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Boehringer Ingelheim and Vanderbilt University today announced the expansion of their successful existing collaboration to develop novel anti-cancer compounds. The expanded research partnership will focus on the discovery and development of new chemical therapeutics targeting the pro-survival protein MCL1 as a potential therapy against MCL1-dependent cancers. This is the third… Read More

Long QT syndrome is a rare disorder that can lead to dangerous heart rhythms, fainting and sudden cardiac arrest. Inherited and potentially lethal forms of the disorder affect the structure and function of the KCNQ1 potassium channel, which transmits electrical signals crucial for maintaining regular heart rhythm. Now Charles Sanders, PhD, and… Read More

Vanderbilt investigators and colleagues around the country have made a major discovery that could lead to better ways to treat type 1 diabetes (T1D). The discovery concerns glucagon, a hormone that opposes the actions of insulin in regulating glucose levels in the bloodstream. These two hormones are secreted by different… Read More

Leading neuroscientist Lisa Monteggia has been named the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wenteannounced today. Monteggia also will be a tenured member of the Vanderbilt faculty, pending approval by the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust. She will join the… Read More

Christine Lovly, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine, has received a $200,000 grant to support promising new research on lung cancer. The Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)have partnered to fund the Lori Monroe Scholarship for Lung Cancer Research. “I am honored to… Read More

Iron and sulfur are essential minerals critically required for biological functions. The body maintains iron levels through iron homeostasis. Deficiency in iron uptake can cause anemia and excess iron accumulation can lead to organ failure. Similarly, sulfur is incorporated into biological compounds through an ancient pathway called sulfur assimilation. Now… Read More

Investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTCRI) have revealed a gene mutation’s role in Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a genetically inherited disease which causes tumor growth in several organs. The study led by corresponding authors W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, director of the Division of… Read More

Explaining Cardiac Arrhythmia The KCNQ1 potassium channel, in complex with the KCNE1 regulatory protein, is responsible for a delayed outward flow of potassium ions during the repolarization phase of the cardiac myocyte action potential. Mutations that result in loss of function (LOF) of KCNQ1 are associated with type 1… Read More

Cholesterol’s Role in the Response to Graphene Due to its interesting array of physical and chemical properties, graphene is the focus of exciting new applications in biomedical research, drug delivery, neuroprosthetics, and tissue engineering. However, little is known about how graphene interacts with cells or its potential toxicity. Prior… Read More

Modulating Somatostatin in the Islet As the major hormone-producing cells of the pancreatic Islets of Langerhans, the insulin-secreting β-cells and glucagon-secreting α-cells are the primary modulators of glucose homeostasis. However, through the production of somatostatin, which suppresses the secretion of both insulin and glucagon, the δ-cells play an equally… Read More