Can somatic cells be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells using mechanical cues alone?

2018-06-04T17:04:27+08:30

Can somatic cells be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells using mechanical cues alone?

It has been shown that mouse fibroblasts efficiently dedifferentiate and express markers of pluripotency after being geometrically confined over 10 days, without exogenous biochemical factors. After 6 days mesenchymal genes are repressed, and after 10 days ESC and iPSC specific genes […]

How do forces affect actin remodeling at distant locations in a cell?

2018-05-31T14:00:32+08:30

How do forces affect actin remodeling at distant locations in a cell?

Forces applied at the periphery of a cell causes actin remodeling around the nucleus, leading to the formation of a transient perinuclear actin rim. The formation of this actin structure is dependent on the force-induced release of Ca2+ ions in the cytoplasm, […]

How does cell geometry induce TNFα-induced genome response?

2018-03-23T17:51:41+08:30

How does cell geometry influence TNFα-induced genome response?

NIH3T3 fibroblasts respond to TNFα-mediated signaling in a geometry-dependent manner, which is essential for maintaining their cellular homeostasis. In cells of different geometries (circular vs rectangular), TNFα induces differential translocation of transcription factors and the expression of different set of target genes.

This study was published in […]

How do nuclear phosphoinositides mediate DNA damage repair?

2018-03-01T14:51:15+08:30

How do nuclear phosphoinositides mediate DNA damage repair?

Nuclear phosphoinositides, specifically PIP2 and PIP3, play essential roles in mediating the recruitment of the ATR-ATRIP-pChk signaling axis to sites of DNA repair.

These findings were published in Nature Communications in 2017.

Wang YH et al. DNA damage causes rapid accumulation of phosphoinositides for ATR signaling. Nature Communications. […]

How do H-NS proteins bind bacterial DNA?

2018-03-01T21:24:41+08:30

How do H-NS proteins bind bacterial DNA?

The binding of H-NS to the bacterial DNA is initiated by electrostatic interactions between the positive residues on the H-NS linker and the negatively charged DNA. The initial contacts established by the linker then promotes engagement by the C-terminal DNA-binding domain of H-NS proteins.

These findings were published […]

Super-resolution imaging of nanoscale chromosome contacts

2018-02-05T15:17:57+08:30

How can super resolution imaging be used to assess nanoscale chromosome contacts?

This research provides the first direct visualization of functional gene clusters, at a nano-scale level. Functional gene clusters are genes that may be on the same or different chromosomes but are regulated by the same transcriptional factors that enable their intermingling with […]