MCB News

Team finds mechanism linking key inflammatory marker to cancer

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:38:18 +0000

In a new study described in the journal Oncogene, Professor of Biochemistry Lin-Feng Chen and his team reveal how a key player in cell growth, immunity and the inflammatory response can be transformed into a primary contributor to tumor growth.

James Morrissey Selected as 2013 Sol Sherry Distinguished Lecturer in Thrombosis

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:06:59 +0000

The American Heart Association’s Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) selected Department of Biochemistry Professor James H. Morrissey to give the 2013 Sol Sherry Distinguished Lecture in Thrombosis at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions Annual Conference.

William Metcalf Appointed As G. William Arends Professor

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:16:10 +0000

Department of Microbiology Professor William Metcalf has been appointed to the G. William Arends Professorship in Life Sciences for his accomplishments in research, education, and service.

Researchers find active transporters are universally leaky

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:08:42 +0000

Professor of Biochemistry Emad Tajkhorshid and colleagues have discovered that membrane transporters help not just sugars and other specific substrates cross from one side of a cellular membrane to the other—water also comes along for the ride.

New Technology Helps Detect Epigenetic Changes Important to Disease

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:06:04 +0000

Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Ann M. Nardulli and colleagues at the University of Illinois and the Mayo Clinic have created a new technique for identifying methylated DNA, a modification to our genetic material that has been shown to correlate with the disease severity and metastasis ability of various types of cancers.

Study reveals stem cells in a human parasite

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:41:15 +0000

Study reveals stem cells in a human parasite

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:48:56 +0000

Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Phillip Newmark, postdoctoral researcher Jim Collins, and their colleagues discovered that the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni harbors adult, non-sexual stem cells that can migrate to various parts of its body and replenish tissues. Their report appears in the journal Nature.

William Bruce, Caroline Johnson, and Keith Whitlock selected for Mayo Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:31:52 +0000

William Bruce, Caroline Johnson, and Keith Whitlock, outstanding students from the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, have been selected for three of the five slots specifically reserved for University of Illinois students in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program at the Mayo Clinic.

Elena Zelin receives an American Heart Postdoctoral Fellowship

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:47:11 +0000

Team finds a new way to inhibit blood clotting and inflammation

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:11:17 +0000

Corresponding author Professor of Biochemistry James Morrissey and colleagues have identified a group of small molecules that interfere with the activity of a compound that initiates multiple steps in blood clotting, including those that lead to the obstruction of veins or arteries, a condition called thrombosis. Blocking the activity of this compound, polyphosphate, could treat thrombosis with fewer bleeding side effects than the drugs that are currently on the market.

Their findings appear in the journal Blood in the January 20 issue as a Plenary Paper, described as "Definitive original research articles of exceptional scientific importance."

Identification of key regulatory pathways of myeloid differentiation

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:13:03 +0000

Scientists have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage. This tool provides an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms at work during this myeloid differentiation process, and may improve our ability to treat myeloid diseases like leukemia.

Using planarian flatworms to understand organ regeneration

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:20:50 +0000

In a new study published in the October 16 issue of Developmental Cell, corresponding author Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Phillip Newmark and colleagues report the identification of genes that control growth and regeneration of the intestine in the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea.

Identification of key regulatory pathways of myeloid differentiation using an mESC-based karyotypically normal cell model

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:23:29 +0000

Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Fei Wang and colleagues have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage. This tool provides an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms at work during this myeloid differentiation process, and may improve our ability to treat myeloid diseases like leukemia. Their findings appear in the journal Blood.

The unanticipated complexity of the selectivity-filter glutamates of nicotinic receptors

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:53:16 +0000

In a new finding published in Nature Chemical Biology, Research Scientist Gisela Cymes and Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Biophysics, and Neuroscience Claudio Grosman applied single-molecule electrophysiology to elucidate the properties of the ring of acidic side chains that catalyzes the flow of cations through the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channel.

