Developmental Cell Archives
Microvilli in motion
Sep. 19, 2019—Live cell imaging studies have revealed that microvilli — finger-like protrusions on the surface of epithelial cells — move and collide as they form the brush border.
Building a pancreas
Jan. 17, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators are defining the genetic programs that control the development of pancreatic beta cells — studies that could inform new cellular or regenerative therapies for diabetes.
Enzyme helps build motor that drives neuron death
Aug. 23, 2018—Vanderbilt scientists have discovered a signaling mechanism that tells neurons to die, findings that could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Building intestinal brush borders
Feb. 8, 2016—Studies of the molecular complex that helps build specialized cellular surfaces could shed light on the mechanisms underlying a genetic deaf-blindness syndrome accompanied by intestinal disease.
Findings offer new insight on how cell division proteins work
Jan. 28, 2016—A family of proteins with critical roles in cell division, synaptic transmission and cell migration don’t all function the way scientists thought they did, according to two new studies led by Vanderbilt researchers.
Microtubules act as cellular ‘rheostat’ to control insulin secretion
Dec. 3, 2015—Microtubules — cellular “highways” that deliver cargo to the cell membrane for secretion — have a surprising role in pancreatic beta cells. Instead of facilitating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, they limit it, a team of Vanderbilt investigators reported recently in Developmental Cell.
VU study reveals factor’s new role in cell division, migration
Oct. 30, 2014—Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered a new molecular mechanism that regulates microtubule dynamics. The unexpected finding, reported in Developmental Cell, has implications for cancer drug discovery.
VU study points to central regulator of neuron development
Dec. 12, 2013—Developmental biologist Chin Chiang, Ph.D., and his colleagues have discovered that Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum act as central regulators of neuronal development.