Stephen Doster

By Lorena Infante Lara Research from the labs of Roland Stein (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics) and Chris Wright (Cell & Developmental Biology) suggests that the chromatin remodeling complex Swi/Snf, when bound to transcription factor Pdx1, is required for controlling the growth rate of the embryonic pancreas and for maintaining β cell identity… Read More

Jun. 20, 2019, 8:00 AM by Anivarya Kumar Md. Jashim Uddin, Larry Marnett Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women and one of the most difficult malignancies to detect at an early stage. Emerging clinical evidence suggests that the enzyme cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) contributes significantly to tumorigenesis… Read More

Jun. 12, 2019, 9:00 AM by Bill Snyder The human cytochrome P450 enzymes are responsible for metabolizing a variety of substances — from lipids (fats) and steroid hormones to drugs and toxic chemicals. One such enzyme, P450 17A1, generates androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), involved in the production of sex hormones. Read More

Figure reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 4.0 from A. M. Weissmiller, et al. Nat. Comm., (2019) 10, 2014. SWI/SNF is a multicomponent protein complex that plays an important role in chromatin remodeling. It is also likely an important tumor suppressor, as indicated by the fact that… Read More

Jun. 10, 2019, 9:00 AM by Leigh MacMillan During late stages of heart development, interactions between the endocardium (the inner layer of cells) and the myocardium (the heart muscle) are known to be crucial. Signaling between these two cell layers during the earliest stages of heart development has been more difficult… Read More

Jun. 6, 2019, 9:17 AM by Bill Snyder Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has joined an international effort to streamline and accelerate development of vaccines and other treatments against a growing worldwide surge of deadly and debilitating viral infections. The Viral Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC), led by La Jolla Institute for… Read More

Jun. 6, 2019, 8:32 AM Award winners pose for a photo at last week’s Spring Faculty Meeting. (photo by Anne Rayner) by Kathy Whitney Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, kicked off the Spring Faculty Meeting… Read More

May. 29, 2019, 9:18 AM (left to right): Reza Dastvan, PhD, Smriti Mishra, PhD, and Hassane Mchaourab, PhD, are studying the inner workings of a protein pump that contributes to cancer chemotherapy resistance. by Leigh MacMillan Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered how a protein pump distinguishes between chemicals that it… Read More

May. 16, 2019, 12:47 PM by Bill Snyder Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, have discovered a “hidden target” on the surface of the hypervariable influenza A virus that could lead to better ways to prevent and treat the flu. Because… Read More

As a member of the class of ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters, the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) harnesses energy from ATP hydrolysis to power conformational changes that transfer substrates across the cell membrane against a concentration gradient. P-gp transports more than 200 structurally diverse substrates, thereby playing a role in the pharmacokinetics of… Read More