The science of catalysis—the acceleration of a chemical reaction—is perhaps not the most recognizable branch of study, but it is absolutely embedded into the fabric of modern society.

This study is a first step for the development of a new family of these molecular structures with potential applications both in the field of nanomedicine and in the energy field.

Boxing up molecular machines. The construction of a molecular rotor inside a nanostructured cage allows for the development of a tunable molecular device.

The construction of a molecular rotor inside a nanostructured cage allows for the development of a tunable molecular device.

Machines that are confined inside a cage or casing exhibit interesting properties by converting input energy into programmed functions. One such system is the mechanical gyroscope or gyrotop, a fascinating toy that amuses everyone with its incessant rotation. Gyroscopes also have practical applications in the internal navigation systems used in airplanes and satellites, virtual reality headsets, and wireless computer pointing devices. What makes these gyroscopes so beneficial is not only the rotor part but also the frame that aligns the rotor in a particular direction, which restores the momentum of the rotor and protects it against obstacles.

A team of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) identified a mechanism involved in the movement of cholesterol inside the cells. The study, published in the Journal of Cell Biology, shows how the SNX13 protein plays a key role when transporting this lipid outside the liposomes, organelles that conduct cellular digestion. These results could have implications in the future developing treatments against pathologies caused by dysfunctions in the intracellular cholesterol transport, such as the Niemann-Pick type C1 disease.

Scientists have investigated how genes are accessed if so tightly packed away? How can these molecules be broken apart to promote gene expression?

Specific nuclear proteins act as a glue to pack genetic material in an absurdly small space in the human body. Proteins "gluing" DNA are called linker histones, and hold their secret in their electric charge. They are strongly positively charged, fusing to the strongly negatively charged DNA.

Research led by scientists at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) at UCLA provides new insights into molecular "crosstalk" in pancreas cancer cells, identifying vulnerabilities that could provide a target for therapeutic drugs already being studied in several cancers.

Materials scientists have revealed paddlewheel-like molecular dynamics that help push sodium ions through a quickly evolving class of solid-state batteries. The insights should guide researchers in their pursuit of a new generation of sodium-ion batteries to replace lithium-ion technology in a wide range of applications such as data centers and home energy storage.

A study published today in Cell Reports reveals important insights into the molecular mechanisms that underpin the body's natural defenses against the development of skin cancer.

Bioelectricity, the current that flows between our cells, is fundamental to our ability to think and talk and walk.

Translocation renal cell carcinoma (tRCC) is a rare and aggressive form of kidney cancer. It accounts for about 5 percent of all renal cell carcinomas in adults and about 50 percent in children.

In the fields of chemistry and materials, most successful, widely used machine learning schemes introduced over the last decade aim to model molecular energies or interatomic potentials. Accordingly, the representations used to map atomic configurations into vectors of descriptors or features used as model inputs reflect fundamental properties of the interatomic potential such as invariance to permutation between identical atoms, rigid rotation or inversion of the molecular structure. They also reflect notions of locality and nearsightedness—the idea that potential local electronic properties depend significantly on the effective external potential only at nearby points—of many components of interatomic energy.

Understanding the key structural determinants of a highly specialized membrane in the eye could lead to new treatments,

Novartis splashes cash on COVID-19 antiviral, plans FDA filing as Molecular Partners links drug to drop in hospitalization, death ntaylor Mon, 01/10/2022 - 04:50

Independent teams from Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin have published two papers in Science Translational Medicine identifying how the only approved drug to treat schistosomiasis, a widespread parasitic worm infection, works on the molecular level.

For the first time, University of California, Irvine researchers in collaboration with the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, have revealed, at a molecular level, key structural determinants of the highly specialized rod outer segment (ROS) membrane architecture of the eye, which is instrumental to vision.

Researchers designed molecular probes of diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants and evaluated their antibody binding specificity.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have designed a high-quality assay that can be used in at-home tests for rapid COVID-19 screening.

Nature is the international weekly journal of science: a magazine style journal that publishes full-length research papers in all disciplines of science, as well as News and Views, reviews, news, features, commentaries, web focuses and more, covering all branches of science and how science impacts upon all aspects of society and life.

In contrast to the oil painting technique that supplanted it at the end of the 15th century, tempera

Capturing 3D spatial structures is essential to accurately forecast molecular properties and their action in the physical world.

