Image
Stories about recent journal articles featuring work by MCB faculty and students.
Mice study suggests metabolic diseases may be driven by gut microbiome, loss of ovarian hormones
The gut microbiome interacts with the loss of female sex hormones to exacerbate metabolic disease, including weight gain, fat in the liver and the expression of genes linked with inflammation, researchers found in a new rodent study.
The findings, published in the journal...
Image
Unveiling the Role of SNUL RNAs in Ribosomal RNA Expression Regulation
A new study by University of Illinois scientist Dr. Kannanganattu V. Prasanth and his team of researchers at Illinois and across multiple institutions has shed light on a novel family of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), and their significant...
Image
Supercomputing the secrets inside cattle antibiotics
Chemists have determined for the first time the crystal structure and unlocked the mechanism of reaction activity of a key component of the monensin enzyme.
“The main finding was the first crystal structure for this family of enzymes,” said...
Image
Structural study of mucosal antibody reveals unexpected host-pathogen interactions
Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA), the predominant human mucosal antibody, can bind to bacterial surface proteins and trigger an immune response to...
Image
Chen lab uncovers new insights, new player in immune system defense
When confronted with infection or injury, our body rallies to fight and heal itself and inflammation is a key part of this early defense system. But inflammation can also go awry, as exhibited in chronic illnesses such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Biochemistry professor...
Image
Researchers investigate how human stomach cells recognize and minimize damage to mitochondria during H. pylori infection
University of Illinois researchers have elucidated a mechanism whereby gastric cells detect and respond to toxin infiltration within the cell’s powerhouse, the mitochondria.
The Blanke lab, within the Department of Microbiology in the School of Molecular & Cellular...
Image
New research from Raetzman lab, led by undergraduate, investigates the mechanism behind genetic cause of congenital hypopituitarism
Hypopituitarism occurs when the pituitary gland, a small, pea-sized gland at the base of the brain, does not make enough hormones that are essential for growth, metabolism, and reproduction.
Lori Raetzman, a professor of...
Image
“Buckle up and hold on tight!” Study discovers how bacterial pathogens stick to surfaces better when they encounter fluid flow
Host tissues and medical devices are ideal surfaces for bacterial pathogens to colonize and infect. Fluid flow is thought to flush bacteria off these surfaces, but University of Illinois researchers have found that some bacteria can strengthen their adhesion to the surface when flow is applied.
In...
Image
Research sheds light on molecular pathway driving muscle weakness in muscular dystrophy
University of Illinois researchers have uncovered a molecular mechanism that influences muscle weakness in a mouse model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the most common inherited neuromuscular disease and one of the most severe forms of inherited muscular dystrophies.
The genetic disorder causes...
Image
Protein p53 regulates learning, memory, sociability in mice
University of Illinois researchers have established the protein p53 as critical for regulating sociability, repetitive behavior, and hippocampus-related learning and memory in mice, illuminating the relationship between the protein-coding gene TP53 and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders...