Category Biology/Biotechnology

A space-filling model of the solved protein complex responsible for the selection of antigens. Credit: AG Tampé

The immune system checks the health of cells by examining a kind of molecular passport. Sometimes, cells present the wrong passport, which can lead to autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammations or cancer. Scientists of the Goethe University Frankfurt explain the process how this happens in the new issue of the journal Science.

Most cells provide the T cells of the adaptive immune system with information about their condition by presenting selected components of their interior (called antigens) on their surface. If these components include fragments of viruses or altered cell components, the affected cell is eliminated. The selection of the antigens is essential in this process...

This is Lori McMahon and Luke Stewart. Credit: UAB

These results in animal models, represent a potentially novel therapeutic target for the treatment of seizure disorders. University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have found that inducing a biochemical alteration in brain proteins via the dietary supplement glucosamine was able to rapidly dampen that pathological hyperexcitability in rat and mouse models. These results represent a potentially novel therapeutic target for the treatment of seizure disorders, and they show the need to better understand the physiology underlying these neural and brain circuit changes.

Proteins are the workhorses of living cells, and their activities are tightly and rapidly regulated in responses to changing conditions...

Mantis Shrimp-inspired Camera enables Glimpse into Hidden World

By mimicking the eye of the mantis shrimp, Illinois researchers have developed an ultra-sensitive camera capable of sensing both color and polarization. The bioinspired imager can potentially improve early cancer detection and help provide a new understanding of underwater phenomena. “The animal kingdom is full of creatures with much more sensitive and sophisticated eyes than our own,” said Viktor Gruev , a University of Illinois professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-author of the new study. “These animals perceive natural phenomena that are invisible to humans.

“Polarization of light – that is, the direction of oscillation of light as it propagates in space – is one such example...