Researchers demonstrate that the exposure of platelets to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein promotes their activation and adhesion.

Author(s): Benjamin L. Augenbraun, Alexander Frenett, Hiromitsu Sawaoka, Christian Hallas, Nathaniel B. Vilas, Abdullah Nasir, Zack D. Lasner, and John M. DoyleA magnetic-field based method can slow molecular beams that cannot be slowed using other techniques, unlocking the door to ultracold polyatomic molecular physics. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 263002] Published Mon Dec 20, 2021

A molecular switch influences addiction behavior and determines how strong the response to addictive drugs is. A research team made the discovery in mice treated with cocaine. The researchers demonstrated that the protein Npas4 regulates the structure and function of nerve cells that control addiction behavior in mice. If the quantity of Npas4 was reduced in an experiment, the animals' response to cocaine was much weaker.

Professor Ronald Evans and Assistant Professor Dannielle Engle have been granted a 2021 ASPIRE (Accelerating Scientific Platforms and Innovative Research) award to study the cellular and molecular drivers of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers with few effective treatment options.

Stress can impact sleep, focus and more—down to our molecules. Oxidative stress results from an imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants, caused by an increase of free radicals, or reactive oxygen species, that can damage cells and their components. Observed in several diseases, from Parkinson's disease to hepatitis to cancer, chronic oxidative stress also appears to cause hypoxia, another kind of stress condition involving insufficient oxygen in tissues. But it's not well understood how stress impacts biological processes at the molecular level.

Tritium 3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is commonly used in medicinal chemistry as a label to follow the course of a drug in the human body. Chemists like to use the technique to evaluate drug candidates and their metabolism. A team led of researchers at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mühlheim, Germany, has now found a new way to label complex small molecules with tritium. In a joint research project with the research and early development organization of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, they investigated ways to incorporate tritium into pharmaceuticals and other similar molecules that are important derivatives for drug development.

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a method to detect trace amounts of synthetic opioids. They plan to combine their approach with miniaturized sensors to create a hand-portable instrument easily used by law enforcement agents for efficient detection in the field.

An international research team co-led by scientists at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute has identified an important accelerator of treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

A new study led by João T. Barata from Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM, Portugal), and J. Andrés Yunes from Centro Infantil Boldrini (Brazil), published now in the scientific journal Nature Communications, shows that changes in a protein called IL-7R are sufficient to initiate a type of leukemia.

Fluorescence light microscopy has the unique ability to observe cellular processes over a scale that bridges four orders of magnitude. Yet, its application to living cells is fundamentally limited by the very rapid and unceasing movement of molecules that define its living state. What is more, the interaction of light with fluorescent probes that enables the observation of molecular processes causes their very destruction. Ultrarapid cryo-arrest of cells during live observation on a microscope now circumvents these fundamental problems. The heart of the approach is the cooling of living cells with enormous speeds up to 200,000 °C per second to -196 °C. This enables an unprecedented preservation of cellular biomolecules in their natural arrangement at the moment of arrest. In this low temperature state, molecular movement and light-induced destruction is stopped, enabling the observation of molecular patterns of life that are otherwise invisible.

Biophysicists in Japan have found ways to make and manipulate capsule-like DNA structures that could be used in the development of artificial molecular systems. Such systems could function, for example, inside the human body. The study was a collaboration between Yusuke Sato of Tohoku University and Masahiro Takinoue of the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), and the findings were published in the JACS Au.

Author(s): Andreja ŠarlahA variety of molecular motors exist that carry out mechanical tasks in cells, and different motors respond to applied forces in different ways. The author studies the effect of an oscillating force, as might occur in the dynamic environment inside a cell. The results agree with recent experiments and could serve as guidance for designing artificial molecular motors. [Phys. Rev. E 104, 064406] Published Thu Dec 09, 2021

Scientists have discovered that gene therapy and the diabetes drug metformin may be potential treatments for late-onset retinal degeneration (L-ORD), a rare, blinding eye disease. Researchers generated a 'disease-in-a-dish' model to study the disease.

Not to pile on, but winter is coming and the COVID-19 pandemic is about to get worse. Not necessarily because of omicron – scientists are still working that one out – but because there’s more evidence than ever that COVID-19 is a seasonal disease.

