pathology microbiology and immunology

Study revises understanding of cancer metabolism

Apr. 7, 2021—Tumors consume glucose at high rates, but a team of Vanderbilt researchers has discovered that cancer cells themselves are not the culprit, upending models of cancer metabolism that have been developed and refined over the last 100 years.

photo of a woman goatherd making her way to a UN aid relief camp in Kenya

Novel way to neutralize Rift Valley Fever Virus

Apr. 1, 2021—The discovery of monoclonal antibodies that neutralize Rift Valley Fever Virus — an emerging infection with pandemic potential — lays the foundation for future therapeutic antibody development.

Prostate cancer microenvironment

Mar. 23, 2021—Distinct cancer-associated fibroblasts in the prostate tumor microenvironment may influence tumor progression and could point to new therapeutic targets.

Temperature, newts, and a skin-eating fungus

Mar. 8, 2021—The emergence of pathogenic skin fungi that cause the disease chytridiomycosis is contributing to the global loss of amphibian populations.

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Calcification after severe injury

Feb. 23, 2021—Vanderbilt researchers have linked bone-related complications of severely injured patients — findings that could help minimize these complications.

VUMC postdoctoral scientist named HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow

Feb. 18, 2021—Valeria Reyes Ruiz, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has been selected as a 2020 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Key factors in HIV-1 replication

Feb. 8, 2021—HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, exploits inositol phosphates in T cells to aid its own assembly and maturation — suggesting that targeting inositol phosphate binding could inhibit HIV-1 replication.

Borden Lacy named director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Structural Biology

Jan. 11, 2021—Borden Lacy, Edward and Nancy Fody Chair in Pathology and professor of biochemistry and pathology, microbiology and immunology, has been named director of the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology, effective Jan. 1.

An Aedes japonicu mosquito rest on the water surface from which it just emerged.

Exploiting viral vulnerabilities

Dec. 10, 2020—The isolation of human monoclonal antibodies against dangerous viruses including EEEV, Hendra and Nipah could offer new ways to treat and prevent these infections.

Study details early events of inflammatory response

Dec. 10, 2020—Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have identified a key molecular player in the early events of the inflammatory response to infection. The findings suggest new therapeutic possibilities for enhancing the inflammatory response to protect against pathogens and for blocking inflammation gone awry in diseases like arthritis and atherosclerosis.

Frog peptides as anti-HIV microbicides

Nov. 2, 2020—Peptides derived from the antimicrobial peptides secreted by frogs could function as microbicides to limit HIV transmission, while sparing protective vaginal bacteria.

Early steps in reovirus replication

Oct. 6, 2020—Conformational change in a reovirus surface protein modulate the virus’s attachment to host cells, Vanderbilt researchers have found.