A study by researchers at the University of California San Diego could make it easier to treat breast cancer by uncovering a new way the body helps prevent its spread. The scientists discovered a new role for an inflammatory protein called TYK2 in mechanotransduction, the process by which cells sense and respond to their physical … Read more
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have uncovered how the bacteria that causes tuberculosis fuels itself during infection, providing new insights into one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. The study, published in The EMBO Journal, provides the first detailed 3D structure of a protein called EtfD, which the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis uses to extract energy from lipids (fats), along with the first laboratory … Read more
Lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs, best known as the delivery vehicle for the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines received by billions of people, are now at the center of a much larger medical revolution. Researchers are racing to use them to ferry therapeutic mRNA into cells for cancer therapies and treatments for inflammatory diseases, as well as delivering … Read more
Proteins long known to be essential for hearing have been hiding a talent: they also act as gatekeepers that shuffle fatty molecules across cell membranes. When this newly discovered function goes haywire-due to genetic mutations, noise-induced damage, or certain medications-it may be what kills the delicate sensory cells in our ears, causing permanent hearing loss. … Read more