Research Publications

A trio of researchers from the Department of Microbiology has discovered an essential function of a landmark protein in regulating movement across bacterial cells. Members of the Mera Lab determined how the coiled-coil polar protein TipN moves a region of the chromosome called parS. They also...

Some animals possess the remarkable ability to regenerate lost structures, exemplified by a lizard regrowing its tail. However, this regenerative process must be tightly regulated by the body to ensure proper tissue organization and to prevent abnormal growths, such as cancer. Yet, the precise...

Fragile X syndrome is one of the most commonly inherited forms of autism and intellectual disability, and no treatment currently exists. But a team of University of Illinois researchers led by Vipendra Kumar, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, has...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...