Molecular & Structural Biology

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A Molecular Tug-of-War Shapes Gene Regulation and Disease

A newly revealed molecular tug-of-war may have implications for better understanding how a multitude of diseases and disorders - including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and immune disorders - originate, as well as how to potentially treat them, according to researchers at Penn State.

18 Dec 2025

Essential Proteins May Have Evolved to Allow Misfolding Repair

Proteins need to fold into specific shapes to perform their functions in cells, but they occasionally misfold, which can prevent them from properly functioning and even lead to disease.

18 Dec 2025

Neuron Anatomy Shapes How the Brain Processes Odor Information

Closely related subtypes of dopamine-releasing neurons may play entirely separate roles in processing sensory information, depending on their physical structure.

17 Dec 2025

Binocular Multispectral Stereo Imaging Enables High-Resolution Plant Phenotyping

The system enables pixel-level alignment between shape and spectral data, allowing detailed visualization of traits like chlorophyll distribution across plant surfaces.

17 Dec 2025

Understanding the Collaborative Role of Metabolic Proteins

A protein that is crucial for the human body in managing energy and regulating appetite depends on a partner protein, as indicated by recent research, and these findings may assist researchers in gaining a deeper understanding of genetic obesity.

17 Dec 2025

New Insights Into LARP6-RNA Binding Could Lead to Fibrosis Therapies

A research team at the Institute of Molecular Biophysics and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University has made a significant discovery regarding the interaction between a protein present in the human body and RNA, which may pave the way for innovative treatments for tissue scarring, commonly referred to as fibrosis.

12 Dec 2025

Mitochondrial Supercomplex Protein COX7RP Extends Lifespan and Healthspan

As life expectancy continues to climb globally, the focus of many people has moved from longevity alone to living in good health.

11 Dec 2025

Changes in the Activity of KCC2 Protein Influence Reward Learning

A new finding from researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center shows that the learning process of associating cues with rewards can be altered by increased or decreased activity of a specific protein in the brain.

11 Dec 2025

Scientists Speed Lung Organoid Growth With Stirred Bioreactors

In a new study in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, scientists explore a large-scale method for organoid generation, finding it to be successful and more uniform than before.

10 Dec 2025

Breaking the Interspecies Immune Barrier to Advance Human Organ Generation

Failure of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to survive when grown with the PSCs of distantly related species occurs because of an innate immune reaction in the nonhuman cells, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggests.

9 Dec 2025

Protein ‘Neighborhood’ Holds an ABC Transporter in Place to Regulate Cyclic AMP Signaling

When a cell receives a message from outside, it generates a molecule called cyclic AMP (cAMP) to relay this message. To ensure the signal reaches the correct effector without triggering pathways accidentally, cAMP levels must be maintained around their point of origin and at the right level.

8 Dec 2025

Broken DNA Loops Trigger Lymphoma Development

Cancer involves more than just genetic mutations; it also involves structural failures. Consider a city where roads disappear, isolating communities from vital resources.

8 Dec 2025

Researchers Capture the Most Detailed Images of Molecules in Chromatin Condensates

A team of researchers led by HHMI Investigator Michael Rosen has captured the most detailed images yet of the molecules in chromatin condensates — droplet-like structures of compacted DNA.

5 Dec 2025

Cells Use Condensates to Save RNA Messages During Stress

All cells need to sense and respond to their environment, to know when to activate genes, build proteins, and carry out their basic functions.

4 Dec 2025

New Tool Predicts Which Intrinsically Disordered Regions Drive Condensate Formation

Fusion oncoproteins arise when a gene fuses with another gene and acquires new abilities. Such abilities can include the formation of biomolecular condensates, "droplets" of concentrated proteins, DNA or RNA.

4 Dec 2025

Circular Single-Stranded DNA Molecule Can Simultaneously Silence Multiple MicroRNAs

Professor Dongsheng Liu of Tsinghua University, Professor Ziyang Hao of Capital Medical University, and Researcher Yuanchen Dong of the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have collaborated to develop a circular single-stranded DNA molecule capable of simultaneously silencing multiple miRNAs.

4 Dec 2025