Immunology

Faulty cytoskeleton impairs immune cells

In order to move, a body needs a strong scaffold. This is not only true on a macroscopic level, where animals rely on skeletons to support their muscles. It is also true on a cellular level: The cytoskeleton, composed of ...

Medical research

Introducing titin, the protein that rules our hearts

Although scientists have long speculated that a protein named titin measures thick filaments—the proteins that make muscles contract—no one has been able to provide evidence to support their theories.

Immunology

Gut microbes trigger autoimmune disease later in life in mice

Researchers have revealed that the colonization of the gut of young mice by certain types of bacteria can lead to immune responses later in life that are linked to disease. Increases in the levels of segmented filamentous ...

Immunology

Bacteria and immune cells forge a productive partnership

To prevent infection, the intestinal wall relies on the support of its own 'home-grown' army of commensal bacteria. These gut microbiota collaborate with and are in turn regulated by their host's immune system via a variety ...

Oncology & Cancer

p53 cuts off invading cancer cells

The tumor suppressor p53 does all it can to prevent oncogenes from transforming normal cells into tumor cells by killing defective cells or causing them to become inactive. Sometimes oncogenes manage to initiate tumor development ...

Medical research

Rare, lethal childhood disease tracked to protein

A team of international researchers led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has identified how a defective protein plays a central role in a rare, lethal childhood disease known as Giant Axonal Neuropathy, or GAN. The finding ...

Medical research

Cholesterol increases risk of Alzheimer's and heart disease

Researchers at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that a single mechanism may underlie the damaging effect of cholesterol on the brain and on blood vessels.

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