Category Archives: Molecular biology
When two forces join to make imaging brains more amazing than ever!
Recently, the journal Science showed in its cover an amazing image of a close up into the fly brain. This is the result of the combined effort of two research groups working on imaging. The first one (Boyden’s) had […]
How to study the protein corona using fluorinated nanoparticles
Author: Mónica Carril is an Ikerbasque Research Associate at the Biophysics Institute CSIC-UPV/EHU.
When nanoparticles (NPs) get in contact with biological fluids such as blood, proteins present in it will adsorb on the surface of those NPs forming what is […]
Molecular mechanisms underlying the link between cannabis abuse and schizophrenia
Author: Leyre Urigüen is a researcher at the Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental CIBERSAM
Cannabis, also called marijuana, is a drug that comes from […]
A generalized approach for NMR studies of lipid–protein interactions
Author: Francisco J. Blanco is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC bioGUNE
Molecular interactions in cell membranes, particularly lipid-protein interactions in their hydrophobic core, are difficult to analyse and remain poorly characterised despite high relevance in physiological and pathological processes. […]
MicroRNA-loaded nanoparticles against liver metastasis
Author: Iker Badiola is an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursery, University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently occurring cancer and a common cause of cancer-related […]
Exploiting DNA packaging
The haploid human genome contains approximately 3,000,000,000 base pairs of DNA packaged into 23 chromosomes. Most cells in the body, except for eggs and sperm, are diploid, with 23 pairs of chromosomes. That makes a total of 6,000,000,000 base pairs […]
Cut the stem off to fight breast cancer
Estrogens are steroid hormones affecting several organs including mammary glands. More precisely, these glands exert their action by means of estrogens through the estrogen receptor (ER), a transcription factor belonging to the family of nuclear receptors. So far, two […]
A new pathway to avoid macrophage pathogenic infections
During the Cold War the competition between both sides, Russia and the United States of America, caused a quick development of military and spacial technology: while the Soviet Union was the first country responsible for an orbital launch (Sputnik 1), […]
Osteoporosis, menopause and the retinoid X receptor
Like the river of Heraclitus, our bones are constantly changing. Although it may look tough and immutable, the bone is a very dynamic tissue that is constantly formed and destroyed, having different appearances during each of the stages of […]
The skin I live in: the mineralocorticoid receptor
The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is an atypical nuclear receptor. In principle, it may seem a mere receptor with a specific ligand and an evident role: it is capable of detecting mineralocorticoids (like aldosterone), exerting an essential function controlling sodium and […]