Bacteria have an efficient infection mechanism. They infect their host cells using syringe-like extensions, formed in large numbers during an attack. Based on the knowledge of the exact blueprint of these structures, researchers in Vienna have now revealed for the first time how the toxins infiltrate the cells. Their findings can lead to the development of new medicines for bacterial infections.
Researchers from the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) present a novel approach for precise biological imaging with applications for sensitive and dynamic samples.
Most trisomic pregnancies arise as a consequence of chromosome missegregation in egg precursor cells called oocytes. Austrian researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) aim to understand the molecular causes of female age-dependent chromosome missegregation in oocytes. They have now discovered that a “molecular glue” called cohesin plays an important role in proper functioning of checkpoint control, ensuring correct chromosome segregation and production of euploid eggs.
A team of neurobiologists led by Simon Rumpel at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna succeeded in tracking single neurons in the brain of mice over extended periods of time. Advanced imaging techniques allowed them to establish the processes during memory formation and recall. The results of their observations are published this week in PNAS Early Edition.
Scientists in Vienna (Austria) have found a way to overcome some of the limitations of light microscopy. Applying the new technique, they can record the activity of a worm’s brain with high temporal and spatial resolution.
Jan-Michael Peters and his team at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) found that the structure of Chromosomes is supported by a kind of molecular skeleton, made of cohesin. Their discovery is published in the current online-issue of the journal NATURE.
In the gonads of animals, genome parasites such as transposons pose a serious threat to evolutionary fitness. With their ability to bounce around in the genome, they often cause dangerous mutations. To protect genomic integrity, animals evolved a sophisticated mechanism – the so called piRNA pathway – to silence the deleterious transposons. Not much is known about the molecular processes and the involved factors that constitute the piRNA pathway. Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna have now identified ~50 genes, that play important roles in the piRNA pathway of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster.
Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna have discovered iron balls in sensory neurons of birds' ears. These cells might be associated with the magnetic sense of birds.
Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) in Vienna have identified a completely new mechanism in the onset of motor neuron diseases. Their findings could be the basis for future treatments for these presently incurable diseases.
Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria and at the University of Cologne, Germany have discovered the molecular basis underlying the patterned folding and assembly of muscle proteins. They describe the strikingly new mechanism in the current issue of Cell.
In each cell, thousands of regulatory regions control which genes are active at any time. Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna developed a method that reliably detects these regions and measures their activity. The new technology is published online by Science this week.
Neurobiologists at the Research institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna have discovered one of the key genes required to make a brain. Mutations in this gene, called TUBB5, cause neurodevelopmental disease in children.
A new approach to possible future prevention of breast cancer and slowing the spread of tumours has won Austrian researcher Josef Penninger, director of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) in Vienna, a $7.4 million innovator’s award to continue his research, from the USA’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
Neurobiologists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna investigated how the brain is able to group external stimuli into stable categories. They found the answer in the discrete dynamics of neuronal circuits. The journal Neuron publishes the results in its current issue.
Neurobiologist Wulf Haubensak, Group Leader at the IMP in Vienna, has been awarded one of the prestigious Starting Grants by the European Research Council ERC. The grant is worth 1.5 Million Euros and will support an ambitious project to explore the neural basis of emotions.
Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, Austria, have uncovered how malnutrition, affecting millions of people, leads to diarrhoea, inflamed intestines and immune system disorders. This surprising result explains food effects that have been known for centuries and provides a molecular link between malnutrition and the bacteria which live in our intestines. The results will be published on 26 July 2012 in the journal Nature.
The Integrating EU-project “MitoSys” is a major, multi-national research effort that aims to deepen our understanding of how cells divide. To make this project more accessible to the public, the scientists will be joined by artists of various disciplines who complement the research process.
Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna discover and elucidate the function of conserved cell division proteins in yeast.
A key protein that controls how the deadly plant poison and bioweapon ricin kills, has finally been identified by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, Austria. The discovery was made using a revolutionary new technology that combines stem cell biology and modern screening methods.
A study by researchers in Austria and the US finds evidence that the different cell types that make up organs have arisen only once during the course of evolution. The programs to develop these cells have been passed on ever since. The study which is published online by Nature Genetics has been supported by the GEN-AU Programme of the Austrian Ministry for Science and Research.
Neurobiologists at Vienna’s Research Institute of Molecular Pathology use the mating ritual of the fruit fly to study how the nervous system initiates, controls and utilizes behavior. Using newly developed thermogenetic methods, the researchers are able to initiate the courtship song of the male fly by “remote control”, and study the involved neural networks.
Bacteria like salmonellae infect their host cells by needle-shaped extensions. A group of Viennese scientists employed recently developed methods of cryo-electron microscopy and have been able to clarify the structure of this infection apparatus on the near-atomic scale. The exact knowledge of the needles’ building plan may help to develop medication to prevent infection.
A newly discovered gene which helps to control the sense of pain is linked to synaesthesia, when sensations such as touch also affect other senses like hearing or sight. The rare condition causes some people to see sounds or written words as colours, or experience tastes, smells and shapes in linked combinations. Famous synaesthetes include composers Franz Liszt or Olivier Messiaens, and this condition has been linked to creativity and intelligence.
Medical scientists have uncovered how hormone replacement therapy and contraceptive pills can lead to breast cancer, according to research published online by Nature today (Wednesday 29 September, 2010). The findings raise the hope that hormone induced breast cancer may be prevented in future using a new treatment for the bone-loss disease osteoporosis.
The EU-funded project MitoCheck, which started in 2004, has now been successfully rounded off. Eleven European research teams and companies, coordinated by the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, studied the genetic basis of cell division. The findings are published today in the scientific journals Science and Nature.
The human body operates by a precisely regulated interplay of different cell types such as blood, nerve and muscle cells. Scientists in Vienna, Austria, and in Martinsried, Germany, have succeeded in identifying all genes of the fruit fly Drosophila that play a role in the development and function of muscles. The work has now been published in Nature.
Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna (Austria) have identified a key regulator of white versus brown adipose cell fate. The findings are reported in the January 7 issue of the journal Cell.
The central question of developmental biology is how a single fertilized egg can divide repeatedly to produce multiple different cell types. An article in this week's issue of the journal Cell from Jürgen Knoblich's group at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) in Vienna sheds fresh light on this key issue "“ and is likely to be highly relevant to the development of cancer in humans.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right