• 2024-03-11 - A surge of a neural-specific protein in the brain is the earliest-yet biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers studying a mouse model of the disease. Furthermore, the increased protein activity leads to the seizures associated with the earliest stages of neurodegeneration, and inhibiting the protein in the mice slowed the onset and progression of seizure activity.  The neural-specific protein, PSD-95, could pose a new target for Alzheimer’s research, early diagnosis and treatment, said study leader ...
  • 2024-03-04 - Fragile X syndrome is one of the most commonly inherited forms of autism and intellectual disability, and no treatment currently exists. But a team of University of Illinois researchers led by Vipendra Kumar, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, has discovered a novel receptor function that may be used in a therapeutic approach to treatment.   Their findings, published in...
  • 2024-02-29 - Supported by a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Auerbach Lab will examine how different genes associated with autism spectrum disorders may similarly impact our brain’s neurons, resulting in heightened sensitivity to sounds.  Autism spectrum disorders are genetically complex, and hundreds of genes are implicated in their development. As a result, some may conclude that autism is a collection of disconnected disorders with comparable symptoms. However, much like how roads converge as they approach a destination, at some level of brain function there may be...
  • 2024-02-26 - The gut microbiome interacts with the loss of female sex hormones to exacerbate metabolic disease, including weight gain, fat in the liver and the expression of genes linked with inflammation, researchers found in a new rodent study. The findings, published in the journal Gut Microbes, may shed light on why women are at significantly greater risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes after menopause, when ovarian production of female sex hormones diminishes. “Collectively, the findings...
  • 2024-02-22 - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers Emad Tajkhorshid and Hyun Park In collaboration with scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Chicago, have used AI to identify new materials for carbon capture. Carbon capture is a critical technology in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. But a suitable material for effective carbon capture at low cost has yet to be found. One candidate is metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. This porous material can selectively absorb...
  • 2024-02-19 - A new study by University of Illinois scientist Dr. Kannanganattu V. Prasanth and his team of researchers at Illinois and across multiple institutions has shed light on a novel family of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), and their significant impact on ribosomal RNA (rRNA) expression. "This is a completely novel study ... and a new family of noncoding RNA that we have identified," said Prasanth, a professor of cell and developmental biology. These RNA molecules, termed SNUL RNAs (Single NUcleolus Localized RNAs),...
  • 2024-02-15 - Chemists have determined for the first time the crystal structure and unlocked the mechanism of reaction activity of a key component of the monensin enzyme.  “The main finding was the first crystal structure for this family of enzymes,” said Chu-Young Kim, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who led the experimental side of the study. He and colleagues solved the crystal structure for MonCI, a key enzyme in soil bacteria that naturally synthesizes monensin. Kim...
  • 2024-02-12 - What do a synthetic chemist, a medical imaging expert, and a neurologist have in common? They’re coming together in the Biomedical Imaging Center at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology to develop better diagnostic tools and imaging agents to detect early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. A team led by Liviu M. Mirica along with Wawryzneic “Wawosz” Dobrucki...
  • 2024-01-31 - Nicole Godellas recently earned her PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology. Along the way, she joined the Beckman Institute’s outreach team and learned a few lessons about communicating science to the general public. I never anticipated joining a communications team during my graduate career. When I was a PhD student in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, I spent a lot of my time at the bench and in front of my computer. I always expected my journey to be quite...
  • 2024-01-23 - Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA), the predominant human mucosal antibody, can bind to bacterial surface proteins and trigger an immune response to improve infection outcomes, but these interactions are poorly understood. In a new study, University of Illinois researchers found distinct host-pathogen interaction through unexpected binding of SIgA, the pathogen streptococcus M4, and CD89, an immune cell receptor. Group A streptococcus (GAS)...
  • 2024-01-16 - Eight alumni of the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, including two with ties to the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, will receive recognition during the college’s 2024 alumni awards at a celebration in April. They are researchers and entrepreneurs who have made incredible impacts in their fields and communities. LAS Alumni Achievement Award Lisa Monteggia (BS, ‘89, microbiology; MS, ’91, biology) Lisa Monteggia is an internationally recognized leader in...
  • 2024-01-12 - Nine University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members, including microbiology professor James Imlay, have been named university endowed chairs or professors, an honor awarded to highly distinguished scholars for their excellence and prominence in research, teaching, and service. James Imlay is an international leader in the field of oxidative stress and his research throughout the last 35 years defines our understanding of oxidative damage...
  • 2024-01-05 - Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease affect more than 270 million people worldwide. Alheimer's is the leading cause of dementia, resulting in memory loss due to atrophy of neurons in the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that regulates learning and memory. Nanoparticles designed to carry drugs have emerged as a strategy for treating different diseases, but in the context of neurodegenerative disease, much of the research has focused on developing strategies for getting nanoparticles across the blood brain barrier and into targeted regions of the brain. In a new...
  • 2024-01-04 - Salmonella is notorious for surviving and replicating in macrophages, which are normally lethal to invading bacteria because of their inhospitable environment. In a new study, researchers have discovered how a system of proteins, called TamAB, helps Salmonella survive under the harsh conditions inside macrophages.  Salmonella is a foodborne pathogen that causes more than a million infections each year in the U.S. Concerningly, it can kill young, old, and immunocompromised individuals. What makes these bacteria especially dangerous is their ability to evade our...
  • 2023-12-14 - The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Department of Cell & Developmental Biology are pleased to welcome Haiting Ma as an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology this fall. He join us from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he completed his postdoctoral research. We spoke with him about his research and teaching interests and how he spends his time outside the lab...