Cell binding discovery brings hope to those with skin and heart problems

Featured In: Instrumentation

By EurekAlert Friday, January 21, 2024

newsvine diigo google
slashdot
Share
Loading...

A University of Manchester scientist has revealed the mechanism that binds skin cells tightly together, which he believes will lead to new treatments for painful and debilitating skin diseases and also lethal heart defects.

Professor David Garrod, in the Faculty of Life Sciences, has found that the glue molecules bind only to similar glue molecules on other cells, making a very tough, resilient structure. Further investigation on why the molecules bind so specifically could lead to the development of clinical applications.

Professor Garrod, whose Medical Research Council-funded work is paper of the week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) tomorrow (Friday), said: "Our skin is made up of three different layers, the outermost of which is the epidermis. This layer is only about 1/10th of a millimetre thick yet it is tough enough to protect us from the outside environment and withstand the wear and tear of everyday life.

"One reason our epidermis can do this is because its cells are very strongly bound together by tiny structures called desmosomes, sometimes likened to rivets. We know that people who have defects in their desmosomes have problems with their epidermis and get extremely unpleasant skin diseases. Understanding how desmosomes function is essential for developing better treatments for these and other types of skin disease and for non-healing wounds.

"Desmosomes are also extremely important in locking together the muscle cells of the heart, and hearts where desmosomes are defective can fail catastrophically, causing sudden death in young people.

Hence our findings may also be relevant in the heart and in developing new treatments for heart disease."

ProfessorGarrod and his team, Zhuxiang Nie, Anita Merritt, Mansour Rouhi and Lydia Tabernero, used chemical cross-linking to study cells of the epidermis and found what they believe to be the principal mechanism by which the glue molecules of desmosomes of skin cells bind to each other.

"For reasons that we do not fully understand there are several different but closely-related glue molecules within each desmosome," he explained.

"Our results show that each glue molecule on one cell binds primarily to another of the same type on the neighbouring cell, meaning the binding is highly specific. This was very surprising because previous studies using different techniques had not been able to give such a clear answer on the specificity of binding."

He added: "Our result suggests that this type of specific binding is of fundamental importance in locking together cells of the epidermis into a tough, resilient structure. It is an important step forward in our research, which aims to develop better treatments for non-healing wounds, other skin diseases and heart problems. We could do this if we understood how to make medicines that would lock or unlock the desmosomes as required."

SOURCE

Join the Discussion
Rate Article: Average 0 out of 5
register or log in to comment on this article!

0 Comments

Add Comment

Text Only 2000 character limit

Page 1 of 1

Research Exchange

Bringing the Cell Image into Focus

Nov 2 2010

Improvements in transmission electron microscope (TEM) technology increase the power of this imaging tool for the study of cell biology.

Finding a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury with On-Demand LIMS

Oct 25 2010

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis finds an on-demand laboratory information management system (LIMS) helps to accelerate discovery in its HCS projects.

Saving Cells: Image Processing for Improved Viability, Part II: Iterative Deconvolution

Oct 25 2010

3D light microscopy and deconvolution provide a means to investigate 3D structure, providing near-confocal quality images without the temporal requirements or potentially damaging phototoxicity associated with other 3D imaging technologies. This article is Part II in a series regarding viability, resolution improvement, and measurement in fluorescence imaging. Part I focused on spectral unmixing.

Saving Cells: Image Processing for Improved Viability

Sep 22 2010

This article is Part I of a two-part series regarding viability, resolution improvement, and measurement in fluorescence imaging. Part II will focus on deconvolution.

Production of Recombinant Proteins and Monoclonal Antibodies in Hollow Fiber Bioreactors

Jan 25

While well-understood, robust and convenient, classical batch-style 2-D culture on non-porous supports or 3-D suspension culture in other devices are really not very biologically relevant models. Cell culture conditions can affect the quality of the antibody or protein produced.

Selecting Robots for Use in Drug Discovery and Testing

Dec 6 2010

Drug discovery and testing, with their need for speed, repeatability and verification, are ideally suited to benefit from robot automation. It is therefore not surprising that robots have been at the forefront of automation developments in both these areas.

HP Scalable Network Storage Systems for Life Sciences

Sep 13 2010

Life sciences research today is advancing exponentially, each step bringing us closer to the realization of truly personalized medicine–preventive care and treatments designed specifically for each individual. In the near future, PCPGM healthcare researchers expect to be able to use predictive genetic testing to create custom treatment plans for individuals and deliver dramatic improvements over today’s one-size-fits-all approach. But research capabilities are only part of the equation; current storage and operating capacities must also evolve to accommodate ever-expanding amounts of data before the goal of personalized medicine can be realized.

