The first time a cell biologist discovers that there might be a lipid involved in their favourite pathway, it’s a bit like finding a wall across the road (just the same situation as when a lipidomist finds a protein in their way…).

Due to the different nature of lipids, most cell biologists fear having to face this situation along their way. The good news is that there are some simple methods to help overcome this obstacle, and make the studyof lipids in a given pathway easier. Here, I’d like to go over some analytical and preparative tools for lipid-ligand interaction studies.

My colleague Ana introduced in a previous post (3 years ago already!) a selection of the most popular anti-tag antibodies among the research community. I must say that they remain extremely popular, showing their robustness over time. In this post, I would like to focus on anti-RFP antibodies and anti-GFP antibodies, looking at a selection of high quality, fully validated, reliable tools.

The innate immune system is the body’s crucial first defense against viral infections and it is dependent upon a group of pattern recognition receptors. cGMP-AMP Synthase (cGAS) responds to the presence of DNA in the cytosol by producing 2’,3’cGAMP. Cyclic GAMP in turn binds to STING leading to TBK1-mediated IRF3 activation and the production of type 1 IFN.

Understanding the STING cell signalling pathway and the role cGAMP plays in a number of important areas, such as infection, cancer, inflammation & senescence, relies on cGAMP measurement. Good news – Arbor Assays have just released a new cGAMP EIA kit, read on to learn more!

Small GTP-binding proteins such as Rho and Ras GTPase family members are involved in regulating cell signalling pathways and impact a wide range of cellular processes, functions, and morphology. In this post, you’ll discover two types of Small G-protein Activation Assays to easily measure the GTP-bound form of your protein of interest, as well as some tips for choosing between both solutions and finding the assays that fit best with your cell signalling experiments.