Biochemistry

Kranz Stops Staph Toxin

David Kranz
Biochemistry professor David Kranz and his team have developed a treatment for antiobiotic resistant staph bacteria.

Chen Finds Molecular Pathway

U. of I. biochemistry professor Lin-Feng Chen, right, and his colleagues, including postdoctoral researcher Xiaodong Yang, identified a novel pathway that controls the activity of a key protein involved in inflammation. Photo by L. Brian Stauffer
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Lin-Feng Chen and his colleagues discovered a novel way inflammation is regulated.

The biochemistry department welcomes Susan Martinis

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Dr. Martinis earned her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois and completed postdoctoral research at M.I.T.

The biochemistry faculty welcomes Lin-Feng Chen

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Dr. Chen recently completed his postdoctoral research at Gladstone Institute of Immunology and Virology, University of California, San Francisco.

Maria Spies joins the biochemistry faculty

Marie Spies
Dr. Spies comes to Illinois following postdoctoral research at the University of California, Davis.

Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing way to new treatment

James H. Morrissey
James H. Morrissey, a biochemist, and colleagues at the University of Georgia have discovered that a linear polymer known as polyphosphate speeds blood clotting and helps clots last longer.

Creation of antibiotic in test tube holds promise for better antibiotics

From left, biochemist Satish Nair; Bo Li, a biochemistry doctoral student; Wilfred van der Donk, professor of chemistry; and John Paul J. Yu, an M.D.-Ph.D student in the Nair group.
Professors Satish Nair and Wilfred A. van der Donk report in the journal Science on the synthesis of the powerful antibiotic nisin-a, a natural product used to preserve food. Their work sheds light on antibiotic resistance.

Paul J. Hergenrother honored for teaching and mentoring

A tight shot of a microscope with a soft orange gradient layer.
Paul J. Hergenrother, affiliate of the Department of Biochemistry, was awarded the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award for 2006. "The award, administered by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, supports the teaching and research careers of young faculty members in the chemical sciences....

Lu rated No. 3 in Top 5 Hot Talks/Cool Papers

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Last month in San Francisco, five presentations and publications were ranked as the Top 5 hot Talks/Cool Papers of the Materials Research Society's spring meeting. U. of I.'s Yi Lu was among them. Lu, a professor of chemistry and affiliate of the Department of Biochemistry, was named number three...

Synthetic molecular causes cancer cells to self-destruct

On white board is diagram of the synthetic molecule that signals cell death in cancer cells, identified by Illinois researchers: seated from left, Bill Helferich, professor of nutritional sciences; Paul Hergenrother, professor of chemistry, and Karson Putt, graduate research assistant in chemistry; and standing from left, Joe Sandhorst, graduate research assistant in chemistry, and Martin Hoagland, postdoctoral student in veterinary biosciences.
"'We have identified a small, synthetic compound that directly activates procaspase-3 and induces apoptosis,' said Paul J. Hergenrother, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and corresponding author of a paper published by the journal Nature Chemical Biology. 'By bypassing the broken pathway,...