved in activating the immune system, can be a potential therapeutic target to help reduce endocrine autoimmune side effects caused by checkpoint inhibitor cancer therapy.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have discovered a new nutrient source that pancreatic cancer cells use to grow. The molecule, uridine, offers insight into both biochemical processes and possible therapeutic pathways. The findings, published in Nature, show that cancer cells can adapt when they don’t have access to glucose.

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Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a computational platform capable of discovering tumor antigens derived from alternative RNA splicing, expanding the pool of cancer immunotherapy targets. The tool, called “Isoform peptides from RNA splicing for Immunotherapy target Screening” (IRIS), was described in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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At a glance: Researchers trace the origin of certain breast cancers to genomic reshuffling — rearrangement of chromosomes — that activates cancer genes and ignites disease. The finding offers a long-missing explanation for many cases of the disease that remain unexplained by the classical model of breast cancer development. The study shows the sex hormone estrogen — thus far thought to be only a fuel for breast cancer growth — can directly cause tumor-driving genomic rearrangements.

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Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body and are produced following the instructions encoded in DNA. By reading their DNA letters, cells produce an intermediate RNA molecule that will give rise to the corresponding protein. Most diseases occur with altered protein levels, which are either a cause or consequence of the condition itself. RNA plays a pivotal role in diseases with altered protein levels by serving as the intermediary messenger between DNA and protein.

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How do our brains become capable of creating specific memories? In one of the first preclinical studies to examine memory development in youth, a research team at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) may have identified a molecular cause for memory changes in early childhood.

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Researchers from Argonne, Michigan State University and Northwestern University used Argonne’s Bionanoprobe beamline to look at the concentration of zinc in egg cells.

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The MGAT5 glycosylation enzyme plays a crucial role in brain development, according to a study by University of California, Irvine researchers, a discovery that may contribute to new therapeutic purposes for neural stem cells.

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Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in the United States, with over 5 million cases diagnosed annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that melanoma alone accounts for more than 8,000 deaths each year. Thankfully, skin cancer is highly preventable, making it crucial to prioritize protection. Below are some of the latest headlines in the Dermatology channel.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and the School of Dentistry identified a new metric to articulate the relationship between nerve density and oral cancer.

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The intricate process of flower development has long fascinated scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries behind nature's precision timing.

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Iowa State University engineers are developing advanced tools for cell manufacturing that could improve the cost and availability of therapeutic cells capable of fighting diseases such as cancers, heart disease, lupus and other autoimmune diseases.

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Researchers from the Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present nine abstracts highlighting their translational science and discovery research on gene therapy, gene editing, and adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector technology at the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ASGCT) 26th Annual Meeting on May 16–20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

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Seemingly healthy people whose blood contained antibodies associated with a condition called antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) were significantly more likely to experience a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke than those without, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists shows

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In a cryo-ET experiment, scientists use a transmission electron microscope to obtain 3D images, called tomograms, of the cellular volume containing complex biomolecules.

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Irregularities in the body’s genetic coding to make proteins are linked to cancerous tumors. But most genetic material contains elements whose function isn’t clear. Could abnormalities in non-coding material also impact a person’s health, or even be linked to cancers as well? A new study by researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine suggests that the non-coding genetic molecules also play a key role in health and disease, including tumor development.

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A recent study published in Nature Neuroscience indicates that, contrary to common belief, the immune cells of the brain, known as microglia, are not all the same.

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The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) will make history this month when the first bioprinted solid tissue constructs soar to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the next all private astronaut mission by commercial space leader Axiom Space.