Nature Communications

Nature Communications is an open access, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing research regarding biological, health, physical, chemical, and earth sciences.

Cronan lab uncovers mechanism for synthesis of pimelate moiety, the biotin precursor

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...

Gut bacteria help digest dietary fiber, release important antioxidant

2021-01-27

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...

Study: Gut hormones' regulation of fat production abnormal in obesity, fatty liver disease

2020-11-24

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-...

Bacteria show their metal: An evolutionary path to survival

2020-06-04

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.

Researchers find a fasting-induced epigenetic pathway that promotes autophagy and lipid degradation

2020-02-10

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...

Researchers identify new physiological regulators of the one carbon cycle metabolism. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

2018-02-09

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...

Unexpected function of nucleoporin RanBP2 maintains BA homeostasis, protecting against liver toxicity.

2016-08-01

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....

A new RNA repair complex employing a “one-stop shopping” repair mechanism

2015-04-17

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...

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