Latest Cell Stories

Metastasizing cancer cells often express integrins that provide better traction. A new study in The Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org) reveals how a lipid-converting enzyme helps the cells mobilize these integrins. Adhesive integrin proteins continually cycle to and from the cell surface. Invasive cancer cells that carry mutant forms of the tumor suppressor p53 often bias the process, increasing the recycling of a particular integrin that offers a better grip on the fibronectin fibers...

UCSF scientists have discovered the unexpected way in which a key cell of the immune system prepares for battle. The finding, they said, offers insight into the processes that take place within these cells and could lead to strategies for treating conditions from spinal cord injury to cancer. The research focused on the neutrophil, the most common type of white blood cell. Like other cells in the immune system, its job is to seek out and destroy bacteria, viruses or other foreign entities...

Computer scientists conduct the first systematic power profiles of microprocessors The first systematic power profiles of microprocessors could help lower the energy consumption of both small cell phones and giant data centers, report computer science professors from The University of Texas at Austin and the Australian National University. Their results may point the way to how companies like Google, Apple, Intel and Microsoft can make software and hardware that will lower the energy...

Finding that lysozymes have jaws could aid in early diagnosis of cancer A disease-fighting protein in our teardrops has been tethered to a tiny transistor, enabling UC Irvine scientists to discover exactly how it destroys dangerous bacteria. The research could prove critical to long-term work aimed at diagnosing cancers and other illnesses in their very early stages. Ever since Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming found that human tears contain antiseptic proteins called lysozymes about a...

NEW YORK, January 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce newly acquiring The Ocular Surface, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the external eye and vision. As per January 2012 Elsevier will continue the publication of the quarterly journal. The Ocular Surface delivers reviews of important work in laboratory science, clinical science, and clinical...

An international team of microbiologists led by Indiana University researchers has identified a new bacterial growth process -- one that occurs at a single end or pole of the cell instead of uniform, dispersed growth along the long axis of the cell -- that could have implications in the development of new antibacterial strategies. Based on past detailed studies of rod-shaped bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, it has been assumed that most bacteria grow by binary...

AMSTERDAM, January 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Application helps researchers utilize bioinformatics tools Elsevier [http://www.elsevier.com ], a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the availability of the OpenHelix Tutorial Suites application on SciVerse Applications [http://www.applications.sciverse.com ]. Created by OpenHelix [http://www.openhelix.com ], the...

From tracking activities within bacteria to creating images of molecules that make up human hair, several experiments have already demonstrated the unique abilities of the revolutionary imaging technique called multi-isotope imaging mass spectometry, or MIMS, developed by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). MIMS can produce high-resolution, quantitative three-dimensional images of stable isotope tags within subcellular compartments in tissue sections or cells. With its use...

AMSTERDAM, January 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Acquisition enhances Elsevier's ability to help researchers and information professionals improve their search, retrieval and content management efficiency Elsevier [http://www.elsevier.com ], the world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announced today the acquisition of QUOSA [http://www.quosa.com ] a content management and workflow productivity solutions...

Experiments on animals have been the subject of criticism for decades, but there is no prospect of a move away from them any time soon. The number of tests involving laboratory animals has in fact gone up. Now, researchers have found an alternative approach: they hope sensor nanoparticles will reduce the need for animal testing. Countless mice, rats and rabbits die every year in the name of science – and the situation is getting worse. While German laboratories used some 2.41 million...