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Astrocyte Insight Explains Brain Region-specific Vulnerability in Huntington Disease

April 17, 2019

The mutant form of the Huntington gene, mHTT, which encodes a product that causes the disease, is expressed throughout the brain in affected individuals. Yet neurons in individual regions of the brain are differentially susceptible to its neurotoxic effects. The basis for this puzzling region-specific vulnerability in Huntington disease—which is likewise a feature of Alzheimer and Parkinson neurodegenerative diseases—was hitherto unknown.

A new study led by Cynthia McMurray, a senior scientist in Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB), provides evidence that regional differences in neuronal susceptibility to Huntington disease can be attributed to substrate-driven metabolic reprogramming strategies adopted by astrocytes in response to low glucose. The team recently reported their findings in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Freeze-frame Microscopy Captures Molecule’s ‘Lock-and-Load’ on DNA

November 30, 2018

TFIID 3-D atomic structure

Eva Nogales, faculty scientist in Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division and UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology, led a team that captured freeze-frames of the changing shape of a huge macromolecular complex as it locks onto DNA and loads the machinery for reading the genetic code. The molecule, called transcription factor IID (TFIID), is critical to transcribing genes into messenger RNA that will later be used as blueprints to make proteins.

Scientists Bring Polymers Into Atomic-Scale Focus

November 12, 2018

Peptoid polymer in front of water bottles

A research team led by Nitash Balsara, a senior faculty scientist in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) at Berkeley Lab and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Berkeley, has adapted a powerful electron-based imaging technique to obtain an image of atomic-scale structure in a synthetic polymer. The team of researchers from Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley included the late Ken Downing of the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division.

The Strings That Bind Us: Cytofilaments Connect Cell Nucleus to Extracellular Microenvironment

January 25, 2017

New images of structural fibers inside a cell appear in a study featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Science special issue on 3D Cell Biology, published this month. The images, obtained by scientists in the Biosciences Area, show thread-like cytofilaments reaching into and traversing a human breast cell’s chromatin-packed nucleus. cytofilamentIt provides the first visual evidence of a physical link by which genes can receive mechanical cues from its microenvironment.

The work leading up to the images began in the early 1980s when Biological Systems & Engineering’s Mina Bissell proposed the idea that gene expression and cell fate were dependent on their physical surroundings called extracellular matrix. The images were captured by Manfred Auer, staff scientist, and Ke Xu, faculty scientist, both in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division. Read more at the Berkeley Lab News Center.

Biosciences Staff Honored with Director’s Awards

October 21, 2016

Several Biosciences Area personnel have been named as recipients of 2016 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards. Yan Liang (Biological Systems & Engineering), Eva Nogales, and William Jagust (Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging, MBIB) were honored with individual awards in Early Career, Scientific Achievement, and Societal Impact, respectively. Jill Fuss and Steven Yannone (MBIB) were the recipients of a team award in Technology Transfer for the launch of their company CinderBio. Jim Bristow (Biosciences Area Office, Trent Northen (Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology & Joint Genome Institute, JGI), and Susannah Tringe (JGI), along with Eoin Brodie and Peter Nico of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, were named in a team award in Service.

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