‘discovery’
Study establishes mediator of alpha cell proliferation, important for diabetes treatment
Mar. 16, 2023—By Leah Mann The lab of Wenbiao Chen, associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, identified a signaling pathway for hyperaminoacidemia-induced alpha cell proliferation. Hyperaminoacidemia, or an excess of amino acids in the bloodstream, occurs when the function of glucagon, a pancreatic hormone that raises glucose levels and breaks down amino acids, is disrupted. In...
Diversity in infectious mold species impacts respiratory disease severity in humans
Feb. 3, 2023—By Caroline Cencer Fungal diseases caused by pathogenic fungi such as molds affect millions of people worldwide every year. Despite the high prevalence of fungal diseases, the mechanism of infection is not well understood. The laboratory of Professor of Biological Sciences Antonis Rokas, led by graduate student Anne Hatmaker and in partnership with the lab...
CRISPR screen identifies role for a specific protein in insulin secretion
Jan. 25, 2023—By Leah Mann The labs of Wenbiao Chen, associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, and Irina Kaverina, professor of cell and development biology, recently published a study in Molecular Metabolism focused on detecting genes that regulate insulin secretion. The authors demonstrated a new role for the Commander complex—a bound group of 16 proteins—in insulin...
The best of both worlds: Blending assays to understand human genome regulation
Sep. 19, 2022—By Caroline Cencer Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Emily Hodges and graduate student Tyler Hansen used a blended approach to create a new, multi-omic method to identify and characterize gene regulatory elements—non-coding DNA sequences that control gene expression—in the human genome. The new technique, ATAC-STARR-seq, was published in Genome Research. During DNA transcription, regions of the...
Weight cycling increases diabetes risk
Jul. 14, 2022—By Emily Overway Alyssa Hasty, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, specializes in immunometabolism, specifically on the role that the immune system plays in obesity and metabolic disease. Recent work from her lab explored the changes in immune cell populations in fat during obesity, weight loss, and weight cycling. The work, led by...
Signals from dying cells are necessary for stem cell differentiation
Jul. 13, 2022—By Emily Overway A Vanderbilt laboratory is investigating the sequence of events necessary for the differentiation of stem cells into heart cells—a key step in embryonic development. Postdoctoral fellow Loic Fort and Louise B. McGavock Professor and Chair of Cell and Developmental Biology Ian Macara published their most recent discoveries on this topic in Nature...
Tolerating replication stress
Jun. 16, 2022—By Emily Overway The lab of David Cortez, Richard N. Armstrong, Ph.D. Professor of Innovation in Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Biochemistry, researches the regulation of genomic DNA replication. Recent work, “CHK1 phosphorylates PRIMPOL to promote replication stress tolerance,” was published in Science Advances in March. This research, led by first author Kavi...
Collaborative research yields new protein structure
May. 16, 2022—By Emily Overway Recent collaborative research, published in Science Advances, used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of caveolin-1 and how many individual caveolin-1 proteins join to form a complex. Caveolin-1 proteins bend the plasma membrane to form indentations known as caveolae, which sense and respond to changes in membrane tension. The labs of Hassane...
Researchers investigate self-regulation of an enzyme with critical cellular functions
May. 5, 2022—By Emily Overway The lab of Kathy Gould, Louise B. McGavock Professor and professor of cell and developmental biology, used a multi-disciplinary approach that included structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to investigate the regulation of the CK1 enzyme family. The research, led by Sierra Cullati, a postdoc in the Gould lab, and carried out...
Investigating the direct effects of SSNA1 on microtubules
Apr. 19, 2022—By Emily Overway The lab of Marija Žanić, professor of cell and developmental biology, is investigating the regulation of microtubules. Work led by former postdoctoral fellow Elizabeth Lawrence, recently published in eLife, details the role of microtubule-associated protein SSNA1 in microtubule stabilization and damage detection. We sat down with Lawrence to learn more about this...