Protein

Molecular motion in detail

In a critical breakthrough in unraveling how molecular “motors” ferry proteins and nutrients through cells, Harvard scientists have produced high-resolution images that show how the chemical “foot” of dynein — one of the most complex, but least understood such motors — binds to microtubules, the cellular structures it travels on.

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Posted in 3-D model, Andres Leschziner, binding, chemical foot, cryo-electron microscopy, dynein, dynein foot, electron microscopy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, Harvard Medical School, HarvardScience, Hernandez-Lopez, high-resolution imaging, HMS, Imaging, Leschziner, Life Sciences, microtubule, modeling, molecular motor, Peter Reuell, Protein, protein motor, Reck-Peterson, Redwine, Reuell, Rogelio Antonio Hernandez-Lopez, Samara Reck-Peterson, William Bret Redwine | Comments Off

Link found between ALS and SMA

Scientists have long known the main proteins that lead to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), respectively. Now research shows that these two motor neuron diseases likely share a pathway that leads to the development of disease.

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Posted in ALS, ALS Association, ALS Therapy Alliance, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Cell Reports, Control voluntary muscles, FUS gene, Gemini, gems, Harvard Medical School, HarvardScience, Health & Medicine, Human fibroblasts, Link, Lou Gehrig's disease, Motor neuron diseases, National Institutes of Health, Neurons, Pathway, Protein, Robin Reed, SMA, SMN protein, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Survival of motor neuron, Toyobo Biotechnology Foundation | Comments Off

Turing was right

Researchers at Harvard have shown that Nodal and Lefty — two proteins linked to the regulation of asymmetry in vertebrates and the development of precursor cells for internal organs — fit a mathematical model first described by Alan Turing six decades ago.

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Posted in activator, activator/inhibitor, Alan Turing, Alex Schier, Alexander Schier, diffusion, Embryo, embryo development, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, inhibitor, Lefty, Life Sciences, Nodal, Peter Reuell, Protein, proteins, reaction diffusion model, Reuell, Schier, Turing, Zebrafish | Comments Off