Observing the ultrafast electrical charging of liquids

Results extend applicability to diverse systems, from biological membranes to next-generation energy storage devices

29-Apr-2025 - Charged surfaces in contact with liquids – such as biological cell walls or battery electrodes – attract oppositely charged ions from the liquid. This creates two distinct charged regions: the surface itself and a counter-charged region in the liquid: The so-called electrical double layer. While ...

Poorly insulated nerve cells promote Alzheimer’s disease in old age

The results of the study show, for the first time, that defective myelin in the aging brain increases the risk of Aꞵ peptide deposition

08-Jun-2023 - Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible form of dementia, is considered the world’s most common neurodegenerative disease. The prime risk factor for Alzheimer’s is age, although it remains unclear why. It is known that the insulating layer around nerve cells in the brain, named myelin, degenerates ...

The Power of light: How light can be used to control processes in synthetic cells

10-Oct-2022 - Synthetic – i. e. artificially produced - cells can imitate certain functions of biological cells. These synthetic cells could open up new medical possibilities in the future. In laboratories, such cells can already help in chemical processes on a miniature scale as "mini-reactors". Scientists at ...

Green wave for “gene cabs”

Leap in knowledge of peptide nanofibrils

03-Jun-2022 - Viruses help researchers to introduce genes into cells so that they can produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, for example. Special peptides stimulate the process. Until now, however, the efficiency increase was poorly understood. A team of researchers from the MPI for Polymer Research, the ...

Molecular scales on biological membranes: Mass-Sensitive Particle Tracking

New method to determine location and size changes of unlabeled proteins on membranes via their mass

06-Oct-2021 - A large proportion of biologically relevant processes take place at membranes. Studying the dynamics of these processes in real time and without disturbing the biological system is still a major methodological challenge. A team led by Petra Schwille, director at the MPI of Biochemistry (MPIB), ...

Otto Hahn Medal for Jaime Agudo-Canalejo

22-Jun-2017 - Im Rahmen der 68. Jahreshauptversammlung der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), die am 21. und 22. Juni in Weimar, Jena und Erfurt stattfindet, erhält der Nachwuchswissenschaftler vom Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung die Otto-Hahn-Medaille. Er wird für seine herausragende ...

Synapses always on the starting blocks

Vesicles filled with neurotransmitters touch the cell membrane, thereby enabling their rapid-fire release

29-Oct-2014 - While neurons rapidly propagate information in their interior via electrical signals, they communicate with each other at special contact points known as the synapses. Chemical messenger substances, the neurotransmitters, are stored in vesicles at the synapses. When a synapse becomes active, some ...

Proteins hoist the anchor

How switch proteins are extracted from the membrane

07-Aug-2013 - Researchers from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and from the MPI Dortmund have for the first time successfully reproduced the recycling process of proteins regulating cellular transport in a biophysical experiment. In doing so, they traced in detail the way the central switch protein Rab is ...

Nanotubes: cellular membranes on supply

Osmotic forces play a role in nanotube formation in cells

16-Mar-2011 - When unfolding a tent for the first time, you may wonder how the huge tarpaulin fits into a bag the size of a football. Biologists wonder about something similar: when a cell divides, the surface area of the cell membrane grows. Moreover, when molecules are brought from one organelle to another ...

All genes in 1 go

31-Aug-2010 - The majority of rare diseases are hereditary. But despite significant progress in genome research, in most cases their exact cause remains unclear. The discovery of the underlying genetic defect is, however, a prerequisite for their definitive diagnosis and the development of innovative ...