Scientists characterized designed membrane proteins to better understand the forces that stabilize these large, complex structures. The results necessitate a rethinking of membrane-protein biophysics and could lead to better therapies for related illnesses as well as functional membrane proteins for engineering applications. Read more »
Antibody Uses Mimicry to Block SARS Coronavirus
Protein structures not only revealed how SARS and MERS antibodies inhibit the viruses from attaching to host cells, they also revealed an unprecedented example of receptor mimicry that triggers the cell-invasion machinery of the SARS virus. The results inform efforts to prevent and treat these serious, often deadly, respiratory diseases. Read more »
Absorber Captures Excess Chemotherapy Drugs
Researchers have designed a biomedical device for absorbing excess chemotherapy drugs during cancer treatment, characterizing the active surface layer using x-ray microtomography. The work opens up a new route to fighting cancer that minimizes drug toxicity and enables personalized, targeted, high-dose chemotherapy. Read more »
A Two-Pronged Defense against Bacterial Self-Intoxication
Researchers solved the structure of a bacterial toxin bound to a neutralizing protein, revealing two distinct mechanisms for how the toxin-producing bacteria avoid poisoning themselves. The findings offer clues to the evolutionary origins of the potent toxins that enable bacterial pathogens to cause human diseases such as cholera and diphtheria. Read more »
Comparative morphology of cheliceral muscles using high‐resolution X‐ray microcomputed‐tomography in palpimanoid spiders
Spiders are important predators in terrestrial ecosystems, yet we know very little about their principal feeding structures—the chelicerae—an extremely important aspect of spider biology. Here, using micro‐Computed‐Tomography scanning techniques, researchers perform a comparative study to examine cheliceral muscle morphology in six different spider specimens. Read more »
Toward a Blueprint for Anti-influenza Drugs
Researchers obtained high-resolution structures of several influenza antiviral drug molecules bound to their proton-channel targets in both open and closed conformations. The structures provide an atomic-level blueprint from which to design more effective anti-influenza drugs that can overcome growing drug resistance. Read more »
Inhibitors of the M2 Proton Channel Engage and Disrupt Transmembrane Networks of Hydrogen-Bonded Waters
The influenza M2 proton channel can bind to drugs and inhibitors. The ammonium groups of these compounds form hydrogen bonds with networks of ordered waters within the channel, and the adamantyl groups sterically block the diffusion of hydronium into the channel pore. Read more »
Antibody Therapy for Autoimmune Diseases
The balance between two types of white blood cells is disrupted in autoimmune diseases. Using protein crystallography, scientists have identified a human antibody that locks interleukin-2, a signaling protein, in a conformation that preferentially activates one cell type to restore the balance and treat autoimmune diseases. Read more »
Targeting Bacteria That Cause Meningitis and Sepsis
Researchers determined the structure of a human antibody that broadly protects against a bacterium that causes meningitis and sepsis. The work provides molecular-level information about how the antibody confers broad immunity against a variable target and suggests strategies for further improvement of available vaccines. Read more »
Near-field infrared nanospectroscopy and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy enable complementary nanoscale analyses of lymphocyte nuclei
Recent super-resolution fluorescence microscopy studies have revealed significantly altered nuclear organization between normal lymphocyte nuclei and those of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Reported here are the first near-field IR imaging of lymphocyte nuclei, and far-field IR imaging results of whole lymphocytes and nuclei from normal human blood. Read more »
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