Departmental news
Cryopreserved Kidney Epithelial (Vero) Cell Monolayers for Rapid Viral Quantification, Enabled by a Combination of Macromolecular Cryoprotectants
We demonstrate the cryopreservation of vero-cells in assay ready format using macromolecular cryoprotectants and induce ice nucleation.
Kinetic investigation of photoiniferter-RAFT polymerization in continuous flow using inline NMR analysis
Photo reversible deactivation radical polymerization and, in particular, photoiniferter-reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (PI-RAFT) polymerization have become popular approaches to polymer synthesis in recent years. There is, however, a lack of fundamental investigations concerning the mechanism and kinetics of such reactions.
CAMDU receives Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement - Team Award
CAMDU are pictured receiving their award from Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of Warwick.
CAMDU provides researchers with access, support and training on state-of-the-art light microscopes. In addition they input into research with highly specialised knowledge and train the next generation of scientists.
Congratulations to the outstanding team - Maelle, Laura, David and Tim.
Technician Commitment Awards for Outstanding Achievement - Matthew Rosser highly commended in the individual award
New paper about the force generating mechanism of kinesin molecular motors
Sumiyoshi et al. is a collaboration addressing a question Robert Cross and Jun Yajima first asked themselves almost 20 years ago – would monomeric kinesin molecular motors tethered via surface loops still drive microtubule gliding? It turns out yes! Scanning a dsDNA tether across all exposed loops reveals a core mechanical cycle of the kinesin-1 motor domain that underlies, and is amplified by, linker docking.
Scientists make breakthrough in development of fridge-free storage for vital medicines
Scientists have developed a new approach to store and distribute crucial protein therapeutics without the need for fridges or freezers.
The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature, could significantly improve accessibility of essential protein-based drugs in developing countries where cold storage infrastructure may be lacking, helping efforts to diagnose and treat more people with serious health conditions.
The researchers, from the Universities of Manchester, Glasgow and Warwick, have designed a hydrogel – a material mostly made of water – that stabilises proteins, protecting its properties and functionality at temperatures as high as 50°C.
Enteric nervous system regeneration and functional cure of experimental digestive Chagas disease with trypanocidal chemotherapy
nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract, causing problems with peristalsis. Using an experimental model, Khan et al show that if the infection is successfully treated early enough then the damage can be reversed via a repair mechanism involving regeneration of nerve cells in the colon.
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Dynamics of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in hamsters and novel association with progressive motor dysfunction
Much of our knowledge about how T. cruzi causes Chagas disease comes from studies of infections in mice, but the data do not capture the full range of clinical outcomes seen in humans. In this paper, we developed a hamster model of T. cruzi infection with two striking features – almost exclusive restriction of chronic infection to a skin tissue niche and a progressive gait dysfunction resembling cerebral palsy.
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A panel of phenotypically and genotypically diverse bioluminescent: fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi strains as a resource for Chagas disease research
The Chagas disease drug discovery pipeline has been focused on a few model T. cruzi strains, but this does not reflect the parasite’s genetic diversity present across the millions of infected people. Here we present an expanded panel of strains engineered to express dual bioluminescent-fluorescent fusion reporter genes that can be used to ensure candidate compounds have in vivo activity across the species before being advanced into clinical testing.
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Hub stability in the calcium calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II
In this paper we use a combination of cryo-electron microscopy (CryoEM) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) to investigate structural plasticity of the multi-subunit protein kinase called CaMKII. CaMKII plays a critical role in synaptic transmission by neuronal cells and the fact we observe intrinsic variation in stoichiometry and pleomorphology of the complex is important because subunit number is thought to play a critical role in alteration of dendritic spine anatomy, which underlies the structural basis of learning.
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