Actin News and Research

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New probe allows real-time imaging of molecular orientations in live cells

Monitoring alignments of the building blocks of cells is important to understand how the cells are built. By collaborating with imaging scientists at the MBL, researchers from Japan have developed a new probe which they call POLArIS, allowing real-time imaging of molecular orientations in live cells.

17 May 2021

New atomic force microscopy enables faster, less-invasive imaging of biological samples

Kanazawa University researchers have reported a new approach of atomic force microscopy for imaging biological processes and specimens.

31 Mar 2021

Electron cryo-tomography reveals 3D images of sarcomeres at high resolution

Using electron cryo-tomography, researchers have created the first high-resolution 3D image of the sarcomere.

25 Mar 2021

Study reveals new mechanism through which cells build “mini-muscles”

Research teams have revealed how the motor protein, called myosin, which is responsible for causing the contraction of skeletal muscles, also functions in non-muscle cells.

3 Mar 2021

New statistical study shows how pairs of cancer cells interact

One of the fundamental principles of biology is the fact that cells are motile and make contact with one another.

17 Feb 2021

Researchers discover new molecular mechanism that promotes cell migration

Research groups at the University of Helsinki and Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, discovered a new molecular mechanism that promotes cell migration. The discovery sheds light on the mechanisms that drive the uncontrolled movement of cancer cells and also revises the 'textbook view' of cell migration.

10 Feb 2021

New insights into the biology of chytrid fungus responsible for deadly skin infection

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have gained new insight into the biological processes of a chytrid fungus responsible for a deadly skin infection devastating frog populations worldwide.

9 Feb 2021

New mathematical model captures forces involved in cell movement

Physicists have teamed up to find out the precise mechanisms that play a crucial role in cell motility.

19 Jan 2021

Advanced methodology reveals structures of Arp2/3 complex within cells

The cells in our body are in motion. Some migrate from A to B to heal wounds or fight pathogens. They do so with the help of small "feet" at the leading edge of migrating cells, so-called lamellipodia.

22 Dec 2020

Study shows how microplastics are internalized into living cells

Microplastics have polluted the global environment. These minute particles enter food chains, and end up in the digestive systems of humans and animals.

11 Dec 2020

Researchers describe how drug use change specific brain cells responsible for motivation

In the October 28, 2020 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and the National Institutes of Health describe how reminders of drug use can change specific brain cells responsible for motivation, increasing the desire to seek drugs.

30 Oct 2020

Study explains the nuances of mechanical signaling in cells

Actin is among the most abundant proteins in cells, and it has many jobs--from giving the cell its very shape and structure to managing networks of proteins crucial to numerous cellular functions. Without it, the fragile fundamental unit of life would crumble.

27 Oct 2020

Study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms of adipogenesis

The impairment of adipogenesis, the process in which fat cells (also known as adipocytes) accumulate to become fat tissue, can lead to many diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart conditions.

15 Oct 2020

Study reveals molecular mechanism that regulates filament-like proteins in heart muscles

Heart muscle cells contain filament-like proteins that should have the same precise length, so that they can perfectly synchronize.

15 Oct 2020

Type and direction of force on a cell can alter gene expression

Tissues and cells in the human body are subjected to a constant push and pull - strained by other cells, blood pressure and fluid flow, to name a few.

5 Oct 2020

Researchers discover a mechanism that leads to the growth of cell nuclei

By far the most important process in cell development is how cells divide and then enlarge in order to multiply. A research team headed by Freiburg medical scientist Prof. Dr. Robert Grosse has now discovered that bundled fibers of actin within a cell nucleus play an important part in how they enlarge after division.

23 Sep 2020