Analysis tools for single-monomer measurements of self-assembly processes.

Protein assembly plays an important role throughout all phyla of life, both physiologically and pathologically. In particular, aggregation and polymerization of proteins are key-strategies that regulate cellular function. In recent years, methods to experimentally study the assembly process on a single-molecule level have been developed.

Zero-mode waveguides visualize the first steps during gelsolin-mediated actin filament formation.

Actin filament dynamics underlie key cellular processes. Although the elongation of actin filaments has been extensively studied, the mechanism of nucleation remains unclear. The micromolar concentrations needed for filament formation have prevented direct observation of nucleation dynamics on the single molecule level.

Determining the Stoichiometry of Small Protein Oligomers Using Steady-State Fluorescence Anisotropy.

A large fraction of soluble and membrane-bound proteins exists as non-covalent dimers, trimers, and higher-order oligomers. The experimental determination of the oligomeric state or stoichiometry of proteins remains a nontrivial challenge. In one approach, the protein of interest is genetically fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Actin stabilizing compounds show specific biological effects due to their binding mode.

Actin binding compounds are widely used tools in cell biology. We compare the biological and biochemical effects of miuraenamide A and jasplakinolide, a structurally related prototypic actin stabilizer. Though both compounds have similar effects on cytoskeletal morphology and proliferation, they affect migration and transcription in a distinctive manner, as shown by a transcriptome approach in endothelial cells.

[Food Addiction as a new behavioral addiction].

Unlabelled: Aim of review: To overview the new studies on food addiction and highlighting the analogies and differences between food and drug addiction.

Results: Recent studies on food addiction have demonstrated that the neurobiological circuits involved in the development of drug addiction also play a role in food consumption, and that the uptake of nutrients by the organism is under the control of numerous complicated peripheral and central signal-transducing networks. In addition, it has also been shown that addiction and/or craving may develop toward certain foods and nutrients, too.