Interactome

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Fishing for protein partners nets clues to autism

Connections between 13 autism-linked proteins and their binding partners in excitatory neurons implicate a new molecular pathway.

By Holly Barker
6 February 2023 | 5 min read
Markov cluster showing protein interactions in mice.
Spectrum Microphone

Protein atlas doubles number of known interactions in mice

Thousands of protein-protein interactions mapped in mice reveal how these networks shift across seven kinds of tissue.

By Niko McCarty
26 August 2021 | 4 min read
Spectrum Microphone

Autism-linked protein screen reveals hundreds of new interactions

Researchers have uncovered more than 1,200 new protein-protein interactions involving proteins coded for by autism-linked genes.

By Grace Huckins
14 May 2021 | 3 min read
Two doctors look at a brain scan with a 'fingerprint' pattern over the grey matter area.

Unique brain ‘fingerprints’ may narrow search for autism subtypes

Grouping people with autism based on their unique brain-activity ‘fingerprints’ may help to identify subtypes of the condition.

By Damien Fair, Oscar Miranda Dominguez
10 July 2018 | 5 min read

New health handbook; evidence imbalance; social motivation and more

The latest manual of international disease codes is out, a franchise claims to have an autism cure, and two reports diverge on the validity of the social-motivation hypothesis.

By Emily Willingham
22 June 2018 | 4 min read
scientific illustration of protein mutations

Web-based tools reveal mutations’ effects on proteins

Two new online resources help researchers predict how mutations alter protein structure.

By Maris Fessenden
27 April 2018 | 2 min read

Tangled web of proteins holds clues to autism’s complexity

Understanding how mutations in genes linked to autism perturb the different versions of proteins the genes form could reveal new targets for treatments.

By Lilia Iakoucheva
28 February 2017 | 5 min read

Online atlas reveals huge array of protein connections

A new web-based tool charts the myriad contacts among human proteins.

By Maris Fessenden
13 January 2017 | 2 min read

Questions for Richard Tsien: Taking apart autism’s machinery

Autism may stem from faulty feedback loops in the brain, like an air conditioning system gone awry.

By Ann Griswold
22 March 2016 | 6 min read

New method vets quality of antibodies for experimental use

Researchers have devised a reliable technique for evaluating how well antibodies home in on specific molecules in scientific experiments. The new approach could take some of the guesswork out of studies that use antibodies to label and isolate proteins.

By Kate Yandell
15 July 2015 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

A man walks a dromedary camel down a hallway.

Temperature tunes circadian timing in some desert mammals

Light has hogged all the attention in chronobiology research—but now, in camel, goat and mole rat experiments, temperature takes the lead.

By Calli McMurray
28 June 2024 | 5 min read
Research image of excitatory synapses in the prefrontal cortex.

Synaptic anomalies in autistic people support imbalance hypothesis

Increased excitatory and decreased inhibitory synapses in the prefrontal cortex of autistic people suggest broader impacts on brain function and connectivity.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
27 June 2024 | 4 min read
Research image of enteric neurons in zebrafish.

Opioid receptors may guide formation of gut nervous system in zebrafish

Fish lacking functional copies of the receptors have fewer enteric neurons than usual, but the findings await further validation.

By Olivia Gieger
26 June 2024 | 4 min read