New research from Madan Babu’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, in collaboration with Toby Gibson from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, has shown that the targeted movement of mRNA molecules to allow proteins to be synthesised in specific locations has important implications in cell signalling and development. Proteins have many different […]
Insight on Research
The mother’s role in protecting the fetal genome from aldehyde damage is revealed.
Whilst a mother’s metabolism provides essential nutrients to enable embryonic development, both mother and embryo can also produce reactive metabolites that can damage DNA. Research undertaken by Nina Oberbeck in KJ Patel’s group, in the LMB’s PNAC Division, has uncovered how the embryo is protected from these genotoxins. Birth defects are common and are a […]
How cells adapt proteasome assembly under stress conditions
Research carried out by Anne Bertolotti’s group in the LMB’s Neurobiology Division has identified a novel protein, named Adc17, that acts as an inducible chaperone to help cells make more proteasome when needed. Cells and organisms constantly need to adapt to maintain protein homeostasis under adverse stress conditions in order to avoid cell death. Cells […]
Revealing the secrets of human gamma-secretase by cryo-EM
The latest advances in cryo-electron microscopy have enabled Sjors Scheres’ group, from the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, together with collaborators from Beijing in China, to solve the structure of human gamma-secretase, a membrane protein complex that has an important role in Alzheimer’s disease. Gamma-secretase is made up of four different proteins which are all embedded […]
How to get your (dynein) motor running
A cross divisional collaboration at the LMB between the groups of Simon Bullock, in Cell Biology, and Andrew Carter, in Structural Studies, has provided new insight into the activation of the large molecular motor dynein, a critical component of the transport system that operates within cells. The cells within living organisms contain an elaborate transport […]
Cryo-EM reveals mammalian protein export machinery
A collaborative team from LMB’s Cell Biology and Structural Studies Divisions has visualized the mammalian protein synthesis and export machinery at near-atomic resolution. The new research helps explain how secreted proteins, such as hormones, can cross an otherwise impermeable membrane to exit the cell. It has long been appreciated that cells communicate with each other […]