cell signaling

April 15, 2021

New insights into kidney development

Integrin-linked kinase, a central component of a complex that coordinates cell signaling involved in migration, proliferation and cell death, plays a role in kidney development and epithelial cell function.

By Bill Snyder
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 11, 2019

The arrestin-GPCR connection

Understanding details of how arrestins deactivate signaling by G-protein coupled receptors is key to the design of new therapeutics aimed at these cellular “inboxes” that are targeted by up to half of all pharmaceuticals.

By Sanjay Mishra
March 28, 2019

Unraveling endocytosis

New discoveries by Jason MacGurn and colleagues further understanding of the complex machinery that cells use take up substances from outside the cell.

By VUMC News and Communications
February 14, 2019

The yin and yang of cell signaling

Larry Marnett and colleagues have explored the role of two enzymes in metabolizing molecules associated with cell proliferation, inflammatory processes and neurological diseases.

By Sanjay Mishra
January 17, 2019

Signals from the “conveyor belt”

Vanderbilt researchers propose that cellular signaling pathways are amplified by a “conveyor belt” mechanism that exchanges active and inactive enzymes.

By Bill Snyder
February 23, 2017

Team identifies ‘switch’ involved in DNA replication  

DNA replication is an extraordinarily complex multi-step process that makes copies of the body’s genetic blueprint. It is necessary for growth and essential to life. Now researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Vanderbilt University have found evidence that one of those steps may involve the telephone-like transmission of electrical signals regulated by a chemical “switch.”
By Bill Snyder
December 14, 2015

DISSECTing cell signaling networks

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new method to study cell signaling networks at single-cell resolution.
By Leigh MacMillan
August 26, 2015

Framework for studying cell responses

Vanderbilt investigators have developed a framework for studying cellular responses that could be used to identify the agents driving a range of biological processes in health and disease.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 22, 2015

New signaling pathway provides clues to obesity

A Vanderbilt University-led research team has discovered a molecular “rheostat” in the brain’s appetite control center that may provide new insights into obesity, which is at epidemic levels in this country.
By Bill Snyder
April 10, 2014

Photo: Discovery Lecture

David Clapham, M.D., Ph.D., of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, discusses his research on ion channels and cell signaling at his recent Flexner Discovery Lecture.
By VUMC News and Communications