Guest Commentary by Anamaris Colberg-Poley* Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the major cause of congenital birth infections in developed countries.  HCMV can cause severe birth defects including microcephaly, mental retardation, sensorineural hearing loss, and intrauterine growth restriction. However, because of the potential for teratogenicity and toxic effects, no therapeutic treatment is currently approved by the Food […]

Glycoproteins are formed through protein glycosylation, the post-translational addition and processing of covalently bound oligosaccharide chains. Variations in the glycoform of proteins result from multiple factors in this process, such as enzyme and substrate availability, and these differences can influence the stability and biological function of the protein1.

Scientific publishing, and communication in general, has changed rapidly and radically over the past 20 years. With the advent of the Internet, communication and publishing has become affordable to all, to the point that one only needs a few megabytes of online space, a HTML editor and a word processor to claim to be a […]

Flotillins are highly homologous proteins (known as flotillin-1 and flotillin-2, or reggie-2 and reggie-1, respectively) that localize to membrane rafts (specific cholesterol-rich microdomains in cellular membranes), and are associated with various signaling pathways, cell adhesion, membrane trafficking and axonal growth.

Tumor metastases cause ninety percent of cancer deaths, and occur when cells detach from a primary tumor and form new malignancies elsewhere. This process involves circulating tumor cells (CTC) which intravasate and extravasate (enter and exit the blood vessels) allowing migration to other parts of the body.

Snake venom toxins are well-known for their profound physiological effects that enable their use as tools to aid basic research and clarify pathological processes; they also have enormous potential in drug design and development. Further, an area of growing interest is the molecular evolution and diversification of these toxins, a particularly rapid and dynamic process for which the underlying mechanisms […]