Department Of Cell And Developmental Biology

Deborah Lannigan and colleagues identify a key regulator of the estrogen receptor and suggest that its downregulation by oral contraceptives may increase oxidative stress and DNA damage, a common cause of cancer. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists are defining the factors that help beta cells in the pancreas stay healthy, secrete insulin and prevent diabetes initiation and progression. Read More

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, have discovered previously unreported genetic and cellular changes that occur in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Read More

Being a biomedical scientist has served Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente well as she’s led the university through “a rapid succession of significant decisions” since the first reports of COVID-19. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists have developed an unbiased, quantitative framework for evaluating single-cell data. Read More

Dylan Burnette and colleagues have discovered that two forms of the molecular motor protein myosin have distinct roles in regulating cell shape during cell division. Read More

A multidisciplinary team of investigators at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a program project grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore extracellular RNA in colorectal cancer. Read More

Jennifer Sucre and colleagues have discovered a factor that contributes to the pathological changes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the most common complication of preterm birth. Read More

MYC is a family of three related proteins that are overexpressed in cancer and which contribute to an estimated 100,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States. Understanding how MYC works could lead to the development of new drugs that can effectively block MYC and stop many cancers in their tracks. Read More

A drug that targets multiple pathogenic steps in diabetic retinopathy may be an ideal therapeutic strategy for the disease, Vanderbilt researchers report. Read More

Shigeki Watanabe, assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss “Spatial and Temporal Control of Synaptic Transmission” on Monday, Jan. 20, beginning at 12:15 p.m. in MRBIII, Room 1220. Read More

An international research team has discovered a new genetic syndrome caused by mutation of a single gene and named it CATIFA, an acronym for its core symptoms. Read More

The identification of a protein important for insulin synthesis may hold clues for understanding the pathogenesis of diabetes. Read More

Chris Halbrook will present “Metabolism Drives Therapy Resistance Crosstalk Mechanisms and Shapes Tumor Cell Identity” on Dec. 2 at 12:15 p.m. in MRB III, Room 1220. Halbrook is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Costas Lyssiotis Lab at the University of Michigan. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered another piece in the puzzle of how cells divide — a process that goes awry in cancer cells. Read More

The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Seminar Series presents Jill Wildonger, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, on Thursday, Nov. 7. Wildonger will discuss "Building a Neuron with Motors and Microtubules" beginning at 12:15 p.m. in MRB III, Room 3131. Read More

Worm neurons have microscopic “spines” — where nerve-to-nerve communication happens — that share features with mammalian neurons, supporting the use of worms to study spine genetics and biology. Read More

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. Read More

Understanding the dynamic regulation of cytoskeletal microtubules may suggest new ways to treat disorders ranging from Alzheimer's disease to cancer. Read More

Jason MacGurn and colleagues have characterized a “rheostat” that sets WNT pathway signaling in breast cancer cells. Read More