‘Vanderbilt Basic Sciences’
Five Vanderbilt faculty elected as 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science fellows
Feb. 3, 2023—Five Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty members were elected as 2022 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They were selected by a group of their AAAS peers. “The ranks of AAAS fellows include the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, Thomas Edison and Margaret Mead, in addition to many...
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...
Nutrient absorption disease model
Feb. 2, 2023—Mutations in the gene MYO5B cause microvillus inclusion disease (MVID), which prevents nutrient absorption in the intestines and is characterized by severe watery diarrhea that typically starts in the first hours after birth. People with MVID usually require lifelong intravenous feedings (parenteral nutrition) or small bowel transplantation. Izumi Kaji, PhD, and colleagues developed a mouse...
Study identifies human proteins with segments devoid of genetic variation
Jan. 27, 2023—By Leah Mann The lab of Charles Sanders, professor of biochemistry and the Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair for Cardiovascular Research, published a study in Protein Science identifying all human proteins that have at least one segment that does not have any missense mutations in the collection of genes in a gene...
The Expert from Nowhere
Jan. 26, 2023—To understand a protein’s structure is to understand its function, says structural and chemical biologist Jens Meiler, PhD, distinguished research professor of Chemistry. It can take a PhD student up to five sleep-deprived years to determine the structure of a single protein, and of the 20,000 human proteins, only about 17% are considered to have...
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...
Estrada to lead VUSM health equity education
Jan. 19, 2023—Lourdes Estrada, PhD, associate professor of Biochemistry, has been named assistant dean for Health Equity Education, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, effective Feb. 1. In this role, she will work to develop and expand initiatives that integrate core principles of health equity into VUSM’s health sciences educational programs, with an initial primary focus on the...
Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus
Jan. 19, 2023—Targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus. A multidisciplinary team of investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered that blocking an iron uptake receptor reduces disease pathology and promotes the activity of...
New screening method could pave the way for future cancer drug discoveries
Jan. 18, 2023—The laboratories of Brian Bachmann, professor of chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology, and Jonathan Irish, associate professor of cell and developmental biology and pathology, microbiology and immunology, have developed a method to discover new small molecules that may kill cancer cells by working through the body’s immune system. The method is the first of its kind,...
Renã Robinson receives National Institutes of Health grant for faculty success program to promote equity in science
Jan. 18, 2023—Renã Robinson, Dorothy Wingfield Phillips Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow and professor of chemistry, received $2.04 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to start a program that will help underrepresented minority faculty further their success in STEM. Collaborators on the grant include researchers from the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina....