Rendering a drug effective or ineffective in a flash at the appropriate location—this is the focus of research in photopharmacology. The goal is to develop drugs that can be switched on and off with ...

Every multicellular organism, from tiny worms to humans, elephants, and whales, needs a way for their cells to connect with each other to form tissues, organs, and organize their overall body plan.

ROCKVILLE, MD – In a surprising discovery, scientists have found that the heart possesses "sweet taste" receptors, similar to those on our tongues, and that stimulating these receptors with sweet ...

The first-ever molecular images of an olfactory receptor at work answer decades-old questions about odor recognition. All senses must reckon with the richness of the world, but nothing matches the ...

A research team of the University Medical Center Mainz has succeeded in observing for the first time how G protein-coupled receptors in living cells actually respond to activating substances. The ...

Our noses can effortlessly distinguish the aroma of coffee from the tang of gasoline, yet how they do it has long been a mystery. In a study that appears Oct. 30 in Nature, scientists at Duke ...

Receptors on cell surfaces translate an outer signal into a response inside the cell. By this, they are responsible for a plethora of essential processes in living organisms. But what if we could ...

Breaking a longstanding impasse in our understanding of olfaction, scientists at UC San Francisco have created the first molecular-level, 3D picture of how an odor molecule activates a human odorant ...

For the first time, researchers have determined how a human olfactory receptor captures an airborne scent molecule, the pivotal chemical event that triggers our sense of smell. Whether it evokes roses ...

In recent years, a drug called ketamine has attracted attention because it can reduce depressive symptoms very quickly. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which may take weeks to work, ketamine can ...