Cellular Biology News and Research

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Gut Microbial Metabolite Linked to Increased Thrombosis Risk in COVID-19 Patients

A gut microbial metabolite called 2-methylbutyrylcarnitine (2MBC) plays a role in exacerbating thrombosis -- the formation of blood clots – researchers report February 23rd in the journal Cell Metabolism.

26 Feb 2024

Plant Study Reveals Novel Mechanism for Coordinating Cellular Responses to Stress

A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published a pioneering study that answers a central question in biology: how do organisms rally a wide range of cellular processes when they encounter a change-;either internally or in the external environment-;to thrive in good times or survive the bad times?

7 Feb 2024

Study Unveils Dual Role of 7-DHC in Ferroptosis and Cancer Cell Survival

Cell death is fundamental to life and, thus, healthy aging. In the realm of cellular biology, ferroptosis (a form of programmed cell death) has emerged not only as a focal point of research for its potential in eliminating cancer cells, but also its role in a plethora of other diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, eye diseases such as Retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, as well as ischemia, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, acute kidney injury and inflammation.

2 Feb 2024

Cracking the Code of the Cytoplasm: How Cells Organize Protein Production

Back in 2018, the lab of Christine Mayr, MD, PhD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) introduced the world to a key cellular component that had been hiding in plain sight.

22 Dec 2023

SFU-UBC Collaboration Pushes Frontiers of Cellular Biology With AI-Enhanced Super-Resolution Microscopy

In 2014, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry celebrated the breakthroughs in super-resolution microscopy, a technology that allows us to capture highly detailed images of small parts of cells using fluorescent microscopy.

11 Dec 2023

Targeting eIF4A with Zotatifin: A Promising Strategy for TNBC Treatment

Enhancing treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a highly aggressive tumor with a grim prognosis and limited therapeutic possibilities has proven to be a formidable challenge.

31 Oct 2023

Glucose-Sensing Neurons May Play a Role in Regulating Blood Sugar

The body's blood glucose level needs to be maintained in a relatively narrow range. It cannot be too high, as it can lead to diabetes, and it cannot be too low because it can cause fainting or even death.

12 Jul 2023

Small RNA Identified as Regulator During Bacterial Infection

Infection risk is always there in those with compromised immune systems. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a typical environmental bacterium, can colonize several body areas, including the lungs.

15 Jun 2023

Antioxidant Enzymes Relocate to the Nucleus in Response to DNA Damage

In crisis, the nucleus calls antioxidant enzymes to the rescue. The nucleus being metabolically active is a profound paradigm shift with implications for cancer research.

2 Jun 2023

Identifying Drugs to Put the Brakes On Accelerated Aging From HIV Infection, Treatment

Antiretroviral cocktails can make human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, undetectable and untransmittable, but both the virus and its treatment can also accelerate aging of bone and muscle.

24 May 2023

New Epigenetic Vulnerability Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Revealed

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer that causes uncontrolled accumulation of white blood cells. Because of the poor outcomes of this disease, researchers across the globe have been on the hunt for new ways to treat AML, while preserving normal blood development.

10 Apr 2023

DELLA Proteins: The Road to the Next Green Revolution

Despite being largely unchanged for over 450 million years, a family of “promiscuous” proteins that are present in all land plants is responsible for a wide range of plant activities.

5 Apr 2023

"Visual Biochemistry" Approach to Understand How the BRCA2 Protein Binds and Interacts with DNA

Using a self-built inverted microscope complete with laser optical tweezers to capture DNA, Yale Cancer Center and University of California Davis researchers for the first time created a visualization of the full-length human BRCA2 protein at the single molecule level.

3 Apr 2023

Researchers find methods to awaken and revive neural stem cells

Some areas of the adult brain contain quiescent, or dormant, neural stem cells that can potentially be reactivated to form new neurons. However, the transition from quiescence to proliferation is still poorly understood. A team led by scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL) has discovered the importance of cell metabolism in this process and identified how to wake up these neural stem cells and reactivate them. Biologists succeeded in increasing the number of new neurons in the brain of adult and even elderly mice. These results, promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, are to be discovered in the journal Science Advances.

2 Mar 2023

Ten years and 1,000 studies later, epigeneticists discover problems in their arsenal

Twenty years ago, following the initial sequencing of the human genome, geneticists started carrying out extensive genome-wide association studies to find genomic regions connected to human disease.

16 Jan 2023

Identifying the structure of the SEA complex

The mTOR protein is important for cell growth, proliferation, and survival. Its activity fluctuates according to nutrient availability and growth factors like hormones.

1 Nov 2022

Coral genome reveals cysteine biosynthesis pathways

Model animals, such as mice and fruit flies, have provided scientists with powerful insights into how cellular biology works. However, model animals are really just a guide, and it can be risky to generalize findings across animals from studying a selection of model organisms.

26 Sep 2022