gene expression

Heather Pua, MD, PhD, and Neil Sprenkle, PhD, have discovered a protective role for microRNAs in immune cell macrophages during obesity, potentially opening new therapeutic avenues.
September 5, 2023

MicroRNAs in immune cells help protect against metabolic defects in obesity: study

Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated that a cluster of microRNAs — small pieces of RNA that regulate gene expression — work in a type of immune cells called macrophages to help protect against metabolic defects in obesity.

By Leigh MacMillan
July 20, 2023

Predicting gene expression may speed discovery: study

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Cambridge have developed a method of or predicting gene expression in hard-to-access tissues like the brain from more accessible tissues, including whole blood.

By Bill Snyder
February 2, 2023

COVID-19 battle begins in the nose

A high upper airway concentration of the virus that causes COVID-19 was associated with changes in gene expression that could impact disease progression, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.

By Sarah E. Glass
May 5, 2022

Gene network linked to Type 2 diabetes

Vanderbilt researchers used a novel analytical approach to identify a network of genes associated with Type 2 diabetes, including 31 genes that had not previously been associated with the disease.

By Joshua Baker
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
The team studying the regulation of innate immune response includes (front row, from left) Yang Zhao, Antiana Richardson, (back row, from left) John Karijolich, PhD, Xiang Ye and William Dunker.
May 6, 2021

Study finds that regulatory protein prevents signaling that triggers cell death

A protein implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis prevents the activation of an innate immune response that leads to cell death, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Leigh MacMillan
February 4, 2021

Gene network for leukemia factor

A new method speeds the analysis of factors that control gene expression from days to minutes, allowing researchers to uncover new targets for cancer treatment.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 22, 2020

New tool to probe genetic mechanisms of disease

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute investigators have added a new method to the computational genetics toolbox. Their approach, described in the journal Nature Genetics, integrates vast genomics datasets to predict gene expression and facilitate discovery of genetic mechanisms underlying human diseases.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 17, 2020

Grant from Google to support COVID gene expression study

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill have been awarded $500,000 by Google’s philanthropy, Google.org, to study how COVID-19 alters gene expression in some people in ways that may be linked to their risk of severe illness and death.
By Bill Snyder
September 17, 2020

New predictors of prostate cancer risk

An international group of researchers including Vanderbilt epidemiologists has identified new DNA methylation biomarkers associated with prostate cancer risk.
By Sarah E. Glass
August 26, 2019

Cancer susceptibility genes

Gene variants associated with cancer risk appear to contribute to carcinogenesis by regulating target genes that in turn promote the generation of mutations.
By Leigh MacMillan
February 14, 2019

Probing H. pylori cancer protein

Understanding how a bacterial protein that influences the risk of stomach cancer is produced could guide new strategies for treatment.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 6, 2018

Team seeks to create gene expression map of worm’s nervous system

How do you build a brain? What “rules” govern where neurons end up, how they connect to each other, and which functions they perform?
By Leigh MacMillan
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