Department Of Cell And Developmental Biology

Research led by Matthew Tyska gives new insight into the formation of the lining of the gut that helps us absorb nutrients and guard against illness. Read More

New research by Andrea Page-McCaw shows that a membrane that wraps around most animal tissues can heal within 24 hours, but does leave a scar. Read More

Chronic inflammation is a predisposing condition for colorectal cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Anna Means, Ph.D., and colleagues have now linked inflammation-driven carcinogenesis in the colon to loss of an important signaling protein called SMAD4. Read More

Vanderbilt scientists have developed a new process that can rapidly and inexpensively identify personalized cancer drugs derived from nature. Read More

The bacterium H. pylori is a leading cause of stomach cancer, and Vanderbilt researchers are studying how one of its toxins gets into cells. Read More

The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine hosts its second Cell Dynamics Symposium May 24–25 in Wilson Hall. Read More

The spring Flexner Discovery Lecture series wraps up on Thursday, April 26, with a presentation by Terry Orr-Weaver, PhD, professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read More

MCL-1 is a member of the BCL-2 family of proteins important for blocking apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Many types of cancer cells escape the body’s effort to kill them by overexpressing MCL-1. Read More

Understanding the specialized environment where stem cells reside is important for developing stem-cell based regenerative therapies. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a role for microtubules — part of the cellular “skeleton” — in organizing the unique sidedness of the epithelial cells that line organs like the intestines. Read More

Ian Macara, PhD, Louise B. McGavock Professor and Chair of Cell and Developmental Biology and co-leader of the Signal Transduction and Chemical Biology Research Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been named one of the Pink Tie Guys for the Susan G. Komen Central Tennessee organization. Read More

Microtubules are the “railroad tracks” essential for moving intracellular “freight” around in the cell. They’re also part of the spindle that pulls the two centrosomes apart during cell division. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have developed an algorithm to classify cell types from experimental data, making it possible to understand how organs develop. Read More

Using super-resolution microscopy tools in the Nikon Center of Excellence, Vanderbilt investigators have determined the molecular architecture of the contractile ring machinery that functions during cell division — a process that is essential for life. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a novel non-genetic cause of resistance to the targeted anti-cancer therapy cetuximab. Their findings, reported this week in Nature Medicine, suggest a strategy for overcoming this resistance. Read More

An interdisciplinary team of Vanderbilt University researchers has received a two-year, $2-million federal grant to develop an “organ-on-chip” model for two genetic forms of epilepsy. Read More

Internationally known epigeneticist C. David Allis, Ph.D., will deliver the first Flexner Discovery Lecture of the academic year at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, in room 208 Light Hall. Read More

Genetic mutations in PMP22 (peripheral myelin protein 22) cause a variety of peripheral neuropathies, underscoring the importance of the protein to a healthy peripheral nervous system. But the precise function of PMP22, a major component of the myelin sheath that surrounds and insulates peripheral nerve cell axons, has been unclear. Read More

The identification of a genetic culprit for hypoplastic left heart syndrome could lead to new treatments for the condition. Read More

When Boston native Jarrod Shilts arrived at Vanderbilt, he brought with him a strong interest in synthetic biology—a discipline devoted to designing and creating biological molecules that don’t exist in the natural world and using them to redesign existing biological systems. Read More