F Guengerich

Steroid binding to metabolic enzyme

Understanding how a steroid-metabolizing enzyme binds to its substrates may aid in designing drugs to treat sexual dysfunction as well as prostate cancer.

Altered metabolism and disease

Vanderbilt researchers report a structure of a human metabolic enzyme bound to its substrate 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone.

model of DNA double helix

Faulty building blocks in DNA

An enzyme that builds DNA is able to insert the wrong building blocks, which could generate mutations.

aspergillus culture

Rational design of novel antifungals

Structural and molecular details of an anti-fungal target’s interaction with inhibitors suggest ways to design better treatments for fungal infections.

How the cell makes morphine

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered how mammals, including humans, produce the painkiller morphine.

Bypassing DNA damage

Studies of a human polymerase that replicates DNA have provided a complete kinetic and structural framework for understanding how the enzyme accurately bypasses DNA damage.