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Researchers have designed an optogenetic tool to directly inactivate nonmuscle myosin II

Japanese scientists have designed a new optogenetic tool called OptoMYPT that uses blue light to move a phosphatase enzyme to a location under the cell membrane where it dephosphorylates myosin and reduces the contractile forces of the actomyosin complex. The scientists applied the new tool to understand the mechanics of cell division. They showed that perturbing local mechanical forces at the cellular cortex disrupted the symmetry of cellular tensile forces that are pivotal in the progression o...

Cell generated force plays essential roles in a wide range of biological processes, such as cell motility, cytokinesis, and tissue morphogenesis. In a study published in Nature Communications, a research team led by the Division of Quantitative Biology at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Japan has successfully developed "OptoMYPT"：an optogenetic tool that utilizes focused light to reduce actin and myosin-based contractile force.

Cell generated force plays essential roles in a wide range of biological processes, such as cell motility, cytokinesis, and tissue morphogenesis. In a

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Wake Forest School of Medicine and the American Federation for Aging Research have received a renewal award for up to $5 million over five years from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, to continue their management of the Research Centers Collaborative Network.

The fly, attracted to nectar on a strange leaf shaped like an open clam, was about to have a really bad day. Fly, meet the Venus flytrap.

 E-Mail IMAGE: The Australian pitcher plant produces malformed leaves under an uncommon combination of temperature and photoperiod. view more  Credit: (Picture: Kenji Fukushima) Plants and other organisms can adapt their phenotypes to fluctuating environmental conditions within certain limits. The leaves of the dandelion, for example, are much more small in sunny locations than in shady places. In the sun, less leaf area is adequate to drive sufficient photosynthesis. This makes sense a...

Share your feedback + Open annotations. The current annotation count on this page is being calculated. Scientists have revealed a mechanism that causes heart cells to age and identified a drug currently in clinical trials that can rejuvenate them, according to a study published this week in eLife. The results provide the first direct evidence that aging increases proton leakage in heart cells and could lead to new treatments to shore up the leaky membranes and restore heart function. Tiny s...