A team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical School's Department of Physiology and Biophysics has developed a new computational technique to conduct molecular dynamics simulations of proteins at the specific concentration of hydrogen ions (pH) at which they function. Called the Equilibrium Constant pH (ECpH) method, it presents a significant advance in the ability of computational simulations to more accurately represent the way in which a human cell's membrane proteins look and how they function under different conditions encountered in the life of the cell.

New study identifies diverse molecular features of public antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Analysing molecular characteristics and their variation during lifestyle changes, by combining digital tools, classical laboratory tests and new

Specially engineered immune cells called CAR T cells have proven themselves to be a powerful weapon against blood cancers, but against solid tumors they are much less effective, due in part to a process called T-cell exhaustion.

Researchers have built a micro-device that uses vibrating molecules to transform invisible mid-infrared light into visible light. The breakthrough ushers in a new class of compact sensors for thermal imaging and chemical or biological analysis.

Light is an electromagnetic wave: It consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields propagating through space. Every wave is characterized by its frequency, which refers to the number of oscillations per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Our eyes can detect frequencies between 400 and 750 trillion Hz (or terahertz, THz), which define the visible spectrum. Light sensors in cell phone cameras can detect frequencies down to 300 THz, while detectors used for internet connections through optical fibers are sensitive to around 200 THz.

Analysing molecular characteristics and their variation during lifestyle changes, by combining digital tools, classical laboratory tests and new biomolecular measurements, could enable individualised prevention of disease. The researchers show what a proactive healthcare model could comprise and how it could help in maintaining good health.

Using computer simulations, chemists have discovered how nuclear bodies called nucleoli interact with chromosomes in the nucleus, and how those interactions help the nucleoli exist as stable droplets within the nucleus.

An international team, led by researchers from the Universities of Vienna and Tübingen, and the Max Planck Society, has identified five new human fossils from the key site of Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. The remains, which include three Denisovans and one Neanderthal, were found in a secure and well dated ~200,000-year-old context. Surrounded by archaeological remains such as stone tools and food refuse, the finds shed light on the adaptation strategies of these early hominins as they spread across Eurasia.

Creating molecular microrobots that mimic the abilities of living organisms is a dream of nanotechnology, as illustrated by the renowned physicist Richard Feynman. There are a number of challenges in achieving this goal. One of the most significant of these is the creation of directed self-propulsion in water.

Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed a molecular structure that can cover graphite surfaces with a sea of tiny flagged "flagpoles." The properties of this coating are highly variable. It may provide a basis for the development of new catalysts. The compounds could also be suitable for measuring the nanomechanical properties of proteins. The results were published online in advance in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Now the print edition has been published, which shows a part of the sea of flags as the cover image.

Researchers have developed synthesized microrobots that are capable of converting their mechanical motion into a means of self-propulsion in water.

A cell stores all of its genetic material in its nucleus, in the form of chromosomes, but that’s

Nanostructures self-assemble and cover specific surfaces.

A cell stores all of its genetic material in its nucleus, in the form of chromosomes, but that's not all that's tucked away in there. The nucleus is also home to small bodies called nucleoli -; clusters of proteins and RNA that help build ribosomes.

In contrast to the oil painting technique that supplanted it at the end of the 15th century, tempera painting, practiced on wood panels, walls or canvas has received little attention on the physico-chemical scale. This painting technique, which has been practiced since Antiquity, is characterized by pigments applied in a water-based binding-medium, often egg-yolk.

A cell stores all of its genetic material in its nucleus, in the form of chromosomes, but that's not all that's tucked away in there. The nucleus is also home to small bodies called nucleoli—clusters of proteins and RNA that help build ribosomes.

Joining the global effort to curb air pollution, researchers have developed computational tools to accurately assess the footprint of certain organic atmospheric pollutants. Their simulation could help government agencies keep a closer check on human-made sources of carbon-based pollutants.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, Associate Professor Tuo Wang and his research team from the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University revealed the molecular architecture of fungal cell walls and the structural responses to stresses, aiding the development of antifungal drugs targeting cell wall components.

