Life Sciences and Chemistry

When memories are made and learning occurs, the connections between brain cells change. Scientists know that an influx of calcium is critical to this process. A theoretical model developed by a Brown University research team shows that cells’ ability to fine-tune this calcium flow not only sparks changes in synapses but also allows cells to maintain a working state of equilibrium.

A research team based at Brown University has created a theoretical model that may shed light on a brai

Northwestern University researchers have discovered a mechanism that may help to explain how angiogenesis inhibitors work on normal, blood vessel-forming endothelial cells, but not on insidious, aggressive melanoma cells that masquerade as endothelial-like cells by forming their own vascular networks, called “vasculogenic mimicry.”

Mary J. C. Hendrix, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and president and scientific director of the Children

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are reporting a possible answer to a longstanding question in research on the origins of life on Earth–how did the first amino acids form the first peptides?
Peptides and proteins are strings of amino acid building blocks, and they are one of the most important classes of biological molecules found in living things today. Fifty years of chemical research on the origins of life has shown that amino ac

Research at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology has identified Dectin-1 as the beta-glucan receptor on immune cells. This finding may be of use in the prophylactic prevention of a variety of infections, especially in surgical patients, and in the treatment of cancer. The identification of Dectin-1 as the beta-glucan receptor may also provide a novel strategy for combating fungal infections.

b-Glucans are glucose polymers which possess immunomodulatory activities, although

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a “central memory” form of “helper” T cells that can offer immunity to leishmaniasis, a disease that causes considerable death and disfigurement across the globe and has been found in U.S. military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the October issue of Nature Medicine, the Penn researchers describe how the discovery can offer immunity to leishmaniasis, even without the persistent presence of the pa

Scientists from the University of California, Riverside have identified one of the key enzymes that trigger programmed cell death, an important process plants undergo in fighting off bacterial, fungal or viral infections. The development holds out hope of improving crop yields, which are dependent on plants being able to fend off multiple types of pathogens.

The findings, outlined in a paper titled “VPEg Exhibits a Caspase-like Activity that Contributes to Defense Against Pathogen