Dietary fiber found in grains is a large component of many diets, but little is understood about how we digest the fiber, as humans lack enzymes to break down the complex molecules. Some species of gut bacteria break down the fiber in such a way that it not only becomes digestible, but releases...

Gut hormones play an important role in regulating fat production in the body. One key hormone, released a few hours after eating, turns off fat production by regulating gene expression in the liver, but this regulation is abnormal in obesity, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-...

An investigation of two closely related proteins from a pathogenic bacterium has illustrated for the first time how evolution can shape the use of essential metals by enzymes.

Autophagy or “self-eating” is a fundamental biological process by which cells digest and recycle cellular components for survival of the cells under nutrient-deprived conditions. Autophagy must be tightly controlled since deficient autophagy is associated with many diseases and aging, while...

Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Jongsook Kim Kemper and the first and co-corresponding author, Young Kim, co-author Sangwon Byun, and colleagues demonstrated that Aromatic Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) and the orphan nuclear receptor, Small Heterodimer Partner (SHP), have an...

A study published in Nature Communications by the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology’s Dr. Jongsook Kim Kemper and colleagues shows the role of RanBP2-mediated SUMO modification of an orphan nuclear receptor Small Heterodimer Partner (SHP) in maintaining bile acid (BA) homeostasis....

Biochemistry graduate student Pei Wang and Associate Professor Raven Huang have discovered a new bacterial RNA repair complex. The structure of the 270-kDa RNA repair complex revealed that it is built like a shopping mall, and RNA repair can be achieved having the damaged RNA visiting four active...