cell biology

Leveraging Cellular Mechanical Signaling to Improve Drug Specificity

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Mesenchymal_stem_cells_in_culture

Toxicity to healthy cells limits the usefulness of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. These drugs kill rapidly dividing cells of all types, not just those in a tumor. In addition to dividing rapidly, some cancer cells establish metastases that have a different stiffness than the surrounding tissue. This mechanical property of a cellular microenvironment is referred to … Read more

HSV-Infected Skin Signals to Nerves

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hsv1

Extracellular signaling molecules mediate the communication between cells or tissues. These can be small proteins (peptides), large proteins, lipids, protein and lipid complexes, carbohydrates, gases, amino acids, nucleic acids, amino acids, and various small organic molecules. These signals can function locally, affecting cells that are near the cells producing the signal, or can function systemically … Read more