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Putting the fun back in antifungals: new insights into Acanthamoeba drug targets
Acanthamoeba can cause diseases blinding keratitis, an infection of the eye, or granulomatous amebic encephalitis, a generally fatal infection of the brain and spinal cord. Antifungals that target the biosynthesis of fungal sterols, such as ergosterol, are often used as treatment, but the Acanthamoeba ergosterol biosynthetic pathway has been shown to differ significantly from that found in fungi. Read MoreJun. 12, 2024
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STOP the GAP: New cryo-ET package aims to fill in the ‘missing wedge’
Cryo-ET suffers from the “missing wedge” problem: as samples become more tilted, their thickness at the extremes is increased and sample penetration decreases. William Wan and collaborators describe the creation of a new subtomogram averaging package called STOPGAP. Read MoreJun. 3, 2024
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Ken Lau named 2023 Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund Awardee
Ken Lau, professor of cell and developmental biology, will receive a one-year research award from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund. This work will propel Vanderbilt forward as a leader in the field by leveraging novel technology to develop customized sequencing-based assays of cell-associated components at the single-cell resolution. Read MoreNov. 7, 2023
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Cohen Innovation Fund Awards Announced Supporting Two High-Risk, High-Reward Projects
By Aaron Conley Stanley Cohen and Vanderbilt Chancellor Joe Wyatt (1986). Houra Merrikh, professor of biochemistry, and Teru Nakagawa, associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, have both been selected to receive one-year research awards from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund. The awards will support groundbreaking and… Read MoreSep. 28, 2021
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A brain-builder called “Shh”
In a study published in the journal Developmental Biology, Chin Chiang, PhD, and colleagues demonstrate that depletion of Shh signaling in Bergmann glia in mice leads to underdevelopment of the cerebellum, a significant reduction in CGNP proliferation and disorganization of the Bergmann glia network itself. These findings demonstrate a previously unappreciated role… Read MoreSep. 12, 2018
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Team’s findings could spur new treatments for type 2 diabetes
An international research team including scientists from Vanderbilt University has discovered how the diabetes drug metformin blocks glucose production by the liver. The discovery, reported Aug. 27 in the journal Nature Medicine, could lead to development of new ways to treat type 2 diabetes. “The most common drug to manage type 2 diabetes… Read MoreSep. 11, 2018
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New Target for Treatment of Schizophrenia
New Target for Treatment of Schizophrenia Although today’s antipsychotic medications provide effective relief from some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, not all symptoms are improved, and most patients suffer significant drug-related side effects. In the search for better drugs, recent attention has focused on the M4muscarinic acetylcholine receptordue to… Read MoreSep. 10, 2018
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Calipari Awarded 3 Year Mallinckrodt Jr Foundation Grant
Erin Calipari, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Reseach, recently won a Mallinckrodt Jr Foundation award providing funding for 3 years at $60,000 per year. See more about her addiction research here. Read MoreSep. 6, 2018
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Energetic gene switch
Histones are proteins that regulate the unwinding of DNA in the cell nucleus and the expression of genes based on chemical modifications or “marks” that are placed on their tails. Understanding how the histone “code” regulates gene expression is important for understanding disease. Reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of… Read MoreAug. 30, 2018
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New faculty chair created in memory of biochemist Richard Armstrong
A $1 million gift to Vanderbilt University has established a new faculty chair named in honor of the late biochemist Richard Armstrong, whose groundbreaking work formed a basis for understanding the enzymatic function of antibiotic resistance. The Richard N. Armstrong, Ph.D. Chair for Innovation in Biochemistry, which will support a… Read MoreAug. 30, 2018