Author(s): José C. Abadillo-Uriel, Biel Martinez, Michele Filippone, and Yann-Michel NiquetCoulomb interactions strongly influence the energy spectrum and wave functions of few electrons or holes in single quantum dots. Indeed, for weak confinement potentials, the Coulomb repulsion splits apart the particles, leading to the formation of Wigner molecules. Here, the authors discuss how the confinement anisotropy favors the molecularization and compare the impact on readout and exchange interactions for spin qubits in different semiconductor materials. [Phys. Rev. B 104, 195305] Published Thu Nov 18, 2021

Joining the global effort to curb air pollution, researchers at Texas A&M University have developed computational tools to accurately assess the footprint of certain organic atmospheric pollutants. Their simulation, described in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, could help government agencies keep a closer check on human-made sources of carbon-based pollutants.

The most common pharmaceuticals on the market are made by chaining together rings of molecules to create the

The most common pharmaceuticals on the market are made by chaining together rings of molecules to create the drugs that treat conditions including pain, depression and leukemia. But creating those rings and forming them in a way that is tailored to each individual disease has always been a cumbersome and expensive process in medicinal chemistry. New research proposes a way to simplify that transformation. The discovery will likely make it easier to produce new drug candidates, the researchers say.

The most common pharmaceuticals on the market are made by chaining together rings of molecules to create the drugs that treat conditions including pain, depression and leukemia.

Thanks to deep learning, the central mysteries of structural biology are falling like dominos. Just last year, DeepMind shocked the biomedical field with AlphaFold, an algorithm that predicts protein structures with jaw-dropping accuracy. The University of Washington (UW) soon unveiled RoseTTAFold, an AI that rivaled AlphaFold in predictive ability. A few weeks later, DeepMind released […]

Scientists create novel molecules that serve as ziplines for energy. Such polymers can potentially be used to design new displays based on organic light-emitting diodes, or for solar cells.

Novartis-partnered DARPin flames out in COVID-19 study, sending Molecular Partners' stock into nosedive ntaylor Tue, 11/16/2021 - 08:03

For many smallholder farmers in South and Southeast Asia, rice is more than a staple food—it's a livelihood. Generations of smallholder farmers have relied solely on rainfall to irrigate their crops, but the increasing frequency and severity of dry spells caused by climate change are putting rice production under extreme pressure. Some traditional rice varieties grown in these regions have adapted to dry conditions, and may hold the key to developing strategies to boost rice production under drought: "If we can identify the genes involved in drought resistance of traditional rice varieties, we can use this knowledge for breeding new, more stable-yielding, drought-resistant rice varieties," says Dr. Simon "Niels" Groen, first author of an exciting new study published in The Plant Cell.

In chemistry, molecules are manipulated by changing the constituent atoms, or their arrangements. Now a group of physicists

In chemistry, molecules are manipulated by changing the constituent atoms, or their arrangements. Now a group of physicists and chemists from The City College of New York and Spain can demonstrate how the use of an optical cavity (where light is trapped) is also able to change the molecular property of photo-isomerization—a light activated process that modifies the optical response. Entitled "Selective isomer emission via funneling of exciton polaritons," their study appears in Science Advances.

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces that it has acquired Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory LLC, a Texas based PCR-focused testing laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments for high-complexity molecular diagnostics testing.

Advanced next-generation sequencing of autopsy tissues has furthered molecular understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease mechanisms, researchers report.

Nanotechnology is changing the world: manipulating matter on a near-atomic scale to produce nanomaterials, nanostructures and nanomachinery that have a widespread application in everything from...

Maria Kowalski-Jahn and Hannes Schihada, two postdocs in the Schulte laboratory, have used a novel technology of fluorescently labeling receptors with a minimally invasive technique and detecting structural rearrangements in a receptor molecule in living cells. These experiments pinpointed how FZDs respond to WNT stimulation by conformational changes in the extracellular domain of the receptor. In contrast to what was previously surmised, but in line with several previous publications by the Schulte laboratory, these findings underline that WNT stimulation elicits conformational rearrangements in their receptors. These new insights into FZD dynamics present the basis for a continued mechanism-based drug discovery process to target FZDs for therapy.

It’s common for people with psoriasis to develop dry, inflamed skin lesions. However, the normal-appearing skin may hold

HitGen taps Cambridge Molecular for 'deep learning' drug discovery collab badams Fri, 11/05/2021 - 07:22

A new review discusses how molecular and structural biology have contributed to our understanding of antibody recognition of HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and Zika.

We live in times when technology has become a regular part of our lives. Besides many portable devices, smartphones or wrist-worn fitness trackers are equipped with sensors to measure health parameters like pulse or blood saturation with oxygen. The appearance of such devices on the market made our lives easier. It revolutionized medicine, enabling us to check even the glucose level at home.

