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Stories about recent journal articles featuring work by MCB faculty and students.
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...
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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...
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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...
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“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...
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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...
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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...
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Wind-chill out! Researchers discover how flow stresses out bacterial pathogens
Researchers have discovered the addition of fluid to human pathogens triggers a "windchill-like" effect that sensitizes cells to hydrogen peroxide, a well-known agent of cell stress and DNA damage. Their findings have been published in PNAS.
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Lethal damage to the ribosome, arguably the most important machinery in living organisms, can be repaired
New research from University of Illinois biochemistry professor Raven Huang reveals that lethal ribosomal damage in bacteria can be reversed by a pair of bacterial enzymes named PrfH and RtcB. The finding raises the question of whether similar ribosomal damage can also be repaired in humans because...
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New therapeutic target identified for triple-negative breast cancer
Breast cancer is categorized into three major subtypes: hormone receptor-positive, HER2-positive, and triple-negative. Although there are targeted therapeutic approaches for the first two, there are limited options for triple negative-breast cancer patients. In a new study, researchers have...
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Light-activated technique helps bring cell powerhouses back into balance
University of Illinois biochemistry professor Kai Zhang and collaborators developed a technique using light to regulate mitochondria, the energy-producing powerhouses inside cells. The technique could address mitochondrial diseases and cancer.