Epithelial Biology Center Archive — Page 1 of 3

Ken Lau, PhD, left, and Bob Coffey, MD, have made several important discoveries about colorectal cancer that are aiding the search for new, more effective therapies. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
December 11, 2023

Colorectal cancer ‘cartography’ reveals an avenue to improved immunotherapy

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have discovered why most colorectal tumors escape detection and destruction by the body’s immune system.

Close-up 3D rendering of densely packed pink, rounded finger-like biological structures, with larger forms in the foreground and smaller ones receding into the background.
July 12, 2022

Probing the tumor microenvironment

Vanderbilt researchers used single-cell sequencing, imaging, and computational approaches to characterize the colonic tumor microenvironment, providing important insights to the components that play roles in colorectal tumor pathogenesis.

Stomach
May 19, 2022

Molecular ‘switch’ may illuminate stomach disorders

An international team that included researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered a molecular switch that induces rapid proliferation of zymogen granule-secreting chief cells in the stomach to regenerate damaged tissue.

3D histological illustration of a row of tall columnar epithelial cells, with elongated nuclei and a brush-like apical surface above a purple underlying layer.
September 21, 2021

The role of polarity in early cancer

Mutations in the protein epiregulin, an EGF receptor ligand, affect larger epithelial cell reorganization and may contribute to early cancer development, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.

Paige Vega has been selected as the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.
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.

Illustration of overlapping purple spherical cells, each with a prominent blue spherical nucleus, against a black background.
June 18, 2020

Studying cells in reduced dimensions

Vanderbilt cell biologists have developed an unbiased, quantitative framework for evaluating single-cell data.