Communication between cells relies on hormone release from secretory granules, but how these vesicles fuse with cell membranes is unclear. An imaging study provides in vivo evidence for a stable intermediate fusion step.
Nature doi: 10.1038/nature18446
Most bacteriophages are tailed bacteriophages with an isometric or a prolate head attached to a long contractile, long non-contractile, or short non-contractile tail. The tail is a complex machine that plays a central role in host cell recognition and attachment, cell wall and membrane penetration, and viral genome ejection. The mechanisms involved in the penetration of the inner host cell membrane by bacteriophage tails...
The mechanisms that underlie enforced transitions between mature cell lineages are poorly understood. Profiling single skin cells that are induced to become neurons reveals that, unexpectedly, they often become muscle.
Nature doi: 10.1038/nature18444
MS brain lesion as seen on an MRI. (credit: James Heilman, MD)
By obliterating the broken immune systems of patients with severe forms of multiple sclerosis, then sowing fresh, defect-free systems with transplanted stem cells, researchers can thwart the degenerative autoimmune disease—but it comes at a price.
In a small phase II trial of 24 MS patients,...
A multi-year, $ 25 million government study released Thursday found a link between cellphone use and cancer.
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) found that male rats exposed to the same type of...
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are derived early from embryonic precursors, such as haemogenic endothelial cells and pre-haematopoietic stem cells (pre-HSCs), the molecular identity of which still remains elusive. Here we use potent surface markers to capture the nascent pre-HSCs at high purity, as rigorously validated by single-cell-initiated serial transplantation. Then we apply single-cell RNA sequencing to analyse endothelial cells, CD45− and CD45+ pre-HSCs in...
T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are a subset of T cells carrying the CD4 antigen; they are important in supporting plasma cell and germinal centre responses. The initial induction of Tfh cell properties occurs within the first few days after activation by antigen recognition on dendritic cells, although how dendritic cells promote this cell-fate decision is not fully understood. Moreover, although Tfh cells are...
A protein in the pathogenic bacterium Legionella pneumophila has been found to attach the modifying molecule ubiquitin to human proteins, using a mechanism that, surprisingly, does not involve cellular E1 and E2 enzymes.
Nature doi: 10.1038/nature17888
Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection is a serious threat to public health. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis is a well-established target for antibiotic development. MraY (phospho-MurNAc-pentapeptide translocase) catalyses the first and an essential membrane step of peptidoglycan biosynthesis. It is considered a very promising target for the development of new antibiotics, as many naturally occurring nucleoside inhibitors with antibacterial activity target this enzyme. However, antibiotics targeting MraY have not...
Asymmetric cell division, the partitioning of cellular components in response to polarizing cues during mitosis, has roles in differentiation and development. It is important for the self-renewal of neuroblasts in Caenorhabditis elegans and fertilized zygotes in Drosophila, and in the development of mammalian nervous and digestive systems. T lymphocytes, upon activation by antigen-presenting cells (APCs), can undergo asymmetric cell division, wherein the daughter cell proximal...
