Cellular eavesdropping made easy: New method for identifying and measuring secreted proteins over time
Monday, September 24, 2012 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org)—It is much harder to keep up with a conversation in a crowded bar than in a quiet little café, but scientists wishing to eavesdrop on cells can now do so over the laboratory equivalent of a noisy room. A new method devised by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in collaboration with the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), both in Heidelberg, Germany, provides a new approach for studying the proteins cells release to communicate with each other, react to changes, or even to help them move. Published online today in Nature Biotechnology, the work also opens new avenues for drug and biomarker screening.