Category Biology/Biotechnology

A research team has found the first actual “sensor mechanism” that allows a living cell detect an electric field (stock image). Credit: © Sergey Nivens / Fotolia

A variety of animals are able to sense and react to electric fields, and living human cells will move along an electric field, eg in wound healing. Now researchers have found the first actual ‘sensor mechanism’ that allows a living cell detect an electric field.

“We believe there are several types of sensing mechanisms, and none of them are known. We now provide experimental evidence to suggest one which has not been even hypothesized before, a 2-molecule sensing mechanism,” Zhao said.

Zhao and colleagues have been studying these “electric senses” in cells from both larger animals (fish skin cells, human cell lines) and in the so...

BTI Professor Daniel Klessig and lab members Research Associate Hyong Woo Choi and Postdoctoral scientist Murli Manohar.

Aspirin’s active form, salicylic acid, blocks a protein called HMGB1, which triggers inflammation in damaged tissues. The new findings may explain the disease-preventing effects of a low-dose aspirin regimen and offer hope that more effective aspirin-like drugs may be developed for a wide variety of diseases.

“We’ve identified what we believe is a key target of aspirin’s active form in the body, salicylic acid, which is responsible for some of the many therapeutic effects that aspirin has...

Murphy et al. describe a novel pseudokinase architecture from human TRIB1 and characterize its substrate-recognition motif within the C/EBPα transcription factor. Combined with biophysical studies, this shows how Tribbles proteins eschew catalytic activity in favor of function as signaling scaffolds.

Protein Trib1 plays a vital role in controlling how and when other proteins are degraded, which is essential for managing protein levels in the cell. The finding could be used to develop new drugs to treat cancers such as leukaemia, caused by malfunctioning of the Trib1 protein.

Trib1 is part of the protein family Tribbles, which play diverse roles in cell signalling and development. Tribbles are named after the small, furry creatures from Star Trek that reproduce uncontrollably...

Phase III clinical trials has been released for its multiple scleroses drug ocrelizumab, for use in relapsing forms of the disease or in cases of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS)—and the results appear to be very promising.

Ocrelizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against immune B cells that express CD20 proteins at their surface. These cells are thought to be a key contributor to the myelin and neuron damage that leads to motor function impairment, irreversible neurological disability and paralysis in MS patients. “B cells can contribute to the pathophysiology of MS,” explained Dr. Hauser during his presentation, “targeting CD20-B cells may preserve B cell reconstitution and long-term immune memory.”

85% of patients with MS experience relapse, wit...