Leigh MacMillan

June 10, 2020

C. diff captures blood cell cofactor to build defensive shield

Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientists have identified a C. diff protein system that senses and captures heme (part of hemoglobin) to build a protective shield that fends off threats from our immune system and antibiotics.

By Leigh MacMillan
June 9, 2020

Staph’s activation of blood clotting

Staph bacteria may change the factor they use to activate blood clotting — to evade the immune response — a new study suggests.

By Leigh MacMillan
June 4, 2020

Protecting the injured kidney

Leslie Gewin and colleagues have upended conventional dogma about Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the kidney, finding that it protects against chronic kidney disease rather than promoting it.

By Leigh MacMillan
Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying enzymes involved in metabolism that are particularly important for Staphylococcus aureus to survive in host tissues.
June 3, 2020

Study explores how staph bacteria can survive in bone

A comprehensive evaluation of the metabolic pathways that support Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”) growth during invasive bone infections could offer new targets for treatment.

By Leigh MacMillan
This is a 3D volume rendering of an MRI of a post-mortem heart obtained from a patient with COVID-19, acquired at ultra-high 500 micron spatial resolution.
May 21, 2020

Team uses imaging to study ways the heart is affected by coronavirus

Researchers are using imaging and diagnostic pathology to examine postmortem hearts donated by victims of COVID-19 to gain a better understanding of how the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 affects the heart.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 19, 2020

Probing innate immunity

Manuel Ascano team validates an inhibitor of the cGAS-STING signaling pathway, which is important for cellular innate immunity against bacteria, viruses, and our own damaged DNA.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 14, 2020

The adaptable anthrax bacterium

Vanderbilt researchers discover how anthrax bacterium defends itself against structural damage and resists the toxicity of the antimicrobial drug targocil.
By Leigh MacMillan
May 5, 2020

A dual-purpose metabolic switch

John York and colleagues have demonstrated that the protein Vip1 is a rare type of bifunctional enzyme: it can both synthesize and destroy key cellular signaling molecules.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 30, 2020

EHRs, biobanks and Mendelian diseases

Electronic health records and biobanks can be effectively combined to detect and study Mendelian diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 23, 2020

VUMC joins global effort to explore COVID-19 genetics

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have joined an international genetics effort to make advances as quickly as possible on understanding and treating COVID-19.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 21, 2020

Reducing stress in parents of children with autism

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders benefited from the addition of mindfulness-based stress reduction to parent-implemented behavioral interventions.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 16, 2020

‘Tuning’ cell shape for division

Dylan Burnette and colleagues have discovered that two forms of the molecular motor protein myosin have distinct roles in regulating cell shape during cell division.
By Leigh MacMillan
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