Department Of Biochemistry

A detailed structural and functional analysis of the yeast protein that is the main target of antifungal drugs will help direct efforts to develop better treatments. Read More

DNA replication is an extraordinarily complex multi-step process that makes copies of the body’s genetic blueprint. It is necessary for growth and essential to life. Now researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Vanderbilt University have found evidence that one of those steps may involve the telephone-like transmission of electrical signals regulated by a chemical “switch.” Read More

More than a decade after the anti-inflammatory drugs Vioxx and Bextra were pulled from the market because of a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients, COX-2 inhibitors may be on the verge of a comeback, this time as anti-cancer agents. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have determined that a previously uncharacterized protein responds to DNA replication stress and has an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the genome. Read More

An imaging probe developed at Vanderbilt detects retinal inflammation early and may allow therapeutic intervention to prevent blindness. Read More

A research team led by structural biologists from Vanderbilt University has come up with the first detailed molecular explanation for a factor that may contribute to the so-called cystic fibrosis (CF) “gender gap.” Read More

Vanderbilt researchers developed a new algorithm to find clinically targetable gene rearrangements in cancers. Read More

Neil Osheroff, Ph.D., has been named director of the Academy for Excellence in Education. He succeeds Lillian Nanney, Ph.D., who served as director since the Academy’s inception in 2007. Read More

New structural details of the binding of the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis to platelets may offer new therapeutics for life-threatening cardiovascular infections. Read More

The p73 gene is required for the generation of cilia – hair-like projections on cells – findings that could have implications for the study of lung diseases and sterility. Read More

Lisa Poole, a graduate student in the lab of David Cortez, Ph.D., received the 2016 Leon W. Cunningham Award for Excellence in Biochemistry last week during the Biochemistry Department’s annual retreat at the Student Life Center. Read More

One small chemical change to an existing antibacterial drug results in a compound that is more effective against its target enzyme in tuberculosis, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

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

Telomeres – the caps on the end of chromosomes – are a source of stress for a particular protein involved in copying DNA, a new study reports. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have generated a “parts list” for the molecular machinery that duplicates DNA each time a cell divides. The research has implications for cancer therapies that target components of this machinery. Read More

Walter Chazin, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology, is a recipient of a 2016 Fellow of the Biophysical Society award. Read More

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

New findings add to the understanding of how the enzyme COX-2 works, which is critical to the development of COX-2-targeted anti-inflammatory drugs. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have developed a framework for studying cellular responses that could be used to identify the agents driving a range of biological processes in health and disease. Read More

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