Step up to the MIQE

Mar 30 2010

Over the years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has evolved into a readily automated, high throughput quantitative technology. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) has become the industry standard for the detection and quantification of nucleic acids for multiple application, including quantification of RNA levels. But a lack of consensus among researchers on how to best perform and interpret qPCR experiments presents a major hurdle for advancement of the technology. This problem is exacerbated by insufficient experimental detail in published work, which impedes the ability of others to accurately evaluate or replicate reported results.

Using the Tecan Genesis Workstation to Automate a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) Immunoassay

Mar 11 2010

The poster describe the process involved in automating a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) immunoassay developed to measure relative concentrations of serum antibodies against Tetanus (TT), Sperm Whale Myoglobin (SWM) and Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) in KLH-immunized volunteers.

Ensuring Quality in Assays Performed with Automated Liquid Handlers

Feb 2 2010

The focus of this presentation is to highlight the need of ensuring quality in important assays performed with automated liquid handlers. Nearly all assays performed within a laboratory are volume-dependent. In turn, all concentrations of biological and chemical components in these assays, as well as the associated dilution protocols, are volume-dependent. Because analyte concentration is volume-dependent, an assay’s results might be falsely interpreted if liquid handler variability and inaccuracies are unknown or if the system(s) go unchecked for a long period.

Inkjet System for Protein Crystallography

Feb 1 2010

X-ray crystallography is used routinely by scientists to obtain the three dimensional structure of a biological molecule of interest.Such information can be used to determine how a pharmaceutical interacts with a protein target and what changes might improve functionality. However, the crystallization of macromolecules still remains a serious hindrance in structural determination despite impressive advances in screening methods and technologies.

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Nov 9 2009

Action selection is modulated by external stimuli either directly or via memory retrieval. In a constantly changing environment, animals have evolved attention-like processes to effectively filter the incoming sensory stream. These attention-like processes, in turn, are modulated by memory. The neurobiological nature of how attention, action selection and memory are inter-connected is unknown. We describe here new phenotypes of the memory mutant radish in the fruit fly Drosophila.

Effects on enantiomeric drug disposition and open-field behavior after chronic treatment with venlafaxine in the P-glycoprotein knockout mice model.

Dec 31 2010

RATIONALE: P-glycoprotein (P-gp) plays an important role in the efflux of drugs from the brain back into the bloodstream and can influence the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drug molecules. To our knowledge, no studies have reported pharmacodynamic...

Self-administration of cocaine and remifentanil by monkeys: choice between single drugs and mixtures.

Dec 31 2010

RATIONALE: Cocaine and opioids are often co-abused. As yet, however, there is no clear evidence that the drugs interact to make the mixture a more effective reinforcer. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the relative reinforcing potency and maximum...

Complete genome sequence of a carbon monoxide-utilizing acetogen, Eubacterium limosum KIST612.

Dec 31 2010

Eubacterium limosum KIST612 is an anaerobic acetogenic bacterium that uses CO as the sole carbon/energy source and produces acetate, butyrate, and ethanol. To evaluate its potential as a syngas microbial catalyst, we have sequenced the complete 4.3-Mb genome of E. limosum...

Complete genome sequence of the bacterium Ketogulonicigenium vulgare Y25.

Dec 31 2010

Ketogulonicigenium vulgare is characterized by the efficient production of 2KGA from L-sorbose. Ketogulonicigenium vulgare Y25 is known as a 2-keto-L-gulonic acid-producing strain in the vitamin C industry. Here we report the finished, annotated genome sequence of...

Prokariotic Cell Collection in Denmark

Nov 6 2009

I would like to know about a prokariotic cell collection in Denmark. Is there a cell bank in this country? I need a Lactobacillus strain for a fermentation assay and this information about the bank is very helpful for me.

Request for Entries

Oct 16 2009

Ask the Experts is your chance to get the answers to questions on applications, materials, methods, processes, and technologies. Email you question to bst_web@advantagemedia.com, and the editors of Bioscience Technology will find an appropriate expert to answer it. Watch this space in the future to see the questions your colleagues are posting.

STAY INFORMED: SUBSCRIBE TO

Magazine and E-mail Newsletters

Loading...
E-mail:   

MULTIMEDIA

Video:

Viewing SureFocus Slides

Jun 11 2010

A demonstration of SureFocus Microscope Slides in the review of AFB Smears. SureFocus Slides are a patent-pending breakthrough in tuberculosis detection, as their fluorescent staining circle remains visible during review, Fluorescence Microscopy.

Podcasts:

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Oct 14 2009

Discussed in this interview are both the mouse brain project and the human cortex project with an emphasis on the importance of these projects to neuroscience research.

Information: