Research, News & Discoveries

by Leigh MacMillan In the developing pancreas, seemingly equivalent progenitor cells differentiate into the four types of hormone-positive islet cells: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Insulin-secreting beta cells are destroyed in type 1 diabetes, and understanding how beta cells develop could lead to new cellular or regenerative… Read More

by Jill Clendening Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers say an unexpected finding during the cellular analysis of human pancreatic tissue has revealed new information about a rare type of diabetes and underscores the importance of genetic testing for some individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The research centers on… Read More

Jan. 10, 2019, 11:35 AM by Bill Snyder Craig Lindsley, PhD Craig Lindsley, PhD, a leader of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s groundbreaking drug discovery program, is being honored by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) for his transformative approaches to identifying potential new drugs. Lindsley, director… Read More

Scaffolding proteins serve as sites of binding and organization for the multiple components involved in many signaling pathways. Scaffolding promotes key protein-protein interactions and can substantially amplify a signal; however, if proteins are bound too tightly to a scaffold, signal propagation may actually be hindered. The precise mechanisms that regulate… Read More

by Leigh MacMillan A team of Vanderbilt investigators has pinpointed the role of bile acids and a specific signaling pathway in the positive metabolic effects of weight-loss surgery. The findings, reported in the journal Gastroenterology, also suggest that the intestinal microbiome participates in post-surgery improvements. The results… Read More

by Heidi Hall Dec. 20, 2018, 2:56 PM A new Vanderbilt University biochemistry professor is working to defeat drug-resistant superbugs by blocking a molecule they need to mutate rapidly. In 2015, Houra Merrikh discovered that a bacterial protein called Mfd quickens the… Read More

by Ann Marie Deer Owens Dec. 21, 2018, 6:51 AM Maureen Casey, chief administrative officer for the Mass Spectrometry Research Center, is the latest recipients of the Chancellor’s Heart and Soul Staff Appreciation Award. Casey has worked for more than… Read More

Dec. 20, 2018, 10:16 AM by Kelsey Herbers Raymond Harris, MD, Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson Professor of Nephrology and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease, has been appointed co-chair of the American Society of Nephrology’s (ASN) Kidney Health Initiative (KHI). Raymond Harris, MD The… Read More

Exocytic vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane (PM) through the action of SNARE proteins, which in turn, are delivered to the vesicles by multisubunit protein tethering complexes. One such complex is the exocyst, comprising two tetrameric subcomplexes, SC1 (composed of SEC3, SEC5, SEC6, and SEC8) and SC2 (composed of SEC10,… Read More