Department of Biochemistry

June 12, 2019

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.

By Bill Snyder
April 25, 2019

A new antibiotic’s mechanism of action

Vanderbilt investigators have characterized how a new first-in-class antibacterial drug works, which will guide the development of additional compounds that overcome antibacterial resistance.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 28, 2019

Cancer’s SOS

Stephen Fesik and colleagues are advancing cancer drug discovery with the characterization of small molecules that modulate RAS, an important target for anti-cancer therapies.

By Sanjay Mishra
March 14, 2019

Correctly copying DNA

A precise understanding of how the enzyme topoisomerase II cuts DNA could lead to better anti-cancer therapies.

By Sanjay Mishra
February 28, 2019

Achilles’ heel for kidney cancer

The discovery that kidney cells with mutations in a certain gene are sensitive to therapies called PI3K inhibitors opens new opportunities for applying precision medicine to cancer treatment.

By VUMC News and Communications
Kareem Mohni, PhD, left, and David Cortez, PhD, have discovered a new DNA repair pathway that guards against genomic mutations.
February 28, 2019

Novel DNA repair mechanism preserves genome integrity: study

Biochemistry investigators at Vanderbilt have discovered a new DNA repair mechanism that prevents gene mutations during DNA replication.

By Leigh MacMillan
February 14, 2019

The yin and yang of cell signaling

Larry Marnett and colleagues have explored the role of two enzymes in metabolizing molecules associated with cell proliferation, inflammatory processes and neurological diseases.
By Sanjay Mishra
January 17, 2019

Signals from the “conveyor belt”

Vanderbilt researchers propose that cellular signaling pathways are amplified by a “conveyor belt” mechanism that exchanges active and inactive enzymes.
By Bill Snyder
January 17, 2019

DNA’s on/off switch

DNA-binding “switches” represent a fundamentally new method of communication between DNA-processing enzymes, Vanderbilt researchers propose.
By Bill Snyder
November 29, 2018

Five faculty elected AAAS fellows

Five Vanderbilt University faculty members have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this year.
By Bill Snyder
October 25, 2018

Rothamel selected as Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Katherine Rothamel, a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been selected as the 2017 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.
By Bill Snyder
October 11, 2018

Cancer Center investigators awarded Komen grants

Four Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators have received financial support from Susan G. Komen for breast cancer research.
By Tom Wilemon
August 30, 2018

Energetic gene switch

New findings link flux through glycolysis, which produces cellular energy, with transcription and gene expression via histone modification.
By Bill Snyder
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