The unanticipated complexity of the selectivity-filter glutamates of nicotinic receptors

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:52:30 +0000

The p23 Molecular Chaperone and GCN5 Acetylase Jointly Modulate Protein-DNA Dynamics

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:36:59 +0000

An in-depth understanding of any machine requires classification of the individual parts, knowledge on how the components connect, and recognition of the mechanisms propelling the assembled pieces into a running unit. As biologist we have made admirable progress in naming the numerous physical factors constituting cells as well as rendering annotated maps on how these subunits arrange into distinct structures or pathways. Yet, our grasp of the cellular properties sustaining a cell system in an active, working state is limited.

The p23 Molecular Chaperone and GCN5 Acetylase Jointly Modulate Protein-DNA Dynamics and Open Chromatin Status

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:14:23 +0000

Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Alexander von Humboldt Scholar Brian Freeman and colleagues have published "The p23 Molecular Chaperone and GCN5 Acetylase Jointly Modulate Protein-DNA Dynamics and Open Chromatin Status" in Molecular Cell.

IN OBESITY, A MICRO-RNA CAUSES METABOLIC PROBLEMS

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:45:24 +0000

A team including corresponding author Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Jongsook Kim Kemper has identified a key molecular player in a chain of events in the body that can lead to fatty liver disease, Type II diabetes and other metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity. By blocking this molecule, the researchers were able to reverse some of the pathology it caused in obese mice. Their findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Michelle Wegscheid Receives ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:31:09 +0000

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has selected Michelle Wegscheid, a senior in the Specialized Curriculum in Biochemistry, as a 2012 award recipient of the ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Phillip Newmark named University Scholar

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:28:37 +0000

Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Phillip Newmark is among seven university faculty named a University Scholar.

Circadian Rhythm of Redox State Regulates Excitability in Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:29:55 +0000

Although cellular metabolic (redox) state has long been associated with a housekeeping role, recent research from a team lead by Martha Gillette, and including the Lee Cox and Jonathan Sweedler groups, provides new insights on cellular redox states, linking them to the intrinsic daily (circadian) clock in the brain. In the August 17th issue of Science, T. A. Wang et al. show that redox states in this brain region reflect daily cycles of metabolism. This 24-hour metabolic rhythm regulates the electrical activity of the neurons that comprise the mammalian central circadian clock. Thus, cross talk between energetic and neuronal states enables cellular state to influence brain physiology.

Synthesis of Methylphosphonic Acid by Marine Microbes: A Source for Methane in the Aerobic Ocean

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:05:23 +0000

Professor of Microbiology William Metcalf is lead author on a new study of ocean methane in Science. Up to 4 percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean’s oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: a bit of “weird chemistry” practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.

A Gain-of-Function Polymorphism Controlling Complex Traits and Fitness in Nature

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:20:32 +0000

Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Biochemistry Mary Schuler and colleagues have published a new study in Science.

Interacting cellular oscillators of the brain’s circadian clock

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:25:07 +0000

Molecular basis of bacterial protein Hen1 activating the ligase activity of bacterial protein Pnkp for RNA repair

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:26:30 +0000

Associate Professor of Biochemistry Raven Huang and colleagues have published "Molecular basis of bacterial protein Hen1 activating the ligase activity of bacterial protein Pnkp for RNA repair" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Circadian Rhythm of Redox State Regulates Excitability in Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:26:52 +0000

Tongfei Wang, Gubbi Govindaiah, Liana Artinian, and Charles Cox of the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology are co-authors of a new paper in Sciencexpress. Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Cell and Developmental Biology Martha Gillette is corresponding author.

Labib Rouhana selected to the Summer Leadership Institute

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:00:58 +0000

Labib Rouhana, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Phil Newmark, has been awarded the prestigious Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.

A protease for 'middle-down' proteomics

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:38:01 +0000

Cong Wu, a graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry, is the first author on "A protease for 'middle-down' proteomics" in Nature Methods.

James H. Morrissey Appointed Roy and Eva Hong Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:19:56 +0000

Professor of Biochemistry James H. Morrissey has been appointed as the Roy and Eva Hong Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

First ASCB Graduate Student/Postdoc-Initiated Minisymposium: Cell Biology of Regeneration

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:05:16 +0000

Rachel Roberts-Galbraith, postdoc in Cell and Developmental Biology, is co-chair of "Cell Biology of Regeneration," the winning topic in the competition to organize the 2012 American Society for Cell Biology Graduate Student/Postdoc-Initiated Minisymposium.