Reporter June 23 2023 Archive — Page 1 of 2

June 27, 2023

Rare disorder sheds light on dysbindin function

A case study of a rare disorder uncovers roles for the protein dysbindin in the adaptive immune response and suggests that mutations may underlie some cases of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease.

By Sarah E. Glass
June 26, 2023

Magnesium deficiency and blood pressure

Dietary magnesium depletion in a mouse model activated inflammatory pathways and molecules that promote hypertension, suggesting that increased magnesium consumption may be beneficial for reducing the prevalence of hypertension.

By Leigh MacMillan
June 22, 2023

Pathways to a healthy liver

Hepatic stellate cells maintain liver mass and function; the signaling factors they use could be exploited therapeutically to promote liver regeneration and inhibit cancerous proliferation, Vanderbilt researchers suggest.

By Bill Snyder
June 22, 2023

Mosaicism and genetic disease

Genetic mosaicism — when the body’s cells do not all have the same genetic makeup — could generate variants previously thought to be spontaneous in genetic disease, and detecting parental mosaicism could clarify recurrence risk for future children.

By Leigh MacMillan
Vanderbilt’s pediatric neurocritical care team treated patient Will Terry after he suffered a traumatic brain injury when he flipped over the handlebars of a kick scooter. (photo by Susan Urmy)
June 22, 2023

Neurocritical care team helps boy survive severe brain injury

Vanderbilt’s pediatric neurocritical care team combines experts from different areas of pediatric medicine to care for each child according to individual needs to maximize that child’s quality recovery.

By Christina Echegaray
Research assistant Mahsa Majedi loads reagent used in DNA sample preparation in the genomics lab. She is part of a team of more than a dozen people at VUMC who are “sprinting” to develop — within 90 days — an antibody-based treatment to stop the spread of the Zika virus.
June 22, 2023

VUMC, Oxford team develops ‘blueprint’ to block lethal virus

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Oxford have determined how a human monoclonal antibody isolated at Vanderbilt in 2021 can prevent infection by the potentially lethal Sin Nombre virus.

By Bill Snyder