Research

The team studying tumor suppressor protein p53 includes, from left, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, and Lindsay Redman-Rivera.
September 2, 2021

Discovery offers insight for development of cancer therapies targeting mutant p53

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes) drives malignant phenotypes in cells expressing mutant p53, a tumor suppressor protein that is mutated in more than half of all human cancers.

By Bill Snyder
September 2, 2021

Study shows gene-drug interactions are common

When a drug or combination of drugs causes different responses in different people, genetic variation is often at play. Pharmacogenomics, through discovery of genetic risk and use of clinical genotyping, aims to reduce trial-and-error approaches to drug prescribing.

By Paul Govern
August 24, 2021

Autoimmunity advance

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a high-throughput screening method to identify and characterize antigen-specific B cells — potential biomarkers for autoimmune disease and targets for new treatments.

By Leigh MacMillan
August 23, 2021

Estrogen, depression and menopause

A shift in emotional processing may help women adapt to lower estrogen after menopause —unless they have a history of major depressive disorder, Vanderbilt researchers have found.

By Emily Stembridge
August 20, 2021

COVID-19 antibody ‘cocktail’ discovered at VUMC protects chronically ill: study

A monoclonal antibody cocktail against the COVID-19 virus discovered at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and developed by AstraZeneca reduced the risk of symptoms in a study of immunocompromised and chronically ill adults later exposed to the virus by 77%, the company announced today.

By Bill Snyder
August 19, 2021

Potential protection from atherosclerosis

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a potential way to reduce atherosclerosis: blocking the modification of an HDL-associated enzyme by reactive molecules called isolevuglandins.

By Bill Snyder
August 19, 2021

Expression atlas for cell regulators

Vanderbilt researchers report a comprehensive tissue-specific atlas of protein and mRNA expression for p63 and p73, members of the p53 family signaling network that is the most frequent target of mutations in human cancers.
By Leigh MacMillan
August 19, 2021

Team isolates antibodies that target alphaviruses

A multi-institutional team led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has isolated monoclonal antibodies that in laboratory and animal studies prevented infection by alphaviruses, including the often-lethal Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV).
By Bill Snyder
August 12, 2021

Study reveals missing link between high-fat diet, microbiota and heart disease

A high-fat diet disrupts the biology of the gut’s inner lining and its microbial communities — and promotes the production of a metabolite that may contribute to heart disease, according to a study published Aug. 13 in the journal Science.
By Leigh MacMillan
August 12, 2021

Study identifies biomarker for breast cancer response to immunotherapy

A biomarker that has proven to be a predictor for response to immunotherapies in melanoma patients also has clinical relevance for breast cancer patients, according to a new study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
By Tom Wilemon
August 11, 2021

Vega selected as 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Paige Vega, a PhD student in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University, has been selected as the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.
By Bill Snyder
August 10, 2021

Shared antibodies may push COVID-19 variants: VUMC study

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that people recovering from COVID-19 and those vaccinated against the causative virus, SARS-CoV-2, produce identical clones, or groups, of antibody-producing white blood cells.
By Bill Snyder
August 10, 2021

Vitamin D impact on disease biomarkers

In a randomized controlled trial, vitamin D supplementation did not improve biomarkers for cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
By Leigh MacMillan