Terunaga Nakagawa, with colleagues from Japan and Oxford University in England, has discovered the bridgelike molecular structure of a mysterious glutamate receptor.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important public health problem, particularly among people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators in support of VICC’s drug discovery program. The gift awarded over the next three years from the private, San Antonio, Texas-based foundation will enable VICC researchers to pursue the development of new compounds to block the activity of cancer-causing genes and proteins that had previously been considered “undruggable.”

Antidepressant use during pregnancy is common. Fetal exposure to the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is associated with the life-threatening condition PPHN (persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn), but a causal link has not been established.

During development, neural circuits are remodeled – some synapses are eliminated and others are strengthened – to produce a mature, functional nervous system.

The 2C-subtype of the serotonin receptor (5HT2C), which binds the neurotransmitter serotonin, plays an important role in regulating food intake and metabolism.

Vanderbilt University researcher Danny Winder, Ph.D., has received a MERIT Award from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, for his contributions to understanding how alcohol affects the brain.