Leigh MacMillan

April 29, 2021

A compound to counteract aging?

A compound that increases lifespan in yeast is offering clues to pharmacological approaches that might slow the aging process and improve health.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 20, 2021

New therapeutic strategy for leukemia syndrome

Using primary cells from patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, Vanderbilt researchers found synergistic inhibition of cell viability and proliferation, suggesting a new treatment strategy.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 15, 2021

Arrhythmia culprit: supertrafficking ion channel

Charles Sanders, PhD, and colleagues show how a “supertrafficking” mutant potassium channel contributes to heart rhythm abnormalities.

By Leigh MacMillan
From left, Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Bradley Reinfeld, Matthew Madden and Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, have discovered that immune cells — not cancer cells — are the major glucose consumers in the tumor microenvironment, upending a century-old observation.
April 7, 2021

Study revises understanding of cancer metabolism

Tumors consume glucose at high rates, but a team of Vanderbilt researchers has discovered that cancer cells themselves are not the culprit, upending models of cancer metabolism that have been developed and refined over the last 100 years.

By Leigh MacMillan
Deanna Edwards, PhD, left, Jin Chen, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying a new therapeutic strategy for triple-negative breast cancer.
April 1, 2021

Breast cancer cells ‘steal’ nutrients from immune cells: study

Triple-negative breast cancer cells engage in a “glutamine steal” — outcompeting T cells for the nutrient glutamine and impairing their ability to kill tumor cells, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 29, 2021

NYU’s Tsien to discuss brain plasticity at next Discovery Lecture

Richard Tsien, PhD, director of the Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, will deliver the next web-based Discovery Lecture.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 25, 2021

Team studies new use for pulmonary hypertension drug

An FDA-approved medication enhances the function of T regulatory cells (Treg), a class of immune cells that restrains the immune response, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 23, 2021

Prostate cancer microenvironment

Distinct cancer-associated fibroblasts in the prostate tumor microenvironment may influence tumor progression and could point to new therapeutic targets.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 18, 2021

HIV, diabetes and immune cells in fat

In HIV-positive individuals with diabetes, immune cells in fat are more proinflammatory and cytotoxic and may represent a therapeutic target for diabetes.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 15, 2021

Roden honored with Oscar B. Hunter Career Award in Therapeutics

Dan Roden, MD, Senior Vice President for Personalized Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, received the Oscar B. Hunter Career Award in Therapeutics last week at the virtual annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 11, 2021

Electronic health record study discovers novel hormone deficiency

A novel hormone deficiency may exist in humans, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. In an analysis of two decades worth of electronic health records, the researchers found that some patients have unexpectedly low levels of natriuretic peptide hormone in clinical situations that should cause high levels of the hormone.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 8, 2021

Temperature, newts and a skin-eating fungus

Salamanders are more sensitive to a skin-eating fungus at colder temperatures, pointing to locations of North America where pathogen invasion is most likely.
By Leigh MacMillan