News: Signal Transduction and Chemical Biology Research Program

Changes in enzymes involved in lysophospholipid signaling can activate a pathway implicated in development of cancer, a recent study suggests.

Carlos F. Lopez, PhD, and colleagues propose a new “conveyor belt” mechanism for how cellular signaling is amplified, or strengthened, as signals are handed off from one enzyme to the next.

A recent study in Nature Communications reveals new insights about the function of the exocyst – a crucial cellular protein complex involved in vesicle trafficking.

A recent study reveals how cellular structures called ‘stress granules’ help cells evade death. The findings may lead to new strategies for improving the efficacy of cancer therapy.

A trans-institutional team of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University has received an $11 million Cancer Moonshot grant to build a single-cell resolution atlas to map out the routes that benign colonic polyps take to progress to colorectal cancer.

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a previously undetected type of histone modification that may have implications for cancer and other conditions.

The Sonic hedgehog protein plays a crucial role in the development of brain cells that may be the source of some types of pediatric brain tumors, a recent study reports.

A recent study on how cellular proteins known as “multidrug transporters” work may inform the development of novel anti-cancer and anti-bacterial drugs that can overcome resistance.

Many types of cancer cells escape the body’s effort to kill them by overexpressing MCL-1, a protein important for blocking apoptosis, or programmed cell death. A recent study by Vivian Gama, PhD and colleagues indicates that MCL-1 also helps maintain the identity and ability of stem cells to differentiate, or give rise to other kinds of cells. 

Boehringer Ingelheim and Vanderbilt University recently announced the expansion of their successful existing collaboration to develop novel anti-cancer compounds.