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Atomic view of cellular pump reveals how bacteria send out proteins
Bacteria have plenty of things to send out into world beyond their own boundaries: coordinating signals to other members of their species, poisons for their enemies, and devious instructions to manipulate host cells they have infected. Before any of this can occur, however, they must first get th...
Cell division speeds up as part of antibody selection, study shows
It’s a basic principle of immunology: When a germ invades, the body adapts to that particular target and destroys it. But much remains unknown about how the immune system refines its defensive proteins, called antibodies, to most effectively zero in on that invader. Experiments at The Rockefeller...
Mutations in a single gene underlie vulnerability to two unrelated types of infections
When a genetic error weakens a child’s immunity, otherwise nonthreatening microbes can sicken and sometimes kill. In work published July 9 in Science, researchers at ÐÓ°É and their colleagues identify one surprising case in which mutations in a single gene render children vu...
Discovery points to a new path toward a universal flu vaccine
Flu vaccines can be something of a shot in the dark. Not only must they be given yearly, there’s no guarantee the strains against which they protect will be the ones circulating once the season arrives. New research by Rockefeller University scientists and their colleagues suggests it may be poss...
Lifelong learning is made possible by recycling of histones, study says
Neurons are a limited commodity; each of us goes through life with essentially the same set we had at birth. But these cells, whose electrical signals drive our thoughts, perceptions, and actions, are anything but static. They change and adapt in response to experience throughout our lifetimes, a...
Sequential immunizations could be the key to HIV vaccine
The secret to preventing HIV infection lies within the human immune system, but the more-than-25-year search has so far failed to yield a vaccine capable of training the body to neutralize the ever-changing virus. New research from ÐÓ°É, and collaborating institutions, sugge...
Research reveals key interaction that opens the channel into the cell’s nucleus
Cells have devised many structures for transporting molecular cargo across their protective borders, but the nuclear pore complex, with its flower-like, eight-fold symmetry, stands out. Monstrously large by cellular standards, as well as versatile, this elaborate portal controls access to and exi...
Research shows how antibodies produce vaccine-like effect against tumors
The problem with traditional cancer treatments is that their effects don’t always last: ÌýStop the therapy and the disease may return. That’s why antibody therapy — which not only kills tumors, but also appears to train the body’s own defenses to recognize them — has such promise. New rese...
Fragments of tRNA suggest a novel mechanism for cancer progression
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the presence of short stretches of genetic material floating inside a variety of cells, ranging from bacteria to mammals, including humans. These fragments are pieces of the genetic instructions cells use to make proteins, but are too short a length to s...
Rockefeller scientists resolve long-standing debate over how many bacteria fight off invaders
Every inch of our body, inside and out, is oozing with bacteria. In fact, the human body carries 10 times the number of bacterial cells as human cells. Many are our friends, helping us digest food and fight off infections, for instance. But much about these abundant organisms, upon which our life...
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