BMC Biology is the flagship biology journal of the BMC series, publishing peer-reviewed research and methodology articles of special importance and broad interest in any area of biology, as well as reviews, opinion pieces, comment and Q&As on topics of special or topical interest.
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Editor
- Miranda Robertson, BioMed Central
Editorial Board | Editorial Team | Instructions for authors | FAQ
Selected articles
Review & comment
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Mariko Howe, Ben BarresNeuroprotective role for microglia
Ramified microglia, previously branded as 'resting', protect hippocampal neurons against excitotoxicity according to research published in Journal of Neuroinflammation. Mariko Howe and Ben Barres discuss how these findings add to a growing recognition of active roles for microglia in health and disease.
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Ruth Nussinov, Buyong MaSignaling by shape shifts
Sixteen new conformations of the ligand-binding domain of the cell:cell signaling receptor EphrinA4 are identified in research published in BMC Biophysics. Nussinov and Ma discuss how such conformational diversity allows binding of different ligands to propagate distinct signals through secondary conformational change.
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Hervé Philippe, Béatrice RoureUntangling messy evolutionary histories
Niels Bohr said that 'Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future,' but phylogeneticists would just be happy with the past. Philippe and Roure discuss some methods for dealing with particularly difficult evolutionary problems, and how corroboration is the key to success.
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Ray Keller, David ShookMorphogenesis and ways to turn inside out
Keller and Shook explore how cell shape changes, junctional interactions and epithelial morphogenetic processes drive early development, including data from a recent analysis by Hoehn and Hallmann of a relatively unexplored inversion process in the multicellular alga Volvox globator.
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Sabrina Gordon-Keylock, Alexander MedvinskyTracing the hemangioblast to its origin
Both blood cells and vascular cells can differentiate from a single precursor cell, the hemangioblast. But what is the origin of the hemangioblast? Gordon-Keylock and Medvinsky discuss a new method of labeling these cells, reported by Ana T Tavares and colleagues, that may provide an answer.
Research
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Eeshita Dastidar, Guillem Dayer, Zoe Holland, Dominique Dorin-Semblat, Aurelie Claes, Arnaud Chene, Amit Sharma, Romain Hamelin, Marc Moniatte, Jose-Juan Lopez-Rubio, Artur Scherf, Christian DoerigInvolvement of Plasmodium falciparum protein kinase CK2 in the chromatin assembly pathway
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Jacob Hines, Steven Henle, Lucas Carlstrom, Mohammad Abu-Rub, John HenleySingle vesicle imaging indicates distinct modes of rapid membrane retrieval during nerve growth
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Stephanie Hohn, Armin HallmannThere is more than one way to turn a spherical cellular monolayer inside out: type B embryo inversion in Volvox globator
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Filip Husník, Tomáš Chrudimský, Václav HypšaMultiple origins of endosymbiosis within the Enterobacteriaceae (γ-Proteobacteria): convergence of complex phylogenetic approaches
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Lucas Carlstrom, Jacob Hines, Steven Henle, John HenleyBidirectional remodeling of beta1-integrin adhesions during chemotropic regulation of nerve growth
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Robin Kimmel, Lucas Onder, Armin Wilfinger, Elin Ellertsdottir, Dirk MeyerRequirement for Pdx1 in specification of latent endocrine progenitors in zebrafish
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Liqun Xu, Shaochun Yuan, Jun Li, Jie Ruan, Shengfeng Huang, Manyi Yang, Huiqing Huang, Shangwu Chen, Zhenghua Ren, Anlong XuThe conservation and uniqueness of the caspase family in the basal chordate, amphioxus
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Filipe Vilas-Boas, Rita Fior, Jason Swedlow, Kate Storey, Domingos HenriqueA novel reporter of notch signalling indicates regulated and random notch activation during vertebrate neurogenesis
Latest articles from BMC Biology
A novel role for microglia in minimizing excitotoxicity
BMC Biology 2012, 10:7 (31 January 2012)
Single vesicle imaging indicates distinct modes of rapid membrane retrieval during nerve growth
BMC Biology 2012, 10:4 (30 January 2012)
Global transgenerational gene expression dynamics in two newly synthesized allohexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) lines
BMC Biology 2012, 10:3 (26 January 2012)
Protein dynamics and conformational selection in bidirectional signal transduction
BMC Biology 2012, 10:2 (25 January 2012)
Latest articles from BMC Medicine
Diindolylmethane suppresses ovarian cancer growth and potentiates the effect of cisplatin in tumor mouse model by targeting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:9 (26 January 2012)
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the value of initial biomarkers in predicting adverse outcome in febrile neutropenic episodes in children and young people with cancer
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:6 (18 January 2012)
Reversal of type 1 diabetes via islet beta cell regeneration following immune modulation by cord blood-derived multipotent stem cells
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:3 (10 January 2012)
suPAR as a prognostic biomarker in sepsis
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:2 (5 January 2012)
Topical Q&As
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Who is H. sapiens?
Mason Liang and Rasmus Nielsen -
What is biodiversity?
Ann Magurran - What is life?
Steven Benner
From the blog
Journal of Biology
BMC Biology assimilated the philosophy and distinguished Editorial Board and history of its sister journal Journal of Biology on fusion of the two journals in 2010. The full archive of Journal of Biology is available from its own archive website, and the objectives and aspirations of the combined journal are explained in the editorial that accompanied the fusion.
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