Scientists were interested in further investigating the defense mechanism of earthworms in an effort to discover therapeutic solutions against SARS-CoV-2.

A new study reveals the specific molecular mechanism that controls the transition from acute to chronic pain, and identifies this mechanism as a critical target for disease-modifying medicines.

DNA, the hereditary material, interacts with proteins in the nuclei of cells to form a tightly packed complex with proteins, which is referred to as "chromatin." The molecular architecture of the chromatin regulates access to genes, and therefore determines which genes can be activated in different cell types. Various chemical modifications of proteins called histones—which play a decisive role in the structuring of chromatin—serve as markers that can either activate or inhibit gene expression. How these epigenetic modifications are regulated during development, and in other contexts, is incompletely understood. Now researchers led by LMU molecular biologist Ralph Rupp have shown that the process of cell division itself can have an impact on which modifications become dominant. In rapidly dividing cells, levels of inhibitory modifications are reduced, increasing the probability of silenced genes to be reactivated. This phenomenon occurs in embryonic cells, and very probably in adult

MIP Diagnostics has today announced the launch of its novel Molecular Imprinting Epitope Discovery Service.

Researchers have been investigating the changes in receptor binding in these variants that increase the danger they pose.

Osteocalcin (OCN) is a multifunctional bone-derived hormone that modulates numerous physiological activities. OCN can cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and thus play critical roles in neuronal and brain development.

A new study led by University of California, Irvine researchers is the first to reveal the specific molecular mechanism that controls the transition from acute to chronic pain, and identifies this mechanism as a critical target for disease-modifying medicines.

Researchers compare a large cohort of transcriptomic dataset maps of gene regulation by SARS-CoV-2 infection.

An international consortium, led by Delft University of Technology and the University of North Carolina, has for the first time succeeded in probing the molecular origins of recombination in RNA viruses.

Sulfur-based chemical groups coax pyrene molecules into a brickwork crystal structure that offers enhanced electrical properties in a transistor device.

Author(s): Andrew E. Sifain, Francesca Fassioli, and Gregory D. ScholesEntanglement is both fragile and challenging to quantify experimentally, since the state density matrix is not readily available. Here, the authors propose an experimental measure of multipartite entanglement of excitons in some chemical systems using nonlinear optical spectroscopy. [Phys. Rev. A 104, 042416] Published Wed Oct 20, 2021

Proteins grease the wheels of nearly all the functions carried out in our cells. They often interact in

Molecular interfaces formed between metals and molecular compounds have enormous potential as building blocks for future opto-electronics and spin-electronics devices.

A new deep learning algorithm created by researchers from the University of Warwick can pick up the molecular pathways and development of key mutations causing colorectal cancer more accurately than existing methods, meaning patients could benefit from targeted therapies with quicker turnaround times and at a lower cost.

Molecular interfaces formed between metals and molecular compounds have enormous potential as building blocks for future opto-electronics and spin-electronics devices. Transition metal phthalocyanine and porphyrin complexes are promising components for such interfaces. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich, together with a team of international scientists, have been working to develop a model system for designing such devices with unique functions and enhanced performance by stabilizing and controlling the spin and oxidation states in the complexes with nanoscale precision. Among other things, they discovered a mechanism that can be used in the future to store information in porphyrins or to develop extremely sensitive sensors to detect toxic nitrogen dioxide.

Human cells are like tiny, multi-​purpose factories. In his research, ETH biologist Gabriele Alessandro Fontana investigates how cells

Stem-like cells that make up only a tiny fraction of the total cells in a lung tumor could be the key to stopping the disease's deadly spread, say researchers.

An important cellular structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC) has larger dimensions than previously thought. A research team made this discovery using cryo-focused ion beam (cryo-FIB) milling and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) -- which allowed them to analyze the NPC directly inside cells.

Nagoya University researchers and colleagues have improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of a key protein that makes the stomach acidic. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could lead to better drugs for stomach ulcers and shed light on the functions of similar proteins across the human body.

Researchers have succeeded in creating a new type of super-stable, durable glass with potential applications ranging from medicines, advanced digital screens, and solar cell technology. The study shows how mixing multiple molecules -- up to eight at a time -- can result in a material that performs as well as the best currently known glass formers.