Timothy syndrome mutations provide new insights into the structure of...
The human genome encodes 243 voltage-gated ion channels. Mutations in calcium channels can cause severe inherited diseases such as migraine, night blindness, autism spectrum disorders and Timothy...
View ArticleImmunity restrained by ion influx
B cells maintain stockpiles of calcium ions (Ca2+), which are released during the course of the immune response. When the presence of a foreign antigen stimulates the B cell receptor (BCR) complex,...
View ArticleThe architects of the brain: Scientists decipher the role of calcium signals
German neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to...
View ArticleChanneling into cell control
A research team from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako, Japan, has visualized and accurately modeled the molecular changes that open and close the internal membrane channels for calcium ions...
View ArticleCracking brain memory code
(Medical Xpress) -- Despite a century of research, memory encoding in the brain has remained mysterious. Neuronal synaptic connection strengths are involved, but synaptic components are short-lived...
View ArticleNew research could stop tumor cells from spreading
Researchers from the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Gothenburg have managed for the first time to obtain detailed information about the role of the protein...
View ArticleGenetic variant increases risk of heart rhythm dysfunction, sudden death
Cardiovascular researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a genetic variant in a cardiac protein that can be linked to heart rhythm dysfunction.
View ArticleTriclosan -- chemical widely used in antibacterial hand soaps -- may impair...
Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical widely used in hand soaps and other personal-care products, hinders muscle contractions at a cellular level, slows swimming in fish and reduces muscular strength in...
View ArticleExcitotoxicity and nerve cell death
Neural excitotoxicity can be involved in spinal cord injury, traumatic hearing loss and Alzheimer's. The Stressprotect project has gathered data on this often devastating phenomenon at biochemical,...
View ArticleStudy examines how Alzheimer's kills brain cells
(Medical Xpress)—Exactly how Alzheimer's disease kills brain cells is still somewhat of a mystery, but University of Michigan researchers have uncovered a clue that supports the idea that small...
View ArticleCalcium reveals connections between neurons
A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor.
View ArticleResearchers identifie gatekeeper protein, new details on cell's power source
Researchers at Temple University's Center for Translational Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania have identified a protein that serves as a gatekeeper for controlling the rush of calcium into...
View ArticleResearchers discover adverse effects of Bisphenol A on calcium channels
(Medical Xpress)—Bisphenol A, a substance found in many synthetic products, is considered to be harmful, particularly, for fetuses and babies. Researchers from the University of Bonn have now shown in...
View ArticleStudy finds linchpin of skin response to UVA light
Last year, a team of researchers at Brown University discovered that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to sense ultraviolet light and quickly begin pumping out...
View ArticleArrhythmia culprit caught in action
Using powerful X-rays, University of British Columbia researchers have reconstructed a crime scene too small for any microscope to observe – and caught the culprit of arrhythmia in action.
View ArticleRewriting a receptor's role: Synaptic molecule works differently than thought
(Medical Xpress)—In a pair of new papers, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences upend a long-held view about...
View ArticleResearchers develop tool for reading the minds of mice (w/ Video)
(Medical Xpress)—If you want to read a mouse's mind, it takes some fluorescent protein and a tiny microscope implanted in the rodent's head.
View ArticleCause of heart arrhythmia discovered using X-rays at CLS
Using powerful X-rays at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, scientists have reconstructed the scenario of heart arrhythmia in action, making critical progress towards preventing deadly conditions...
View ArticleResearchers explore PKC role in lung disease
New research examines the role of PKC in airway smooth muscle contraction and raises the possibility that this enzyme could be a therapeutic target for treating asthma, COPD, and other lung diseases.
View ArticleResearchers identify how cells control calcium influx
(Medical Xpress)—When brain cells are overwhelmed by an influx of too many calcium molecules, they shut down the channels through which these molecules enter the cells. Until now, the "stop" signal...
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