Cell Membrane News and Research

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Tumors Use Mitochondrial Transfer to Reprogram Surrounding Cells

Tumors have developed many strategies and tricks to gain advantages in the body. Led by cell biology professor Sabine Werner, researchers at ETH Zurich have now discovered another surprising trick that certain tumors resort to in ensuring their survival and growth.

1 Sep 2025

New Water-Based Method Extracts High-Purity Lignin

The Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä discovered that lignin, a polyphenol vital for plant structure, has an antimicrobial effect against viruses and bacteria.

13 Aug 2025

Small Viral Protein ORF3a Reveals Big Role in SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Chicago discovered that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses a small but powerful protein, ORF3a, to assemble the infectious particles, making it more efficient at spreading the disease.

29 Jul 2025

New Method Enables Precise Fatty Acid Delivery Without Albumin

Fatty acids (FAs) are essential to cell membrane formation, energy storage, and lipid metabolism. Yet, delivering them for research remains a challenge due to their insolubility in water and the reliance on albumin to facilitate transport.

23 Jul 2025

Synthetic Cells Offer New Clues About the Origins of Life

At some point during the evolution of life on Earth, inorganic matter became organic, nonliving matter became living. How this happened is one of humankind's greatest mysteries.

18 Jul 2025

New Insights into Cell Membrane Energy Waves

Johns Hopkins researchers identify energy-generating waves on cancer cell membranes, revealing potential targets for slowing tumor growth and spread.

9 Jul 2025

Small Genetic Change in Humans Weakens Immune Attack on Solid Tumors

New research from UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered an evolutionary change that may explain why certain immune cells in humans are less effective at fighting solid tumors compared to non-human primates.

4 Jul 2025

Animal-Free 3D Fat-Immune Cell Model to Study Inflammation

Researchers developed a human adipocyte-macrophage co-culture model in GG hydrogels to study adipose tissue inflammation and test anti-inflammatory strategies.

3 Jul 2025

LMU Study Reveals How Life Could Begin Without Cell Membranes

LMU researchers have demonstrated a possible mechanism for metabolic processes without cell membranes in water-filled pores.

27 Jun 2025

Organotypic Model of the Human Gut Epithelium Demonstrates Genetic Determinants of Shigella Colonization

A study in Nature Genetics uses organotypic gut models to reveal genome-wide genetic determinants of Shigella colonization, spotlighting type III secretion system effectors as crucial for early infection.

20 Jun 2025

Myosin XI Helps Plants Absorb Boron Under Nutrient Stress

Boron, though required only in minimal amounts, is vital for plant development. It strengthens cell walls and supports the growth of roots and shoots.

9 Jun 2025

Light-Controlled Phagobots Offer Precision Immune Modulation

Macrophages and other immune cells are the natural frontline immune warriors of our body, defending the body against invading pathogens and cancer cells.

2 Jun 2025

Compression Drives Aggressive Behavior in Liver Cancer Cells

Yale researchers are providing new insights into how physical forces, such as cells being compressed in physically restrictive environments, play key roles in cancer progression.

21 May 2025

Novel Molecule Inducing Ferroptosis for Metastatic Cancer Therapy

Scientists from Institut Curie, the CNRS, and Inserm have just created a novel class of molecules capable of destroying cancer cells that are resistant to current treatments and cause recurrence.

8 May 2025

Lipid Peroxidation in Lysosomes Unleashes Ferroptosis in Tumors

The duplication and division of cells is critical to keeping all multicellular organisms alive. But the opposite process is equally important: cell death.

2 May 2025

DNA Aptamers Offer Precision Attack Against Leukemia Stem Cells

Drug-carrying DNA aptamers can deliver a one-two punch to leukemia by precisely targeting the elusive cancer stem cells that seed cancer relapses, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report.

4 Apr 2025

Gamma-Actin's Influence on Cell Rigidity and Junctional Proteins

Epithelial cells defend human skin and mucous membranes. Specialized structures known as “junctions” enable this “barrier” tissue to carry out its role. They control interactions between cells and maintain cell cohesion.

21 Mar 2025

Discovery of Ball-and-Chain Mechanism Sheds Light on Ion Channel Regulation

A new study has unveiled a precise picture of how an ion channel found in most mammalian cells regulates its own function with a "ball-and-chain" channel-plugging mechanism, according to investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine.

5 Mar 2025

Breakthrough Fluorescent Dye Sets New Standard for Long-Term Cellular Imaging

A research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has successfully developed a super-photostable organic dye after two years of dedicated research-demonstrating perseverance akin to that of Marie Curie, who painstakingly extracted just 0.1 grams of radium from eight tons of ore to earn her Nobel Prize.

28 Feb 2025

Researchers Unveil Process Behind Cellular Recycling and Waste Removal

A new discovery from an international collaborative research team has solved the mystery of how cells turn on their recycling process and create ‘garbage bags’ to remove proteins.

21 Feb 2025