2021-04-06
- Congratulations to MCB junior Evan Dray, who was awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarship!
Dray, of East Peoria, Ill., and a graduate of East Peoria Community High School, is pursuing majors in molecular and cellular biology and chemistry to support his career goals in oncology and pharmacology....
2021-04-06 - Rachel Smith-Bolton, a professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Illinois, leads an exciting research program on tissue regeneration. Her recent work uses Drosophila as a model to explore the effects of different chromatin modifiers on initiating, spatially controlling, and ending regeneration in coordination with development. In a new publication in Genetics, she and...
2021-03-26 - The regulation of polyamines is essential for the physiological function of organisms. Simplistically, polyamines are organic cations that interact with RNA, including ribosomes and translational machinery. Both the lack of and an excess of polyamines confer lethal phenotypes, though the molecular mechanism behind this is unclear. Despite their critical role, the functions of polyamines are not...
2021-03-26 - Andrei Kuzminov, professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois, leads research into the mystery of thymineless death, where mutant cells that cannot synthesize the essential molecule thymine will die unless the growth environment has thymine readily available. With graduate student Pritha Rao, Kuzminov recently explored the “resistance” period of thymineless death in E. coli bacteria...
2021-03-22 - The regulation of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter abundant in the central nervous system, is critical for maintaining normal brain function. Glutamate regulation is achieved via extracellular transport of the amino acid. There are two primary classes of proteins involved in the transport of materials across the membrane: channel proteins, which provide passive pathways for moving...
2021-03-22 - The MCB community stands together in denouncing all acts of hate against Asians and Asian Americans, just as we denounce all acts of intolerance and hate within and outside our MCB community. We stand in solidarity with our Asian and Asian American colleagues against the forces of intolerance and hate, just as we stand in solidarity with all members of our community who face hate or intolerance.
2021-03-10 - Bacteria employ many different strategies to regulate gene expression in response to fluctuating, often stressful, conditions in their environments. One type of regulation involves non-coding RNA molecules called small RNAs (sRNAs), which are found in all domains of life. A new study by researchers describes, for the first time, the impacts of sRNA interactions in individual bacterial cells....
2021-03-09 - Since 1983, the bacteria Pantoea ananatis has been known to infect several important crops including onions, rice, and corn. It was unclear, however, what molecules were involved. A new study, published in mBio, has identified one of the culprits: pantaphos. Intriguingly, the researchers have discovered that pantaphos can also act as an herbicide and it is toxic to glioblastoma cells, making it...
2021-03-02 - The liver has a rare superpower among body organs – the ability to regenerate, even if 70% of its mass is removed. It also keeps up its metabolic and toxin-removing work during the process of regeneration, thanks to a subset of cells that expand their workload while the rest focus on multiplication, a new study in mice found.
2021-03-01 - Chris Brooke, assistant professor of microbiology, recently spoke with The 21st public radio show about what scientists know about the virus that causes COVID-19, the emerging variants, and what they still have to learn.
2021-02-24 - Inflammasomes play a critical role in the innate cellular immune response to pathogen infection. The inflammasome, a cytosolic multiprotein complex, recognizes substrates produced during infection or tissue damage, and triggers an inflammatory response by releasing the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β and IL-18. Researchers have recently identified bromodomain-containing protein-4 (Brd4) as a key...
2021-02-23 - In a new publication, University of Illinois PhD graduate Liguo Zhang of the Belmont laboratory and colleagues introduce an improved version of TSA-seq and use it to demonstrate how changes in gene association with nuclear speckles correlate with changes in gene expression.
2021-02-22 - Professor John. E. Cronan, Microbiology Alumni Professor and professor of biochemistry at the University of Illinois, is a leading researcher and innovator in the field of lipid metabolism. His recent work focuses on the synthesis of biotin and its building blocks across different species of bacteria. His publication with biochemistry graduate student Yuanyuan Hu uncovers the mechanism for...
2021-02-18 - Congratulations to Cari Vanderpool, professor of microbiology, who was recently elected a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology.
2021-02-15 - An international team of researchers including Nicholas Wu, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, has published a new study which developed highly potent molecules that can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 by simultaneously targeting multiple sites of vulnerability on the virus.