Electron News and Research

RSS

Probing Plasma Membrane Dynamics with Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Cell membranes play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity and functionality of cells. However, the mechanisms by which they perform these roles are not yet fully understood.

25 Jul 2024

High Performance SEM Helps Drive NZ Towards a Smart, Green Future

The existing electron microscopy capabilities have been improved with the installation of a TESCAN CLARA Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

24 Jul 2024

Flu Virus Exploits Immune System Weakness to Infect Cells

The majority of influenza viruses enter animal or human cells through particular surface-based pathways. It has recently been found by researchers at the University of Zurich that some influenza viruses, both human and avian, can also enter cells through a second entry point that involves an immune system protein complex.

18 Jul 2024

Real-Time Snapshots of RNA Polymerase Illuminate Transcription Bubble Dynamics

Every living cell transcribes DNA into RNA. This process begins when an enzyme called RNA polymerase (RNAP) clamps onto DNA.

10 Jul 2024

3D-Printed Device Transforms Blood Conductivity Measurement with AI Precision

A novel lab-on-a-chip device consisting of a portable millifluidic nanogenerator that can gauge blood conductivity at low frequency.

9 Jul 2024

Bridge RNA: The Revolutionary Tool in Genetic Recombination

In a leap forward for genetic engineering, a team of researchers from the Arc Institute have discovered the bridge recombinase mechanism, a precise and powerful tool to recombine and rearrange DNA in a programmable way.

27 Jun 2024

Fruit Fly Motor Circuitry Revealed Through Advanced Mapping Techniques

Work is underway on a wiring diagram of the motor circuits in the central nervous system that control muscles in fruit flies.

27 Jun 2024

Breakthrough in Understanding Connexin-Drug Interactions

Researchers have gained new knowledge of how drugs bind to connexin molecules. These molecules form channels that allow neighboring cells to send direct messages to one another.

27 Jun 2024

New Insights into How Cells Fine-Tune Protein Assembly

Imagine the body as a bustling factory constantly assembling proteins, the building blocks that keep everything running smoothly.

26 Jun 2024

Boron-Mediated Photocycloaddition: Expanding Quinoline's Potential for Drug Development

An innovative synthesis strategy opened up the way to 2D/3D fused frameworks using inexpensive quinolines as feedstock, report scientists from Tokyo Tech.

21 Jun 2024

Breakthrough Imaging Reveals the Dynamics of the Brain's Fast-Acting Kainate Receptor

New groundbreaking images of one of the brain's fastest-acting proteins are providing critical clues that may lead to the development of targeted therapies to treat epilepsy and other brain disorders.

18 Jun 2024

Stem cell-based kidney chip revolutionizes disease modeling and research

An organ-on-chip system containing a kidney glomerulus using human-induced pluripotent stem cells and an ultrathin membrane.

17 Jun 2024

Mitochondria Influence the Ability of Adult Cardiac Cells to Multiply

Whether forcing adult cardiomyocytes to reverse from the oxidative phosphorylation phenotype to the glycolysis phenotype would also restore their mitotic ability.

13 Jun 2024

Super-Cooled Brain Cell Molecules Shed Light on Epilepsy Drug Action

By super cooling a molecule on the surface of brain cells down to about minus 180 degrees Celsius -; nearly twice as cold as the coldest places in Antarctica -; scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have determined how a widely-used epilepsy drug works to dampen the excitability of brain cells and help to control, although not cure, seizures.

11 Jun 2024

New Microscopy Reveals Secrets of SARS-CoV-2 Replication

Recent research published in Nature Communications by a Stanford University team may provide more accuracy in drug development by examining at the nanoscale how the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates in cells.

4 Jun 2024

Neurons in the Visual System of Flies Exhibit Surprisingly Heterogeneous Wiring

Analysis of the connectome of Drosophila melanogaster provides new insights into how its visual system is organized / Research contribution by the FlyWire Consortium

4 Jun 2024

Structural Insights into a Novel Gene-Editing Tool

Yutaro Shuto, Ryoya Nakagawa, and Osamu Nureki of the University of Tokyo conducted collaborative research to ascertain the spatial organization of different processes within a unique gene-editing instrument known as “prime editor.”

30 May 2024

LoCoHD: A Novel Method for Comparative Protein Structure Analysis

In a paper recently published in Nature Communications, the HUN-REN-ELTE Protein Modeling Research Group (Institute of Chemistry) has laid the foundations for a mathematical method, allowing the computer-assisted comparison of the three-dimensional structures of proteins.

30 May 2024

Unmasking XPD’s Mechanism in DNA Damage Detection and Repair

The way the protein XPD recognizes severe DNA damage and regulates its repair was uncovered by researchers at the University of Würzburg, under the direction of Caroline Kisker and Claudia Höbartner.

29 May 2024