The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused immense suffering and economic hardship to millions of people worldwide. To date, the mechanism of infection by SARS-CoV-2 ...

Eleven years ago, scientists discovered the first viral enterotoxin, rotavirus NSP4, a toxic protein that affects the intestines, causing diarrhea. The next step was to find the cellular receptor on ...

A team of researchers from the Universities of Amsterdam and Zurich together with the Swiss company Allocyte Pharmaceuticals have for the first time been able to discover allosteric sites in a type of ...

Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM) is vital for multicellular life and is predominantly mediated by a family of transmembrane cell-surface receptors named integrins. To date, 24 distinct ...

Two integrins, ±5²1 and ±v²3, mediate adhesion with fibronectin, which is present in the extracellular matrix. But why are 2 molecules involved in the adhesion to a single extracellular component? A ...

A new review links three forces shaping osteoarthritis: mechanical stress, integrin signaling, and integrin endocytosis. The authors argue that integrin trafficking can reprogram where and how long ...

Talin is a protein that plays an important role in the immune system by activating integrins, receptors that help cells attach to one another. Now a new study by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers ...

Integrins are heterodimer transmembrane receptors for the extracellular matrix composed of an alpha and beta subunit. Natural integrin ligands include laminin, fibronectin, and vitronectin, but they ...

Protein evolution occurs slowly via small incremental mutations—usually. However, dramatic changes can happen: for instance, a fragment of one protein getting copied into the middle of another. While ...

Newly unveiled startup Morphic Therapeutic hopes that it’s solved some of the technical challenges that have hindered integrin-targeting therapeutics. It’s got more insight into their mechanism of ...