The human genome encodes thousands of proteins that are embedded in the membranes of all cells. These membrane proteins have numerous functions ranging from ion transport, to cell communication, to sensing odours, and others. In order to carry out these functions, they must be precisely oriented, folded, and assembled correctly. New research from Manu Hegde’s […]
Insight on Research
Discovery of a sensor for ribosome collisions
A collaborative team from the LMB’s Cell Biology and Structural Studies Divisions has identified a cellular factor that detects ribosome collisions. The ribosome is the molecular machine responsible for reading the genetic code to produce proteins, a process known as translation. Such collisions between ribosomes are a sign that something has gone awry during translation, […]
Instinctive and learned responses to smells are controlled by a single brain circuit in flies
As well as having instinctive responses to their environment, nearly all animals can learn to associate particular sights, smells, or sounds with rewards or negative consequences. It had been thought that two separate brain centres control these two different types of responses; innate and learned. However, researchers from Greg Jefferis’ group in the LMB’s Neurobiology […]
The structure of retromer: a molecular machine packing cargo at the cell’s logistics hub
Internal transport between different cellular compartments is a complicated process requiring formation of transport carriers, and sorting the right cargo into those carriers, for delivery to the correct part of the cell. Retromer is a protein complex that forms transport carriers departing from the cell’s central sorting station, the endosome. The architecture of the complex […]
How cells selectively enhance gene expression in response to stress
Cells need to respond quickly when they encounter stress conditions in order to avoid consequences such as cell death. New research from Madan Babu’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division has identified a mechanism by which cells can enhance the expression of stress-response genes by increasing the efficiency of protein synthesis specifically for these […]
Tau filament structures differ between neurodegenerative diseases
Michel Goedert’s group in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division and Sjors Scheres’ group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have used electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to solve the structures of tau filaments from patients with the frontotemporal dementia Pick’s disease. These new structures show how tau folds in disease-specific ways, providing evidence for the hypothesis that different […]