2018-02-01
- What changes in the brain of an animal when its behavior is altered by experience? Research at the University of Illinois led by Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Lisa Stubbs is working toward an answer to this question by focusing on the collective actions of genes. In a recent Genome Research publication, Stubbs and her colleagues identified and documented the activity of...
2018-01-26 - Using molecular dynamics simulations, the Tajkhorshid lab computationally modeled the complete structure of the active AMPA receptor with hydrated ions moving through an open pore. Together these findings, published in Cell, show how AMPA receptor regulatory proteins enhance the potency of agonists and alter receptor pore properties, and show how neurotransmitter induces structural rearrangements...
2018-01-18 - New research published in PLOS Pathogens finds that unexpected mutations help flu virus retain fitness by counteracting changes needed to dodge the immune system
2018-01-11 - Dr. Craig Mizzen, Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, passed away at his home on January 5, 2018, after a long and heroic battle with cancer. He was 61.
2017-12-31 - Kalsotra’s research has focused on RNA, the workhorse cousin of DNA, which makes up the genetic instructions for living things. RNA is often viewed as important for messaging and other functions, taking DNA’s code and transporting it to and carrying out functions in cells. It’s often taken a back seat to DNA in terms of significance.
2017-12-31 - Thirteen years ago, when Lin-Feng Chen joined the Department of Biochemistry, he had his sights set on a specific protein that could both contribute to the growth of cancer and be a major factor in boosting the body’s immune system.
2017-12-31 - For decades, MCB and the University of Illinois have been at the forefront of understanding the role of estrogen and the estrogen receptor (ER) in causing breast cancer. This is essential work: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, affecting roughly one in eight women in the US alone.
2017-12-31 - David Kranz, the Phillip A. Sharp Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has been involved in T-cell research since working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, involved in early discoveries about how T-cells might be used to combat a host of diseases, including cancer. Prior to this, he trained as a graduate student at...
2017-12-31 - Benita Katzenellenbogen has delved into the causes and treatments for breast cancer and other hormone-dependent cancers for virtually her entire career. Her tireless work in the field has established her as a world-renowned expert.
2017-12-31 - Alfred Reszka’s future was intertwined with the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in ways he never could have predicted when he came to the University of Illinois in the 1980s. Reszka was one of the first graduate students in the new department, and the connections he made in CDB laid the groundwork for his entire career.
2017-12-31 - Several MCB faculty members are part of an exciting new campus unit known as The Cancer Center at Illinois. The Center is an interdisciplinary collaborative hub with more than 100 faculty members from departments ranging from kinesiology, human development and nutrition to electrical and computer engineering, as well as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers pursuing “cancer- related...-
2017-12-31 - The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) is a pivotal center for biomedical research on campus, and our program attracts more funding than any other unit in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Our energetic, top-notch graduate students and faculty, and high caliber research projects have a strong reputation for producing results worthy of further external funding.
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2017-12-31 - The Anakk lab explored the mechanism by which the liver can be protected from developing fatty liver disease. This work was also published in Hepatology and led by two former undergraduates of the MCB program, Oludemilade Akinrotimi (Demi) and Ryan Riessen along with another MCB alumnus, Phil Vanduyne. Using the same experimental mouse model...
2017-12-31 - Using mouse models that resembled the clinical cholestasis, or very high levels of bile acids in the liver, Dr. Sayee Anakk, with graduate student and first author Bhoomika Mathur, observed the effect of cholestasis on a key indicator of heart health.
2017-12-18 - View the latest edition of MCB Magazine here.