A combination of molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray diffraction data has been used to construct more realistic models of proteins and to provide new insights into their interactions with other proteins and biomolecules.
The discovery of a fluorescent protein that can be rapidly switched between long-lived ‘on’ and ‘off’ states will lead to a new generation of super-resolution imaging experiments on living cells.
A combination of single-molecule imaging and an in vitro model of the cell cortex has allowed the interactions between actin filaments and filaments made of myosin II to be studied in detail.
A protein called PVRL4 has a central role in a number of cancers that originate in epithelial tissue, and anti-PVRL4 antibodies could be used to treat some of these cancers.
Goblet cells secrete mucins—which are key components of mucus—in a process that is regulated by calcium ions, which enter the goblet cells via a mechanism involving a channel protein called TRPM5.