Discoveries

Figure reproduced under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike-No Mirror Sites License from C. Strothman, et al., (2019) J. Cell Biol., Published online August 16, DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201905019. Copyright 2019, C. Strothman, et al. Microtubules – protein polymers consisting of heterodimers of α- and β-tubulin – play a critical role in cell division, morphology,… Read More

By Lorena Infante Lara Densely packed microvilli (dark circles) naturally arrange into overlapping hexagons (red). Image of microvilli cross-sections courtesy of Matt Tyska. Modified with permission. New technologies allow us to look at old knowledge with fresh eyes. Scientists have known about microvilli for a long time. Electron microscopy showed… Read More

Figure reproduced under the CC BY-NC-ND license from C. P. Nielsen, et al., Cell Rep., 28, 1074. The WNT family of signaling proteins plays an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, motility, and migration via multiple pathways that are frequently dysregulated in cancer. The well-known canonical WNT… Read More

By Deborah Roby Irina Kaverina. The Cell and Developmental Biology labs of Irina Kaverina and collaborators Guoqiang Gu and Chris Wright recently published work in Current Biology that presents a newly discovered means by which the pancreas maintains glucose homeostasis. This work illuminates the crucial steps pancreatic β cells take to… Read More

Figure reproduced under the CC BY 4.0 license from E. M. Shockley, et al. (2019) NPJ Syst. Biol. Appl. 5, 23. Multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) signaling systems, defined as networks that coordinate numerous inputs (e.g., enzyme substrates, receptor ligands, allosteric modulators) to yield multiple outputs (e.g., products, secondary signaling molecules, etc.)… Read More

By Deborah Roby The influenza virus prevents its own destruction and causes virulence by a newly discovered method. The non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of the influenza A virus allows disease proliferation by binding a protein that activates the host’s immune reaction. The lab of Yi Ren, in collaboration with researchers… Read More

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

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

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

The Scream, Edvard Munch, PD-US-expired. Disorders arising from trauma and stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and they exact a huge economic toll on our society. Hence, a major effort is underway to find new treatments for these diseases. A clue… Read More