News & Events
Bacteria for climate-neutral chemicals of the future
Researchers at ETH Zurich have engineered bacteria in the laboratory to efficiently use methanol. The metabolism of these bacteria can now be tapped into to produce valuable products currently made by the chemical industry from fossil fuels.
Twisted pollen tubes induce infertility
Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes have advantages over their relatives with a double set. But why they often start out infertile was only partially understood. Biologists at ETH Zurich have now discovered a new reason for the initial difficulties.
Transport of CLCA2 to the nucleus by extracellular vesicles controls keratinocyte survival and migration
A recent "Journal of Extracellular Vesicles" paper by the Werner group (IMHS) identified an unexpected nuclear transport mechanism of the stress-regulated transmembrane protein CLCA2 by extracellular vesicles (EVs). The presence of CLCA2 in the nucleus is required for the regulation of key cellular functions in skin keratinocytes.
Assembly platform FimD ensures most stable quaternary structure formation of type 1 pili
In a "Nature Communications" article, the Glockshuber (IMBB), Hospenthal (IMBB), Waksman (UCL and Birkbeck, UK), Meier (LPC, D-CHAB) and Wiegand (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) groups, show that the assembly platform FimD is required to assemble the most stable quaternary structure of type 1 pili.
Buffer and pH Strongly Affect the Phase Separation of SARS-CoV-2 N Protein
The Allain lab (IBC) in a "Molecular Biology of the Cell" paper reported that the phase separation of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein strongly depends on the chosen buffer and pH. For example, the protonation of a single histidine side chain makes the difference if the protein phase separates or not.