Department of Biochemistry

April 14, 2017

A new mode of DNA repair

Structural details of a protein that removes DNA lesions shed light on fundamental mechanisms of DNA repair.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 3, 2017

Fighting fungal infections

A detailed structural and functional analysis of the yeast protein that is the main target of antifungal drugs will help direct efforts to develop better treatments.

By Leigh MacMillan
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
January 19, 2017

COX-2 ‘conjugate’ may slow growth of some tumors: study

More than a decade after the anti-inflammatory drugs Vioxx and Bextra were pulled from the market because of a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients, COX-2 inhibitors may be on the verge of a comeback, this time as anti-cancer agents.

By Bill Snyder
November 17, 2016

Graduate student’s cancer studies land NCI support

Kamakoti “Kami” Bhat, a fifth-year graduate student in the lab of David Cortez, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine, has achieved a “first” for Vanderbilt University.

By Bill Snyder
October 21, 2016

DNA damage response protein

Vanderbilt researchers have determined that a previously uncharacterized protein responds to DNA replication stress and has an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the genome.

By Bill Snyder
October 12, 2016

Imaging probe for retinal disease

An imaging probe developed at Vanderbilt detects retinal inflammation early and may allow therapeutic intervention to prevent blindness.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 6, 2016

Basic science, extraordinary impact

The discoveries that can change the course of human health forever often begin in the tiniest places: in molecules and cells, at the most fundamental intersection of physics, chemistry and biology. Understanding how these cellular and molecular processes work is the focus of basic biomedical research at Vanderbilt.
By Liz Entman and Melanie Moran
September 15, 2016

Study reveals new clues to cystic fibrosis ‘gender gap’

A research team led by structural biologists from Vanderbilt University has come up with the first detailed molecular explanation for a factor that may contribute to the so-called cystic fibrosis (CF) “gender gap.”
By Bill Snyder
September 9, 2016

In search of new cancer targets

Vanderbilt researchers developed a new algorithm to find clinically targetable gene rearrangements in cancers.
By Leigh MacMillan
July 21, 2016

Osheroff to direct Academy for Excellence in Education

Neil Osheroff, Ph.D., has been named director of the Academy for Excellence in Education. He succeeds Lillian Nanney, Ph.D., who served as director since the Academy’s inception in 2007.
By Kathy Whitney
April 20, 2016

How strep grabs on to platelets

New structural details of the binding of the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis to platelets may offer new therapeutics for life-threatening cardiovascular infections.
By VUMC News and Communications
April 1, 2016

New role identified for p73 gene

The p73 gene is required for the generation of cilia – hair-like projections on cells – findings that could have implications for the study of lung diseases and sterility.
By VUMC News and Communications