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Proteins set vesicles in motion
22 / 05 / 2023
A team led by Erwin Frey, Professor of Statistical and Biological Physics at LMU, and Petra Schwille from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, has managed to maintain vesicles enclosed by a lipid membrane – so-called liposomes – in constant motion on a supporting membrane. This motion is driven ...
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Researchers use light to remotely control protein production
22 / 05 / 2023
UK researchers have developed a method to turn gene expression on or off using multiple wavelengths of light. Their technique could help other scientists study complex cellular processes and advance synthetic cell research and technologies. In cells, DNA is like a cookbook. It contains all the instructions necessary for the ...
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Scientists overcome the membrane barrier with new cell receptors for synthetic cells
08 / 05 / 2023
A Danish team led by Alexander Zelikin has succeeded in creating signaling receptors from scratch that allow the transfer of information across the sealed cell membrane of synthetic cells. Their results were published in March 2023 in Nature Communications. Schematic and chemical illustration of the proposed concept of transmembrane signaling ...
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Recycling, an important mechanism in cells
02 / 05 / 2023
Using a bottom-up approach, scientists have highlighted the important role of recycling in the constant renewal of structures of actin, a protein that plays an essential role in eukaryotic cells. Actin is one of three filamentous proteins that form the cytoskeleton, a structure that helps maintain cell shape and organization and ...
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The subtle interaction of cohesin and CTCF proteins to form loops in DNA
25 / 04 / 2023
In a publication published in Nature on April 19, Dutch and Austrian researchers shed new light on one of the mechanisms of loop formation in DNA. Loop extrusion plays an important role in structuring the genome and regulating gene expression, and the scientists have highlighted the influence of DNA ...
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Meet the Community - Claudia Contini
16 / 03 / 2023
Curiosity is the driving force of Claudia Contini, who uses her skills to reinvent biology. At Queen Mary University of London, she is currently setting up her own research group on synthetic cells capable of dynamic behaviors. Originally from Sardinia, Italy, she moved to the UK after her Master’s ...
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Scientists unveil the complex dance of pattern-forming proteins when exposed to flow
09 / 03 / 2023
The MinE and MinD proteins found in E. coli bacteria form the most studied pattern-forming systems in biology and this system is a serious contender to direct the cell division mechanism in synthetic cells. To uncover its secrets, German and Dutch scientists subjected the Min system to a liquid ...
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SYNBEE project kicks off
06 / 03 / 2023
We are very pleased to announce that we, together with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (TU Delft), are participants in the SYNBEE project. Coordinated by eureKARE, this two-year Horizon Europe project officially started on February 1. This is a Coordination and support action (CSA) that aims to ...
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Meet Project Leader Sindhu Naik
06 / 03 / 2023
We are pleased to welcome Sindhu Naik, who joins our team as project leader for SYNBEE. SynCellEU, together with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, is participating in this two-year Horizon Europe project, coordinated by eureKARE. Sindhu manages the first work package of the SYNBEE project, which includes ...
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Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the partners of the European Synthetic Cell Initiative
02 / 03 / 2023
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the Max Planck Society (MPG) in Germany, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands are very pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further support the ...
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