news from the lab 2016

Snapshots from a Molecular Dynamics simulation of a single shigella toxin particle binding to its lipid partners in the vesicle membrane (side and top views).

EPFL scientists have identified a protein that caps chromosomes during cell division and protects them from oxidative damage and shortening, which are associated with aging and cancer. When cells divide, they pack up all of their genetic material in the tightly wrapped chromosomes. The ends of our chromosomes have a unique structure, named a telomere.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Mitochondria are the 'power plants' of complex cells. In order to provide the cell with energy they need protein building blocks, which are imported from the outside. Over billions of years the 'protein import machines' necessary for this process have developed differently than previously assumed, as biochemists in Bern have discovered.

Does sleep help process stress and trauma? Or does it actually intensify emotional reactions and memories of the event? This previously unanswered question is highly relevant for the prevention of trauma-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). How extremely distressing experiences are processed right at the outset can influence the further course and development of posttraumatic stress disorders.

Researchers have used the simplest approach yet to produce artificial beta cells from human kidney cells. Like their natural model, the artificial cells act as both sugar sensors and insulin producers. Researchers led by ETH Professor Martin Fussenegger at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel have produced artificial beta cells using a straightforward engineering approach.

Magnets instead of antibiotics could provide a possible new treatment method for blood infection. This involves the blood of patients being mixed with magnetic iron particles, which bind the bacteria to them after which they are removed from the blood using magnets.

Bacteria able to shed their cell wall assume new, mostly spherical shapes. ETH researchers have shown that these cells, known as L-forms, are not only viable but that their reproductive mechanisms may even correspond to those of early life forms. Researchers from a group led by ETH professor Martin Loessner discovered a few years ago that rod-shaped Listeria can become spherical.

A protein that stays attached on chromosomes during cell division plays a critical role in determining the type of cell that stem cells can become. The discovery, made by EPFL scientists, has significant implications for stem cell biology and their use in medicine. When cells divide, DNA is neatly wrapped up into chromosomes, and the normal expression of genes into proteins stops until the new cells are formed.

Scientists have developed a highly sensitive sensor to detect tiny changes in strong magnetic fields. The sensor may find widespread use in medicine and other areas. Researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, which is operated jointly by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, have succeeded in measuring tiny changes in strong magnetic fields with unprecedented precision.

Common psoriasis, also called psoriasis vulgaris, is an inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by severely scaling skin in areas ranging from small to palm-sized. The disease is estimated to affect between two and three percent of all Europeans. The cause is said to be immune system malfunctions: the underlying mechanism involves the immune cells reacting to skin cells.

Type-1 diabetes occurs when immune cells attack the pancreas. EPFL scientists have now discovered what may trigger this attack, opening new directions for treatments. Type-1 diabetes is the rarest but most aggressive form of diabetes, usually affecting young children and adolescents. The patient's own immune cells begin to attack the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, eventually eliminating its production in the body.

EPFL scientists have developed a gel for growing miniaturized body organs that can be used in clinical diagnostics and drug development.

Researchers have come up with a way to link a smartwatch to the metabolic monitors used with patients in intensive care. If the sensors - which were developed at EPFL - detect an anomaly, the doctor on duty receives an alert anywhere in the hospital. Intensive care doctors may soon be able to wear a smartwatch connected to the system that keeps tabs on the vital parameters of patients in the intensive care unit.

Microbiologists at EPFL and the University of Edinburgh have discovered that red squirrels in Britain and Ireland carry the two bacterial species that cause leprosy in humans. Once rampant in medieval Europe, leprosy dramatically declined by the end of the Middle Ages for reasons that are still unclear.

Non-human primates regain control of their paralyzed leg ­- as early as six days after spinal cord injury - thanks to a neuroprosthetic interface that acts as a wireless bridge between the brain and spine, bypassing the injury.

Researchers at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the University of Basel have isolated and analyzed genetically tuberculosis bacteria from several thousand patients from over a hundred countries. This analysis demonstrates that the tuberculosis bacteria vary in their ecological niche.

Targeted iron supplements in biscuits can achieve a striking reduction in the level of lead in children's blood in regions with high exposure to this toxic heavy metal. This has been demonstrated for the first time by an ETH-led research group in a study of schoolchildren in Morocco. Lead is a toxic heavy metal that was added to petrol for use in cars until as recently as 25 years ago, including in Switzerland.

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a life-threatening pathogen in hospitals. About ten percent of all nosocomial infections, in particular pneumonia, are caused by this pathogen. Researchers from the University of Basel's Biozentrum, have now discovered that calcium induces the switch from acute to chronic infection.

ETH scientists have constructed bacteria in which growth can be controlled fully automatically by a computer.

Researchers are working on a new strategy to combat one of the most severe forms of muscular dystrophy. Rather than acting on the defective gene, they are using large doses of a vitamin. Duchenne is the most common and severe form of muscular dystrophy. Because of this genetic disease, one out of every 3,500 children spends their 12th birthday in a wheelchair.