of high-affinity antibodies.

The immune system uses a sophisticated profiling method to identify and subdue foreign pathogens.

The discovery that lipids can serve as antigens first stunned the immunological community a decade ago.

During autophagy-literally "self-eating"-cells deliver cytoplasmic constituents, including whole organelles, to the lysosome for degradation.

Peripheral nerves serve as pain's first messengers, firing action potentials as far as three feet to the spinal cord, where they alert the next nerve en route to the brain.

VISUALIZING VESICLES:© 2003 Nature Publishing GroupIn A, researchers used a fluorescent protein (synaptopHluorin) to visualize synaptic vesicle movement. Some vesicles stay open briefly before retrieval (kiss-and-run). Others stay open longer but also don't collapse fully into the plasma membrane (compensatory). Still others collapse and are not retrieved until another stimulus is delivered (stranded). In B, another group used a dye FM1-43, to study vesicle retrieval and found that single v

LIPID RAFTS INSIDE AND OUT:© 2002 AAASIn the outer leaflet (A), sphingolipids and cholesterol form less fluid microdomains (B) called lipid rafts, which are enriched for GPI-proteins. Microdomains may contain more rigid subdomains (C) enriched for the sphingolipid ganglioside GM1. The membrane inner leaflet contains microdomains (D) with unknown lipid composition enriched for prenylated proteins. In contrast, caveolin and proteins carrying the two saturated fatty acyl chains become concentr

Space – as in simple square footage, not the stuff beyond the stratosphere – can be a limiting factor in your capacity to conduct research. At most academic institutions, the department chairperson has the final say in how much space each faculty member has. So how can you get a bigger slice of the departmental pie?Advice from Department ChairsHajjar: "The best way to negotiate for space is to show your department chair that program expansion is necessary to advance the field and tha

In the juggling act that is your work, a new student in the lab might make you feel that you have one more thing to keep aloft. Nonetheless, a mentor's job is to transform that student into a juggler, too. That student must first help keep your hoops airborne and eventually juggle as a standalone act.Your main responsibility is providing opportunities to conduct research. That involves providing a hypothesis or two, bench space and equipment time, training in techniques, office space and a lab c

Interdisciplinary communication is tricky business. Ecologists andmolecular types may use certain lingo, but PhDs and MBAs speak entirely different languages. That can mean trouble for a business plan.Business and science make up one of the riskiest marriages around. Still, many MBAs and PhDs take this plunge because of the potential for blockbuster profits. However, even a solid scientific idea, one that fills a gap in the market, can sink for lack of business savvy, says Tom Fitzsimons, direct

A BUSY HORMONE:© 2001 Annual ReviewsEstrogen's direct genomic effects are mediated by the nuclear form of the estrogen receptors ERα or ERβ which associate with the Estrogen Response Element (ERE) or the fos/jun heterodimers that bind AP1 sites. Indirect genomic mechanisms include activation of ER-linked second messenger systems such as AC/PKC, cAMP/PKA and MAPK/ERK. Ras activates Raf, leading to sequential phosphorylation and activation of MAPK/ERK which interacts directly with n

Many sources such as books, Web sites, and workshops provide advice on writing grants. When you sit down to work on your grant, though, the advice may not propel you from theory to application. The trouble is, most sources supply generic help, written for anonymous grant writers. Here, you'll learn how to find personalized help that is often nearby.Before getting specific, let's consider four general suggestions. First, look to your institution's grants office. Grants specialists can help you fi