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 […]
Insight on Research
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 […]
Detecting and signalling DNA single-strand breaks: understanding the mechanisms of DNA damage recognition
DNA damage represents a constant threat to the integrity of genomic information in cells and is closely linked to the origins of cancer. DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) are the most frequent type of damage with thousands of such lesions from different sources occurring in each cell every day. Despite many advances in understanding the mechanistic […]
Cryo-EM imaging of ribosomes shows the origin of leukaemia
Ribosomes, the molecular machines in cells that make proteins, are constructed in a series of discrete steps to create both a large and a small subunit. Release of a key building block, eIF6, from the large 60S subunit allows assembly of the mature active ribosome. Alan Warren’s group, at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration […]
Structure of the endosomal Vps34 complex II reveals insights into its function
The process of autophagy, in which unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components are degraded, is important to prevent accumulation of cellular waste and can be triggered by cellular stress. Roger Williams’ group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, in collaboration with Nicholas Ktistakis at Cambridge’s Babraham Institute and Jan Steyaert at the Brussels VIB Structural Biology Research […]
A fundamental protection mechanism against formalin in mammals is revealed
Formaldehyde, or formalin, is well known to all of us as a common chemical used in many industrial processes and also as a preservative, remarkably we also produce formaldehyde in our bodies. This “endogenous” formaldehyde is ubiquitous, and sufficient amounts might be produced that could damage our cells. Work by Lucas Pontel and Ivan Rosado […]