Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences

Anatomy and mechanics of tsetse fly blood feeding

Abstract African trypanosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease transmitted by tsetse flies ( Glossin a spp.) in sub-Saharan Africa. The fly’s saliva carries parasitic unicellular trypanosomes, such as Trypanosoma brucei , leading to infections in humans, domestic animals, and w...

Far-Red Turn-On Fluorogenic Probe for Versatile Detection of Inorganic Polyphosphates

Abstract Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is a ubiquitous phosphate biopolymer involved in diverse cellular processes. Despite its significance, selective detection of polyP remains challenging because of its simple and highly charged structure. Here, we report a far-red fluorogen...

Transcription pause and elongation regulators mediate somatic hypermutation

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) creates point mutations in the variable regions of immunoglobulin genes in activated B cells to support antibody affinity maturation1. SHM is initiated by activation-induced deaminase (AID), and the single-stranded DNA substrate of this cytosine deamin...