Author

Heme Biosynthesis is controlled by reversible feedback mechanism inside the mitochondrial matrix

Jan. 29, 2026—By Shelby A. Harris Heme is vital for life. It is needed for oxygen transport, drug detoxification, and many other biological functions. Regulation is key, too much or too little heme can cause a host of problems in the body. Aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS) is heme’s rate-limiting enzyme that functions by the condensation of glycine...

CSB Research Spotlight: Georgiev Lab—Developing antibody therapeutics against existing and emerging viral threats

Jan. 27, 2026—The Georgiev lab recently led a multi-institutional study, published in the journal Cell, that focused on the development of antibody therapeutics against existing and emerging viral threats, including RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and avian influenza viruses. The study showed that a protein language model could design functional human antibodies that recognized the unique antigen sequencies...

Egli awarded the Richard Armstrong Professorship of Innovation in Biochemistry

Jan. 8, 2026—Martin Egli, professor of biochemistry, has been awarded the Richard Armstrong Professorship of Innovation in Biochemistry. “Martin is an internationally recognized scholar and highly deserving of this honor,” said Biochemistry Department Chair David Cortez. Dr. Egli earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees in Chemistry from ETH Zurich and completed postdoctoral training at MIT in the...

Mechanistic insights into FX-909: a next-generation PPARγ inverse agonist

Dec. 11, 2025—By Cameron I. Cohen Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a nuclear receptor transcription factor which regulates the expression of genes involved in differentiation, metabolism, adipogenesis, and insulin sensitization. PPARγ consists of an N-terminal disordered activation domain (NTD), a central DNA-binding domain (DBD), and a C-terminal ligand-binding domain (LBD). The activation and repression of PPARγ...

Kate Clowes Moster wins the 2026 Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology

Nov. 13, 2025—By Karen Davis Congratulations to Kate Clowes Moster, of the Sanders lab, on being named the 2026 recipient of the Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology. “I’m really honored to be selected for the Karpay Award,” Clowes Moster said. Kate began her scientific journey in West Virginia, where she grew up fascinated with nature...

A new spin (label) on Alphafold2: DEERfold guides Alphafold2 modeling with DEER distance distributions

Nov. 6, 2025—By Shelby A. Harris No one can argue that the development of AlphaFold2 (AF2) has been one of the greatest achievements in the realm of protein structure prediction. However, AF2 has been plagued by two major limitations: (1) The quality of the predicted models depends on the quality of the multiple sequence alignment (MSA) input...

Sometimes space is a good thing: uncovering the structural determinants of cold adaptation in cellulases

Oct. 29, 2025—By Cameron I. Cohen Cellulases are enzymes responsible for the hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds in cellulose, a polysaccharide which serves as the main structural material in plant cell walls. The efficient breakdown of cellulose is therefore necessary in industries such as paper and pulp manufacturing, food and juice production, textile processing and biorefining. By 2026,...

Stopping cancer in its tracks: the discovery of a new pan-KRAS inhibitor

Oct. 16, 2025—By Cameron I. Cohen KRAS is an enzyme which, when active, binds effector proteins and results in the activation of downstream pathways involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Activating KRAS mutations are therefore common in many cancers, including cancers of the lung, colon, and pancreas, and are the most frequent drivers of malignancy. KRAS...

CSB Research Spotlight: Wankowicz Lab – From single snapshots to shapeshifting proteins

Sep. 29, 2025—A new collaborative project called diffUSE involving Vanderbilt University, Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco is advancing scientist’s understanding of protein motion. The Wankowicz lab is a primary contributor to the $5 million, three-year project led by the Astera Institute. The project uses diffuse scattering, an overlooked signal measured by X-ray crystallography,...

Isomerization insights: a deeper understanding of Pin1-PPARγ dynamics

Jul. 11, 2025—By Cameron I. Cohen Amino acid peptides can exist in cis and trans conformations, with most heavily favoring the latter. Proline, however, is unique among amino acids in that its peptide bonds can stably populate both conformations. The exchange, or isomerization, between cis and trans proline conformations is a relatively slow process which acts as...

« Previous Page