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Chuan He, PhD is Recpient of Fall 2011 CBC Catalyst Award
Chuan He, PhD (University of Chicago) and Jung-Hyun Min, PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago) are recipients of the Fall 2011 CBC Catalyst Award for their project: Capturing Kinetically Labile Protein Assemblies on DNA.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences Reorganizes
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health that supports basic research and research training, has established two new divisions. Each will administer existing NIGMS programs along with programs transferred to NIGMS from the former NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).
Three Faculty Receive Center Pilot Awards
Michael Rust, Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Core Faculty Member in the Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology (IGSB) at the University of Chicago, received a 2011 CCSB pilot award to support his project, “Robust Biological Oscillators Generated by Interlocked Transcriptional and Post-Translational Networks: A Systems Analysis.” He joins two other systems biologists who received CCSB pilot awards in 2010. They are Richard Jones, Assistant Professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research and Core Faculty Member of the IGSB at the University of Chicago and Ravi Allada, Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology at Northwestern University. Dr. Jones’ project is “Probing the Molecular Mechanisms of the Robust EDF-Mediated Transcriptional Response in Cancer Cells.” Dr. Allada’s project is “Transcriptional Regulatory Network Sensitivity, Stability, and Robustness in Drosophila Circadian Clocks: Solving the Mystery of Temperature Compensation.”
DNA repair protein caught in act of molecular theft
CCSB investigator Dr. Chuan He and his colleagues at UChicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have observed, for the first time, an intermediate stage in the chemical process that repairs DNA methylation damage and regulates many important biological functions that impact health conditions such as obesity, cancer and diabetes.
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New research technology to target human gut bacteria
CCSB investigator Dr. Rustem Isamgilov, professor in chemistry at the University of Chicago, is leading a team of scientists that has received a $1.1 million grant to conduct research as part of the Human Microbiome Project.
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'Programming' Sherlock Holmes not so elementary
Andrey Rzhetsky finds inspiration in Holmes, who used penetrating powers of reasoning to make the most of diverse and seemingly trivial pieces of evidence that other detectives ignored. With the help of a two-year $1,211,000 National Institutes of Health grant, the co-Principal Investigator proposes to develop automated methods to harvest, synthesize and compare scientific theories and research results, especially minority opinions or unpublished hypothesis.
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Chicago Cancer Genome Project studies genetics of 1,000 tumors
Over the past year, working closely with physicians, the CCSB team collected complete sequence data for genes expressed by 100 tumors―primarily breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and leukemia. Correlating genetic data with patient outcomes, they have begun to identify genetic patterns within tumors that may help them predict how a cancer will behave. Many experts believe such information will increasingly guide treatment.
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A new study led by CCSB Director Kevin White could lead researchers to a new set of drug targets for treating breast cancer
The most common forms of breast cancer are fueled by the female hormone estrogen. By comparing the effects of estrogen and retinoic acid on the entire genome, the researchers found that they have a "yin-yang" effect. They alter the expression of many of the same genes, with estrogen tipping the scales towards cell proliferation and retinoic acid restoring the balance by inhibiting cellular growth.
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CCSB investigator Richard Carthew demonstrates that a microRNA called miR-7 is critical to the robustness of the molecular network that helps regulate uniformity
In a study of Drosophila, when the researchers eliminated miR-7, the networks remained intact but only under uniform environmental conditions. When the researchers perturbed the environment by modulating the temperature, the networks failed to keep things intact, and animals suffered from developmental defects. If the microRNA was present, however, the networks resisted the temperature fluctuation, and animals were normal and healthy. Read more »
CCSB investigator John Reinitz demonstrates that developing fruit fly embryos are capable of error corrections
Animals have an astonishing ability to develop reliably, in spite of variable conditions during embryogenesis. New research, published in parallel this week in PLoS Biology and PLoS Computational Biology, addresses how living things can develop into precise, adult forms when there is so much variation present during their development stages. A team led by John Reinitz at Stony Brook University, and funded by the National Institutes of Health, shows how fruit fly embryos can "forget" initial incorrect versions of their body plan and develop into recognizable adult flies. Read more »
A New Study Led by CCSB Director Kevin White Could Speed Detection of Kidney Cancer
Roadkill study could speed detection of kidney cancer
Large-scale data mining of gene networks in fruit flies has led researchers to a sensitive and specific diagnostic biomarker for human renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer. In the journal Science, published early online January 22, a team based at the University of Chicago led by Dr. White shows that the biomarker known as SPOP is produced by 99 percent of clear cell renal cell carcinomas but not by normal kidney tissue. Read more »
CCSB investigators demonstrate that in C. elegans, the heat shock response of somatic cells is not cell-autonomous but rather depends on the thermosensory neuron
Article available for download:
Regulation of the cellular heat shock response in Caenorhabditis elegans by thermosensory neurons
CCSB Director and Principal Investigator Dr. Kevin White make notable “Under 40” lists
Life begins at 40. For a fortunate, capable few, life gets rolling sooner. Two of them, Kevin White and Jonathan Pritchard, both 37 and members of the Department of Human Genetics, have been singled out for getting ahead of the numbers.
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