Albert Einstein College of Medicine has appointed Britta Will, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology, of medicine and of cell biology, and the Diane and Arthur B. Belfer Scholar in Cancer Research, as the permanent director of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine.

With mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) base editing tools, this study controlled the nuclear background to investigate the causal effect of mtDNA mutations. Co-existence of wild-type and mutant mtDNA (heteroplasmy) in MT-ND5 was introduced.  Enhanced oncogenic potential was confirmed with in vitro and in vivo assays. They reported compromised mitochondrial respiration and increased glycolytic activity, often termed as the Warburg effect following the mutations. By tracking cellular phenotypes during the MT-ND5 heteroplasmy decay, they reasoned that the increased glycolytic activity was to rescue NAD⁺ depreciation. Increased ROS level, genome instability, altered NAD⁺ epigenetics are the likely factors drove oncogenesis post MT-ND5 mutations.

In groundbreaking work from The University of Warwick, researchers have found that wild orangutans vocalise with a layered complexity previously thought to be unique to human communication, suggesting a much older evolutionary origin.  

Taste, pain, or response to stress — nearly all essential functions in the human body are regulated by molecular switches called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, have uncovered the fundamental mechanism how such a GPCR works. Using a method similar to the earth satellite GPS, they could track the motions of a GPCR and observe it in action. Their findings, recently published in “Science”, provide guidance for designing drugs.

In a new article published in Nature communications, researchers from Uppsala Antibiotic Center, Uppsala University and SciLifeLab describe a fundamental mechanism of antibiotic resistance. What happens in a bacterium that is resistant to the antibiotic fusidic acid? With a stop-motion movie at the atomic level, they can show that the resistance protein FusB works nearly like a crowbar. "With traditional methods, we would be too late to the “crime scene”. Thanks to this methodology, we could catch the resistance protein in the act, right as the “crowbar” is “breaking into” the molecular complex," says researcher at Uppsala Antibiotic Center, one of Uppsalas at least seven different organisations för national and international antibiotic research. (link further down)