When an animal detects a stimulus that might signal danger, this primes sensory and motor organs to respond more readily to further stimulation. This is called sensitisation and is one aspect of the more general phenomenon of arousal, in which animals become more alert and can respond more effectively to potential threats. However, the basic […]
Insight on Research
How flat sheets of cells become tubular organs: observing cellular dynamics from 2D to 3D
Many complex tubular organs, including kidney, lung, the intestine and several glands, form from a flat layer of cells during animal development. Failure of proper tube formation underlies severe congenital malformations such as Spina Bifida, and the failure to maintain tube architecture for instance underlies Polycystic Kidney Diseases. How tissues transition from flat 2D structures […]
Scientists identify exoplanets where life could develop as it did on Earth
Scientists have identified planets outside our solar system where the same chemical conditions exist that may have led to life on Earth. The researchers, from John Sutherland’s group in the LMB’s PNAC Division and the University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory, found that the chances for life to develop on the surface of a rocky planet […]
Making the undruggable druggable: the first platform to discover selective phosphatase inhibitors
Anne Bertolotti’s group in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division have developed the first platform to discover selective inhibitors of phosphatases, a class of enzyme which have largely been considered ‘undruggable’. This has allowed Anne’s group to identify a small molecule, Raphin1, which selectively inhibits a protein phosphatase and is effective in a mouse model of Huntington’s […]
Electron cryo-microscopy reveals near-atomic resolution structure of the prespliceosome
Kiyoshi Nagai’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have used electron cryo-microscopy to solve the structure of the prespliceosome at near-atomic resolution, providing new insights into how the spliceosome is assembled and regulated. The human genome contains approximately 20,000 genes, which when transcribed produce precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) consisting of coding sequences (exons) and […]
Discovering how translation and mRNA decay are linked
Scientists in Lori Passmore’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have revealed new mechanistic insights into the link between translation and mRNA decay. In collaboration with Jeff Coller’s group at Case Western Reserve University, USA, and Brenton Graveley’s group at the University of Connecticut, USA, the scientists’ findings have implications for understanding regulation of […]