Cytochrome c is a small enzyme that plays an important role in the production of energy by mitochondria. It is also involved in signaling dangerous problems that warrant apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Using solid-state NMR, University of Groningen Associate Professor of Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy Patrick van der Wel and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the signal induced by cytochrome c is more controlled than expected. The results were published in the journal Structure on 14 March.