January 6, 2020
Image credit: Prabesh Bhattarai/Kizil Lab, DZNE
01/10/2020
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Gaurav Byagathvalli, Saad Bhamla and co-authors describe an ultra-low cost (23-cent) 3D-printed electroporator, inspired by a common barbecue lighter, and designed to enable broader access to synthetic biology in high school, community and budget-conscious laboratories.
Image credit: pbio.3000589
Current Issue December 2019
01/06/2020
research article
Giorgio Grasselli, Henk-Jan Boele, Chris de Zeeuw, Martijn Schonewille, Christian Hansel and co-workers show that cerebellum-dependent motor learning involves an adjustment of membrane excitability in Purkinje cells via modulation of SK2-type K+ channels; this "intrinsic plasticity" requirement can be separated from changes in synaptic strength.
Image credit: pbio.3000596
01/02/2020
research article
The chromatin remodeller ATRX is often lost in cells that maintain their telomeres using the telomerase-independent “alternative lengthening of telomeres” (ALT) pathway. Courtney Lovejoy, Titia de Lange and co-workers show how loss of ATRX alters the repair of telomeric DNA breaks and suggests how this change could promote telomere maintenance in ALT cells.
Image credit: pbio.3000594
12/26/2019
research article
Daniel Nätt, Unn Kugelberg, Anita Öst and colleagues find that sperm motility in healthy young men is highly sensitive to diet and is associated with changes in specific populations of tRNA fragments. In non-human animals, similar molecular changes correlate with metabolic effects in the offspring. These results not only show that human sperm may rapidly respond to diet, but that these changes may potentially ripple into the next generation.
Image credit: pbio.3000559
12/20/2019
research article
Johannes Kettunen, Michael Holmes, Elias Allara, Olga Anufrieva, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Adam Butterworth, Mika Ala-Korpela and colleagues reveal that inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein does not affect size-specific low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but may lower coronary heart disease risk by lowering cholesterol concentrations in other apolipoprotein-B containing atherogenic lipoproteins.
Image credit: pbio.3000572
12/19/2019
Methods and Resources
Extended-volume confocal imaging by Inken Kelch, Rod Dunbar and co-authors allows 3D visualisation of the fine network of conduits within lymph nodes; the resulting map of conduit topology underscores structural differences between the deep and superficial T cell zone and identifies "follicular reservoirs" within B cell follicles that concentrate lymphoid fluid around follicular dendritic cells.
Image credit: Inken D. Kelch
12/19/2019
Methods and Resources
Holo-tomographic microscopy and computer vision allow label-free observation of novel shape and dry mass dynamics of mammalian organelles such as lipid droplets and the investigation of complex organellar motion.
Image credit: pbio.3000553
12/17/2019
Research Article
Cells from the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma compete with healthy neurons for survival, depleting the signaling molecule Wg and causing neurodegeneration.
Image credit: Sergio Casas-Tintó
12/13/2019
Research Article
The kinase Rio1, the nuclease Nob1, and its partner Pno1 establish a checkpoint that prevents the escape of immature ribosomes into polysomes. Bypass perturbs ribosome fidelity and mRNA specificity, and can be caused by cancer mutations.
Image credit: pbio.3000329
12/16/2019
Research Article
The hominoid-specific USP6 is a novel deubiquitinase of NMDA receptors. Expression of a human USP6 transgene enhances cognitive and synaptic function in mice, suggesting a role in evolution of human intelligence.
Image credit: pbio.3000525
Raquel Lieberman discusses her work on the protein myocilin, implicated in glaucoma, but whose normal function remains unclear after over 20 years.
Susanna Bidgood explores the future of using poxviruses as versatile tools for cell biology research.
Rachel Harding proposes that open notebooks present an opportunity for researchers to showcase their work and rapidly advance science in their field
On the eve of the UN General Assembly meeting on TB, Christoph Grundner urged the need to consider basic research as an essential component of any future anti-TB strategy.
Norman Pace remembers the early days of what became known as "metagenomics," as experienced by the author during his development as a scientist.
Meet Senior Editor Roli Roberts in Edinburgh
Nov 13-15, 2019
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia in Alicante, Spain
23-26 Oct, 2019
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia in Cambridge, UK
17-20 Sept, 2019
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