Stephen Doster

  • Assembling cell power plant machinery

    Assembling cell power plant machinery

    Sep. 3, 2020, 11:00 AM by Leigh MacMillan Mitochondrial complex II is a four-subunit protein machine located in the mitochondrial membrane that links two essential cellular energy-producing processes. Defects in complex II — because of mutations in the genes encoding the subunits or incorrect assembly of the mature complex —… Read More

    Sep. 3, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Vip1 allows cells to adapt to changing conditions

    By Francisco Rodriguez Cells detect the nutrients that are in their environment and can adapt depending on what they sense. The class of signaling molecules known as inositol diphosphates or PP-IPs affects cellular shape, nutrient sensing and many other biological processes among organisms as simple as yeast and… Read More

    Aug. 28, 2020

  • A 3D rendering of a Marburg virus, which resembles the Ebola virus and is vaguely shaped like an ampersand. The virus is brown on a blue background and has tiny blue spheres scattered all over its surface.

    Non-neutralizing antibodies from a Marburg infection survivor show therapeutic potential

    By Sohini Roy The WHO reports that the Marburg virus has an average fatality rate of 50 percent, but fatality rate can be of up to 88 percent depending on the strain and the outbreak. Marburg viruses cause a hemorrhagic fever in humans, with a fatality rate of up to… Read More

    Aug. 28, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Vanderbilt research shows stimulating tuft cell production reverses intestinal inflammation

    by Marissa Shapiro Aug. 28, 2020, 9:00 AM Researchers at Vanderbilt University have, for the first time, been able to trigger the specific immune system response required to reverse the course of small intestinal inflammation by inducing production of tuft cells, very rare epithelial… Read More

    Aug. 28, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Erin Calipari discusses the relationship between pandemic stress and substance abuse on WTVF Channel 5

    WTVF, Channel 5, interviewed Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology, about how stress over the pandemic contributes to the development of substance abuse disorders and the increased probability of relapse. Read More

    Aug. 25, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Study identifies antibodies that block alphaviruses

    Aug. 20, 2020, 8:23 AM by Bill Snyder Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified antibodies that, in animals, block infection by alphaviruses, which can cause chronic and debilitating joint pain and arthritis and are an increasing global health concern. The findings, published in the journal Cell Host… Read More

    Aug. 20, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    A “torque” for tumor blood vessels

    Aug. 20, 2020, 9:30 AM by Bill Snyder Tumors tend to have leaky and highly dysfunctional blood vessels that can prevent anti-cancer drugs and immune cells from getting to them. Improving the effectiveness of cancer therapy, therefore, may require finding ways to “normalize” tumor blood vessels.   Signaling through a protein… Read More

    Aug. 20, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    ‘Scavenger’ molecule may point to new atherosclerosis treatment

    Aug. 20, 2020, 8:48 AM From left, Huan Tao, MD, PhD, Sean Davies, PhD, Jiansheng Huang, PhD, and MacRae Linton, MD, led the study that identified a potential new treatment for atherosclerosis. (photo by Donn Jones) by Bill Snyder A small-molecule “scavenger” that reduces inflammation and formation of atherosclerotic plaque… Read More

    Aug. 20, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Discovery of natural compound may help fend off antibiotic resistance of hard-to-treat infections

    by Marissa Shapiro Aug. 19, 2020, 12:00 PM The Vanderbilt Laboratory for Biosynthetic Studies, led by Brian Bachmann, professor of chemistry, has discovered a naturally occurring compound that is resilient to antibiotic resistance because of its rare properties. Antibiotic resistance, the ability of… Read More

    Aug. 20, 2020

  • physician’s gloved hands hold a dermatoscope to a person’s bare back.

    A potential new targeted therapy for metastatic melanoma

    By Wendy Bindeman https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-web/medschool-wpcontent/sites/64/2020/08/25160212/Discovery_Richmond-SMWeb.mp4   Melanoma is the most common of all cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 100,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2020. While 60 percent of people with metastatic melanoma, an aggressive type of skin cancer, have multiple treatment options… Read More

    Aug. 19, 2020