A study done by scientists at IRB Barcelona can simulate and predict the shape of a molecule in function of its environment.
These results mark a milestone for the computational design of molecules with specific shape and features for agrochemical, technological and pharmaceutical applications.
The research group led by Travis Stracker identifies genes involved in male infertility in mice.
Their findings are relevant in humans and could explain undiagnosed cases of male infertility or subfertility.
In mice whose body clock—an internal mechanism located in the brain—does not work properly, each tissue still knows what time it is and has the capacity to respond to changes in light intensity.
The study, published in the journal Cell, is a collaboration between IRB Barcelona and the University of California, Irvine (US).
This research will help to identify those genes that play a key role in the initiation of metastasis
Metastasis causes 90% of cancer related deaths
Work headed by scientist Antonio Zorzano proposes a possible therapeutic target to treat fatty liver, a disease for which there is currently no treatment.
The study, which was done in collaboration with the Pere Virgili Institute, has been published in the journal Cell.
The antibody mAb806 is used to treat glioblastoma, although its mechanism of action has been unknown until now.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, paves the way to extend treatment with mAb806 to more types of tumours and to the development of more personalised therapies.
Mutations in L-amino acid transporters (LATs) can lead to a wide range of conditions, such as autism, hearing loss and aminoacidurias.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, this study presents key data on how amino acids bind to these transporters.
The work is a collaboration between IRB Barcelona, CIBERER, IBMB-CSIC and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
Many treatments against cancer, such as TRAIL, aim to trigger a type of cell death known as apoptosis.
A team at IRB Barcelona, headed by Antonio Zorzano, has demonstrated that the protein TP53INP2 induces apoptosis in chemotherapy treatments.
The breakthrough made by researchers at IRB Barcelona allows the study of the role of each molecular component in the stability and conformation of DNA crystals.
The new molecular simulation techniques are expected to reduce the time and cost of obtaining crystals in the laboratory.
The study, published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, has been headed by Lluís Ribas, at IRB Barcelona.