Base excision repair enzymes (BERs) detect and repair oxidative DNA damage with efficacy despite the small size of the defects and their often only minor structural impact. A charge transfer (CT) model for rapid scanning of DNA stretches has been evoked to ...
DNA damage signaling following DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) involves numerous regulating proteins, which dynamically recognize ('read') and alter ('write' or 'erase') histone post-translational modifications (PTMs). Among these PTMs, the ubiquitin syste ...
Communication between the intestine and other organs such as the lungs, brain or bones is mediated by several metabolites, like short-chain fatty acids or bile acids, that relay information about nutritional and microbiota status. Bile acids are endogenous ...
Since Strahl and Allis proposed the "language of covalent histone modifications", a host of experimental studies have shed light on the different facets of chromatin regulation by epigenetic mechanisms. Initially proposed as a concept for controlling gene ...
Cells are the smallest operational units of living systems. Through synthesis of various biomolecules and exchange of signals with the environment, cells tightly regulate their composition to realize a specific functional state. The transformation of a cel ...
Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures at the ends of linear chromosomes, being essential for the maintenance of genomic integrity. Telomeres have a unique structure which distinguishes chromosome termini from DNA damage sites. Shelterin complexes are the ...
BRCA2 and RAD51 are two proteins that play a central role in homologous recombination (HR) and DNA double strand break (DSB) repair. BRCA2 assists RAD51 fibrillation and defibrillation through binding with its eight BRC repeats, with BRC4 being one of the ...
Self-renewal and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells are tightly regulated to ensure tissue homeostasis. This regulation is enabled both remotely by systemic circulating cues, such as cytokines and hormones, and locally by various niche-confined f ...
CAR-T cell therapy has shown remarkable success in treating hematopoietic malignancies, but its efficacy in solid tumors is limited by T cell dysfunction, including exhaustion and senescence. In this study, we designed metabolically armored CAR-T cells to ...
Acute leukemia has a high mortality rate of approximately 50%, and current methods are not effective in predicting disease progression and relapse. To improve our understanding of hematopoiesis and develop new markers for predicting disease relapse in dead ...
A DNA damage-inducible mutagenic gene cassette has been implicated in the emergence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis during anti-tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy. However, the molecular composition and operation of the encoded 'mycobacterial ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the necessity to develop fast, highly sensitive and selective virus detection methods. Surface-based DNA-biosensors are interesting candidates for this purpose. Functionalization of solid substrates with DNA must be pr ...
White adipose tissue (WAT) is a cellularly heterogeneous endocrine organ that not only serves as a reservoir for storing and releasing energy but also actively participates in metabolic homeostasis. Given the current rise in obesity and its associated como ...
Interaction with microenvironmental factors is crucial for the regulation of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. Stroma derived factor (SDF)-1 alpha supports HSCs in the quiescent state and is central to the homing of transplanted HSCs. Here, we show t ...
Difficulties to replicate telomeres - the ends of our chromosomes - can cause telomere shortening and
genome instability. These difficulties are due to the repetitive DNA sequence and distinct structures at telomeres
that challenge the semi-conservative DN ...
Natural competence for transformation is an important driver of horizontal DNA exchange between different organisms. This can result in accumulation of dangerous genetic features, such as antibiotic resistance genes, in a single organism. One example of an ...
Why biological quality-control systems fail is often mysterious. Specifically, checkpoints such as the DNA damage checkpoint or the spindle assembly checkpoint are overriden after prolonged arrests allowing cells to continue dividing despite the continued ...
Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are the primary source of myogenic progenitors during muscle repair and are essential for the long-term regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle. Following myofiber injury, MuSCs transition from a quiescent to an activated state, ...
Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells (HSPCs) reside in their niche, a structure that regulates the balance of cellular quiescence, self-renewal and commitment towards differentiated cells. This highly plastic niche is formed by several cellular players, ...
Solid cancers exhibit a dynamic balance between cell death and proliferation ensuring continuous tumour maintenance and growth(1,2). Increasing evidence links enhanced cancer cell apoptosis to paracrine activation of cells in the tumour microenvironment in ...
