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Discovering the 'turnstile' in our cells

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A research team has discovered that a cell's protective layer acts like a turnstile, allowing proteins to be exported while preventing them from moving back in. All cells are surrounded by a protective layer – a membrane – which keeps the contents of the cell together and protects it from damage. Read the full press...

Unravelling the secret of antibiotic resistance

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Scientists from the University of Leeds have solved a 25-year-old question about how a family of proteins allow bacteria to resist the effects of certain antibiotics. Proteins of the ABC-F protein family are a major source of antibiotic resistance in ‘superbugs’ such as Staphylococcus aureus, a group of bacteria that includes MRSA. The findings provide...

'Quantum dots’ light the way for new HIV and Ebola treatment

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A research team led by the University of Leeds has observed for the first time how HIV and Ebola viruses attach to cells to spread infection. The findings suggest a new way of treating these viruses: instead of destroying the pathogens, introduce a block on how they interact with cells. Read the full press release...

Using old drugs to treat new viruses

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A group of drugs already in everyday use to treat psychosis or depression may also be used to defeat deadly and emerging viruses. Researchers from the University of Leeds found that common drugs in everyday use were successful in preventing a particular virus from infecting cells, by blocking the ion channels that regulate potassium levels...

Researchers to use supercomputer to 'hack' Ebola

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Scientists at the University of Leeds will run the equivalent of password cracking software to find the chemical keys to defeating the Ebola virus. A team from the University’s schools of Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology have secured a £200,000 grant from the Wellcome Trust to find drugs to cure the disease. Read the...

Controlling the ‘social life’ of proteins aims to transform drug discovery

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A new £3.4 million programme will develop new tools to understand which interactions between proteins in the human body are relevant to disease. Currently, only a handful of drugs in clinical use work by targeting protein-protein interactions. A new £3.4 million programme will develop new tools to understand which interactions between proteins in the human...

Groundbreaking microscopy unlocks secrets of plant virus assembly

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Understanding how a plant virus assembles could lay the groundwork for future use to carry drugs into the human body. The Nature Communications paper investigates vital steps to understanding how safe, plant-based virus-like particles could be created in the future. Read the full press release here Read Mechanisms of assembly and genome packaging in an RNA...

Swinging on "monkey bars": motor proteins caught in the act

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The first images of motor proteins in action are published in the journal Nature Communications today. These proteins are vital to complex life, forming the transport infrastructure that allows different parts of cells to specialise in particular functions. Until now, the way they move has never been directly observed. Researchers at the University of Leeds...

First glimpses of motor proteins in action

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The first images of motor proteins in action are published in the journal Nature Communications. These proteins are vital to complex life, forming the transport infrastructure that allows different parts of cells to specialise in particular functions. Until now, the way they move has never been directly observed. Read full press release here Read  Direct...