Time to branch out

Dendrimers branch out to support mucosal integrity

» . . .These studies demonstrate that it is possible to generate synthetic dendrimers capable of interfering with specific residues on innate immune molecules with very profound downstream effects. « Dendritic polymer technology represents one of the most exciting areas at the interface of polymer chemistry and medical science. Dendritic polymers or dendrimers are symmetrical structurally perfe...

Land Plant Model Systems Branch Out.

The genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha is an important step toward development of a new plant model system (Bowman et al., 2017). Liverworts may be the sister taxon to all other land plants, and the genome shows features that illuminate the ancestor of all land plants and give insights into how plant systems function and evolved.

Mechanisms of cellular protrusions branch out.

F-BAR domains bind curved membranes and induce membrane invagination. In a recent Cell paper, Guerrier et al. describe an "inverse" F-BAR family member that induces outward curvature and filopodia in migrating neurons. These findings suggest that F-BAR domains are functionally diverse and regulate different types of membrane morphology.

Time Out

To branch or not to branch

new study identifies a possible new function for endostatin, the potential cancer-killer that checks blood vessel growth. Within the developing kidney, endostatin may help regulate the branching that establishes the network of urine-collecting tubules. Cells in the ureteric bud divide and change shape to form the plumbing system of the kidney. Because endostatin inhibits blood vessel formation,...