The secret lives of T cell receptors and their role in the immune response
Canadian immunologists have identified a mechanism that promotes the activation of T cell receptors by altering how one of its components interacts with the cell membrane.
Canadian immunologists have identified a mechanism that promotes the activation of T cell receptors by altering how one of its components interacts with the cell membrane.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have identified a new life cycle stage in HIV infection, thanks to a novel technique they developed to take images of intact infected cells. They've shown that ...
Dec 16, 2015
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In contrast to most antidepressant medications, which can take several weeks to reduce depressive symptoms, ketamine—a commonly used veterinary anesthetic—can lift a person out of a deep depression within minutes of its ...
Jun 21, 2018
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Each time a cell divides -- and it takes millions of cell divisions to create a fully grown human body from a single fertilized cell -- its chromosomes have to be accurately divvied up between both daughter cells. Researchers ...
Nov 17, 2011
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An approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of a protein channel that is missing in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, operating as a prosthesis on the molecular scale, says new ...
Mar 13, 2019
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A protein shredder that occurs in cell membranes of brain cells apparently also indirectly regulates the fat metabolism. This is shown by a recent study by the University of Bonn. The shredder, known as gamma-secretase, is ...
May 8, 2020
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Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 6 million people worldwide, is caused by the buildup of alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain. The biological function of alpha-synuclein is still not ...
Jul 3, 2019
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The brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease contain characteristic tangles inside neurons. These tangles are formed when a protein called Tau aggregates into twisted fibrils. As a result, the neurons' transport systems ...
Nov 22, 2017
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It is generally known that viruses, with their cell-invading capabilities, can be responsible for a number of different cancers. What is less broadly discussed are the cancer-causing capabilities of bacteria, or the processes ...
Nov 18, 2019
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Anesthesia, long considered a blessing to patients and surgeons, has been a mystery for much of its 160-plus-year history in the operating room.
Nov 13, 2014
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A membrane protein is a protein molecule that is attached to, or associated with the membrane of a cell or an organelle. More than half of all proteins interact with membranes.
Biological membranes consist of a phospholipid bilayer and a variety of proteins that accomplish vital biological functions. Structural proteins are attached to microfilaments in the cytoskeleton which ensures stability of the cell. Cell recognition proteins allow cells to identify each other and interact. Such proteins are involved in immune response, for example. Membrane enzymes produce a variety of substances essential for cell function. Membrane receptor proteins serve as connection between the cell's internal and external environments. Finally, transport proteins play an important role in the maintenance of concentrations of ions. These transport proteins come in two forms: carrier proteins and channel proteins. Carrier proteins are involved in using the energy released from ATP being broken down to facilitate active transport and ion exchange. These processes ensure that useful substances are able to enter the cell and that toxic substances are pumped out of the cell.
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