MCB News

Yejing Ge receives the Procter & Gamble Award

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:48:28 +0000

Yejing Ge, a graduate student in Jie Chen Lab, is the recipient of the 2012 Procter & Gamble Graduate Student Research Award.

Tyler Moran selected as the 2011 recipient of the Molecular Endocrinology Student Author Award

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:03:43 +0000

Tyler Moran, Ph.D., who completed his thesis in the lab of Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Lori Raetzman, was selected as the 2011 recipient of the Molecular Endocrinology Student Author Award.

Phosphodiesterases coordinate cAMP propagation induced by two stimulatory G protein-coupled receptors in hearts

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:28:05 +0000

In a new study, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Kevin Xiang and colleagues show that the PGE2 stimulation attenuates the adrenergic-induced cardiac contractile response in animal hearts.

Rachel Smith-Bolton Receives Carver Charitable Trust Award

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:21:56 +0000

Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Rachel Smith-Bolton has been awarded the highly competitive 3-year Carver Young Investigator Award. The award pays $300,000 over three years.

Mutations that stabilize the open state of the Erwinia chrisanthemi ligand-gated ion channel fail to change the conformation of the pore domain in crystals

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:39:55 +0000

Corresponding author Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Claudio Grosman, Associate Professor of Biochemistry Satish Nair, and colleagues have published new work in PNAS.

Extension of the Cellular Molecular Chaperone Network

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:58:47 +0000

Amino acid-sensing pathways converging on the lysosome to regulate cell growth

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:59:42 +0000

Phil Newmark appointed as a Romano Scholar

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:57:58 +0000

Mechanism of Actin Nucleation at Adherens Junctions

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:56:55 +0000

Team discovers how bacteria resist a 'Trojan horse' antibiotic

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:51:49 +0000

A new study led by Associate Professor of Biochemistry Satish Nair describes how bacteria use a previously unknown means to defeat an antibiotic.

Molecular Determinants of Scouting Behavior in Honey Bees

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:00:52 +0000

There is novelty-seeking behavior, across different contexts, among honey bees in their tendency to scout for food sources and nest sites.

Msx Homeobox Genes Critically Regulate Embryo Implantation

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:19:44 +0000

A unique signaling network regulated by the homeobox transcription factors MSX1 and MSX2 in the mouse uterus critically controls female fertility.

Team Discovers Microbes Speciating

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:03:25 +0000

Not that long ago in a hot spring in Kamchatka, Russia, two groups of genetically indistinguishable microbes parted ways. They began evolving into different species – despite the fact that they still encountered one another in their acidic, boiling habitat and even exchanged some genes from time to time, researchers report.

Cancer Research Forum and Poster Prize Competition

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:50:56 +0000

All faculty, fellows, students and investigators are invited to present posters on cancer-related research in basic, clinical, and translational areas of investigation.

Phylogeny and beyond: Scientific, historical, and conceptual significance of the first tree of life

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:52:20 +0000

A fundamental breakthrough in biological science occurred in 1977, and most biologists did not notice: a paper by Professor of Microbiology Carl Woese that compared sequence snippets derived from small subunit rRNAs of different organisms.

Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:41:17 +0000

In a new study, Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Rhanor Gillette reports on a circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea.

Building up actin at adherens junctions

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:39:27 +0000

Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology William Brieher and Vivan Tang have published "α-Actinin-4/FSGS1 is required for Arp2/3-dependent actin assembly at the adherens junction" in the Journal of Cell Biology.

Let's Do The Twist: Spiral Proteins are Effective Gene Delivery Agents

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:35:04 +0000

Illinois researchers developed spiral polypeptides that can deliver DNA segments to cells with high efficiency and relatively low toxicity, a step toward clinical gene therapy. The team, from left, postdoctoral researchers Lichen Yin and Dong Li; Fei Wang, a professor of cell and developmental biology; Jianjun Cheng, a professor of materials science and engineering; and Nathan Gabrielson, a postdoctoral researcher.

Lori Raetzman Selected to Present Anita Payne Lecture

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:59:32 +0000

Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience Lori Raetzman has been selected to present the Anita Payne New Perspectives in Reproductive Biology Lecture at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR).

Team discovers how a cancer-causing bacterium spurs cell death

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:09:01 +0000

A new study led by Professor of Microbiology Stephen Blanke, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show how a bacterial toxin can disrupt a cell’s mitochondria – its energy-generation and distribution system – to disable the cell and spur apoptosis (programmed cell death).

Editorial Calls for Carl Woese to be Awarded Nobel Prize

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:11:55 +0000

Nature Reviews Microbiology has published an editorial lauding the contributions of Crafoord Prize recipient Professor of Microbiology Carl Woese.

Phillip Newmark and Milan Bagchi Appointed as Romano Scholars

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:37:20 +0000

Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Milan Bagchi, and Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Phillip Newmark, have each been appointed as a Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar.

3rd Illinois Symposium on Reproductive Sciences

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:56:38 +0000

The 3rd Illinois Symposium on Reproductive Sciences (ISRS) will be held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Monday, October 10, 2011. The venue of the meeting is the I-Hotel Conference Center.

Linking heterochromatin and gene repression

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:36:40 +0000

Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Supriya Prasanth is corresponding author on "A BEN-domain-containing protein associates with heterochromatin and represses transcription," published in Journal of Cell Science.

James Slauch Recognized as University Scholar

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:52:07 +0000

Professor of Microbiology James Slauch has been recognized as a University Scholar. The program recognizes the university’s most talented teachers, scholars and researchers.

James Morrissey and Colleagues profiled in LAS News

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:47:10 +0000

James Morrissey, Emad Tajkhorshid, and Stephen Sligar are featured in an article on blood clotting mechanisms in LAS News.

Tyrosine phosphorylation enhances RAD52-mediated annealing by modulating its DNA binding

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:02:34 +0000

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, and Biophysics and Computational Biology, Maria Spies is corresponding author on "Tyrosine phosphorylation enhances RAD52-mediated annealing by modulating its DNA binding."

Global Functional Map of the p23 Molecular Chaperone Reveals an Extensive Cellular Network

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:47:15 +0000

Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Brian Freeman is corresponding author on "Global Functional Map of the p23 Molecular Chaperone Reveals an Extensive Cellular Network" in Molecular Cell.

James Morrissey Awarded the Biennial Investigator Recognition Award for Contributions to Haemostasis

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:34:13 +0000

In recognition of his distinguished record as teacher and researcher, Professor of Biochemistry James Morrissey will be awarded the Biennial Investigator Recognition Award for Contributions to Haemostasis from the International Society on Thrombosis & Haemostasis (ISTH).

MicroRNAs in the songbird brain respond to new songs

communications@mcb.llinois.edu (MCB Communications) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:11:35 +0000

Whenever it hears an unfamiliar song from a male of the same species, the zebra finch stops chirping, hopping and grooming. It listens attentively for minutes at a time, occasionally cocking its head but otherwise immobile. Once it becomes familiar with the song, it goes back to its busy routine.