A protein complex has been shown to play a key role in preventing the build-up of toxic plaques in the brain linked to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. An international team of researchers from the Universities of Leeds, Stanford (USA) and Konstanz (Germany) have discovered that the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) helps…
A team of cycling scientists from the Astbury Biostructure Laboratory at the University of Leeds are pedalling across the UK later this month, to raise money for the human rights charity, the International Justice Mission. During their week-long, 660 mile tour they will be visiting every cryo-electron microscope in the country. The powerful microscopes stand…
Scientists have developed an integrated computational and experimental approach to investigate the way proteins and peptides – chains of amino acids – aggregate. The study describes research focussed on co-aggregation of two peptide fragments of the Amyloid-Beta (Ab) peptide implicated in Alzheimer’s disease as a model system.
The century-long mission to understand how the proteins which underpin amyloid-based diseases like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s has taken major steps forward in the last 12 months. High-powered microscopes using electrons instead of light to ‘see’ the actual shape of samples put under them, at near atomic-levels of detail, have only recently become available to…
The complex 3D structure of one of the world’s most lethal families of plant viruses has been revealed in unprecedented detail by scientists at the University of Leeds. Geminiviruses are responsible for diseases affecting crops such as cassava and maize in Africa, cotton in the Indian subcontinent and tomatoes across Europe. Being able to see…
A molecular compound in green tea could hold the key to preventing deaths from heart attacks and strokes caused by atherosclerosis, according to new research. Scientists from the University of Leeds and Lancaster University have discovered that a compound which is found within the popular drink and is currently being studied for its ability to…
Scientists have developed a new way to see inside individual cells, and study how they move and operate inside the human body. This improved understanding of cell-level activity could give researchers extra insight and tools to tackle cancers and other diseases. The University of Leeds team is using a lab-made protein called an Affimer that…
New drugs are in the early stages of development by pharmaceutical companies could have an extra benefit – the ability to cancel out HPV virus, which can cause cervical cancer and skin conditions. Scientists have now discovered the role of one of the crucial proteins responsible for allowing HPV to infect cells. It is called…
Researchers from the University of Leeds have revealed the structure of a virus which affects kidney and bone marrow transplant patients in near-atomic levels of detail for the first time. This detailed information serves as a molecular-level structural visualisation, allowing scientists to study several potential targets for antiviral therapies or drugs. Read the full press…
Dan Hurdiss, a microbiologist working in the University’s Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, has just been invited to take part in this year’s Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany. He was selected from thousands of applicants after impressing organisers with his application and commitment to his subject area. Read the full press release on…
