Information transfer in the nervous system occurs at synapses, where presynaptic signals are interpreted by postsynaptic receptors. Ingo Greger’s group, in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division, study this process with a focus on AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) at various levels of complexity. AMPARs are the prime mediators of excitatory neurotransmission and are regulators of synaptic plasticity, […]
Insight on Research
Structural insight offers potential for new anti-malarial treatment
Every year hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by Malaria and nearly half a million die from the disease. More than two thirds of those dying are children under five. The disease is caused by parasites passed to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes, with Plasmodium falciparum being the parasite responsible for […]
Understanding noise: the molecular determinants of random variation in gene expression levels
Cell-to-cell variability in gene expression level (noise) has emerged as one of the fundamental concepts in genetics. Non-genetic, cell-to-cell variation in the abundance of a gene product can generate a diversity of behaviour in genetically identical population of cells. This phenomenon is pervasive and prevalent in development (e.g. stem cells) and disease (e.g. cancer). Genome-scale […]
Cryo-EM sheds new light on the spliceosome activation process
Researchers in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have been able to show in more detail than ever before the structure of a large part of the spliceosome, a macromolecular machine involved in the maturation of messenger RNAs for protein synthesis. Thi Hoang Duong (Kelly) Nguyen, Wojciech Galej, Xiao-Chen Bai, Andy Newman and Chris Oubridge in […]
An open translocation channel revealed
Rebecca Voorhees and Manu Hegde, from the LMB’s Cell Biology Division, have used electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine how a channel that is essential for protein transport is opened. This channel, known as Sec61 in mammals, is needed for secretion of proteins from the cell and insertion of proteins into the membrane. Secretory and membrane […]
Understanding the maternal age effect in human oocytes
Human eggs are frequently aneuploid, meaning they have the wrong number of chromosomes, and this is a major cause of pregnancy loss and Down syndrome. Aneuploidy in human eggs increases with advanced maternal age, which may explain why it is more difficult for women to get pregnant as they get older, and why miscarriages and […]