Discoveries

Dueling Proteins Control Replication Fork Stability A variety of cell stressors may stall the process of DNA replication, and failure to resolve the problem and resume normal progression of the replication fork may lead to DNA damage and/or even cell death. Stalling of the replication fork results in… Read More

A New Pathway for DNA Cross-Link Repair Interstrand cross-links (ICLs) are a highly toxic form of DNA damage in which the two complementary DNA strands are covalently bound together. This form of damage is difficult to repair, so animal cells have evolved the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway specifically… Read More

Dynamics of Basement Membrane Repair The basement membrane (BM) is an ancient, highly conserved structure that lies under the basal surface of epithelial cells and wraps around organs such as muscles and nerves. It provides mechanical stiffness and modulates cellular communication by interacting with signaling molecules. Although much… Read More

Organizing Microtubule Asters Microtubules (MTs) are a critical component of the cytoskeleton, playing a role in a range of processes from cell polarization to division. MTs are polymers of αβ-tubulin that grow and shrink from a rapidly changing plus-end and a more slowly changing minus-end to form two… Read More

Targeting Mood Disorders in Alcohol Withdrawal Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are strongly associated with alcohol use disorder and can be exacerbated during alcohol withdrawal. In fact, the increase in anxiety and depression associated with withdrawal contributes to the likelihood of relapse and return to alcohol abuse. Read More

Albumin Degradation in the Diabetic Kidney A major long-term complication of diabetes is kidney damage that leads to diabetic nephropathy (DN), a condition associated with considerable morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients. An early sign of DN is the appearance of protein, primarily albumin, in the urine. Indeed, clinicians… Read More

Exploring Maturation of Pancreatic β-cells The β-cells of the pancreatic Islets of Langerhans play a major role in glucose homeostasis through their production of insulin, and they change in their ability to release insulin in response to glucose during development. Fetal and neonatal β-cells secrete more insulin basally and… Read More

Sulfate-Iron Link to Anemia Sulfation (the addition of a sulfate group to a molecule) is an important biochemical process that aids in the detoxification of xenobiotic compounds and plays a role in the biosynthesis of a variety of molecules. In mammalian cells, sulfation requires PAPS (3´-phosphoadenosine 5´-phosphosulfate), which donates… 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