#cell

#cell

New Type of Cell Found in Human LungsScientists are used to working with mice as analogs for the human body, but some who study lung function were frustrated that mouse lungs don't act like human lungs. A team led by Edward Morrisey of the University of Pennsylvania took tissue samples from healthy human donors to see how they differed from mouse lungs at the cellular level. What they found was a new kind of cell in human lungs that mice didn't have. These cells are called respiratory airway secretory (RAS) cells. RAS cells appear to have two functions. First, they secrete chemicals that maintain the fluid along the bronchioles, which help to makes lungs work efficiently. But they can also act as a sort of stem cell. RAS cells can change themselves into alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells when needed, in order to repair damage to the alveoli. Further research into RAS cells may lead to treatments for damaged lungs, as in COPD. RAS cells have also been found in ferrets, which lead scientists to think that maybe mice are just too small of an animal for their particular studies. Read more about the discovery at Live Science.-via Damn Interesting (Image creditL: UNSHAW) #cell #lungs 

Artificial Cells Created that Imitate the Basic Functions of Living CellsIn case you digested the headline to mean "scientists create functioning cells," be assured this is not the story of Frankenstein all over again. These lab-created cells have no DNA and are made from artificial materials, i.e. polymers, or plastic. Yet they act like cells in that they harness an energy source to create and pump out chemicals.In the new study, researchers sought to mimic the active transport function without trying to reproduce the complex mechanisms that cells use. Living cells have intricate membranes, with protein channels and pumping mechanisms powered by mitochondria and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that allow cells to pump selected molecules in and out across the membrane, even when it means working against osmotic pressures due to differences in ion concentrations.That's a bit too ambitious, so the team opted for creating bubbles the size of a red blood cell out of polymers and piercing them to let particles pass through, mimicking a cell's protein channel. Instead of mitochondria, the cell mimic had a tiny bit of light-activated catalyst inside the channel. Shining light on the catalyst starts a chemical reaction that acts like a pump to pull material through the channel, while switching off the light traps the material inside and reverses the reaction, expelling the material on demand.Put it more simply, this mechanism lets the cell mimic ingest, store, process, and expel matter like a living cell.#cell #ArtificialCell