MCB PhD student selected for Beckman Institute Fellowship

Beckman Institute tower framed by blooming trees.
Seven graduate students, including one from the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, have been awarded 2021 Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowships. The program offers University of Illinois graduate students at the MA, MS, or PhD level the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research at...

Structure matters over sequence for cys-loop cell receptors

Professors Gisela D. Cyme and Claudio Grosman stand side by side in lab.
Cells communicate with each other by sending, receiving, and decoding signals. Signals that cannot cross the cell membrane directly – such as ions, water-soluble small molecules, and peptides – need to be detected by receptor proteins on the cell’s outer surface.

New summer research fellowship for underrepresented students

Exterior of AbbVie corporate headquarters in North Chicago
The University of Illinois School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is pleased to announce that AbbVie and the Black Business Network in partnership with the school have funded a new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) that provides financial support for a student conducting research...

Martha Gillette wins Beckman Institute's 2021 Vision and Spirit Award

Bust of Arnold Beckman.
Congratulations to Martha Gillette, who has been named the Beckman Institute’s 2021 winner of the Vision and Spirit Award. Gillette is director of the Neuroscience Program, Alumni Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and a professor of molecular and integrative physiology.

Researchers uncover new insights in mechanisms of thymineless death

An inverted image of DAPI-stained thyA mutant E. coli with additional defects in the enterobacterial common antigen biosynthesis under thymine starvation started by removal of thymidine from their growth medium. Left column: cells still grown in the presence of thymidine. Central column: one hour without thymidine. Right column: three hours without thymidine. Cells in the bottom row undergo massive lysis.
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...

Researchers structurally characterize a dual-function transporter

Computer simulation of the glutamate transporter in cellular environment revealed the pathway for the conduction of chloride ions (red).
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...