Newly identified protection mechanism serves as first responder to cellular stress
How a new type of rapid-response defense mechanism helps protect cells from environmental stress while giving slower, well-known protection systems time to act
Cryo-EM images reveal how key biological machine unfolds problem proteins
New cryo-EM research reveals 3-D snapshots of how a key biological machine unfolds a ribbon of protein through its central channel.
Scientists capture the first cryo-EM images of cellular target for Type 2 diabetes in action
Researchers have captured the first cryo-electron microscopy snapshots of a cellular target for Type 2 diabetes in action.
Roger Cone named vice provost, director of the biosciences initiative
LSI Director Roger Cone named to an additional role as the university's first vice provost and director of the biosciences initiative.
LSI welcomes new faculty member
The LSI is pleased to welcome structural biologist Michael Cianfrocco, Ph.D., to its faculty as an assistant research professor.
Figuring out how motor proteins know where to drop off their cargo
A new study sheds new light on how the motor protein myosin V knows where to release a yeast vacuole, when transporting it from the mother cell into a new bud.
Your muscles can 'taste' sugar, U-M research finds
An unexpected mechanism of glucose sensing in skeletal muscles contributes to the body’s overall regulation of blood sugar levels.
Ringing true: LSI scientists find solution to longstanding cell membrane puzzle
LSI researchers have developed a clear picture of a critical mechanism in the budding process that sends materials from the inside of the cell to far-flung places in the body.
LSI faculty member Alison Narayan receives first Klatskin-Sutker Discovery Fund award
The LSI's newest faculty member, Alison Narayan, Ph.D., is the first recipient of a Klatskin-Sutker Discovery Fund award, which will fuel the development of a library of bioactive molecules to support the search for new antibiotics, antivirals and anti-parasitic agents.
Stumping Iron
Postdoc Laura Mike, Ph.D., is targeting bacteria’s need to scavenge iron from its human host in order to survive.
Revised understanding of graft-versus-host disease origins offers new direction for potential therapies
An international research team is changing the understanding of the key cellular and molecular events that trigger graft-versus-host disease, an often-fatal complication of bone marrow transplants.
Personal Essay: A day in the life (of science)
Alicia Buisst recently toured the LSI with members of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Michigan, visiting to learn about the research of faculty member Ivan Maillard, whose work the society supports. In this personal essay, she connects the drive of basic science research to her journey as a blood cancer patient.
How does nature make it? Mapping cyanobacterial pathways in the search for new drugs
Researchers have mapped the complex chemistry involved in creating several types of bioactive compounds that are naturally produced inside bacteria.
Red light, green light: U-M research offers new insight about how a stem cell becomes a neuron
LSI scientists identified a molecular switch that triggers a stem cell’s progeny to commit to generating only differentiated cell types by giving up its “stemness.”
LSI Director Roger Cone named Asa Gray Collegiate Professor
LSI Director Roger Cone receives named professorship honoring the pioneering botanist Asa Gray.
A transcription factor runs through it
How fly fishing can help explain a new frontier of drug discovery
Tasting light: New type of photoreceptor is 50 times more efficient than the human eye
The new receptor protein has unusual characteristics that suggest potential future applications ranging from sunscreen to scientific research tools.
LSI scientist honored with Tsuneko and Reiji Okazaki Award
LSI faculty member Yukiko Yamashita, Ph.D., honored for her significant contributions to the field of biology
Good in small doses: Damaging chemicals may benefit brain, too
How chemicals that cause damaging oxidation to the nervous system may actually improve sensory function at low doses
U-M scientists develop a new strategy for inhibiting protein-protein interactions
Researchers blocked the dysregulated signaling associated with a 'master transcription factor,' which controls many different cellular decisions, without compromising its other biologically important functions.
Two U-Michigan faculty elected to prestigious National Academy of Medicine
LSI Director Roger Cone is among the new members of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
Transcription factor can stifle breast cancer suppressing gene
A transcription factor known as Snail1 can act as a “molecular bypass” that diminishes the natural tumor suppressing action of a gene called p53 in breast cancer patients.
Journey to Nepal: a story of science and family
David Sherman and his daughter traveled to Nepal in the search for microbes that produce beneficial molecules.
Targeting transcription: LSI researchers pursue new avenue for therapeutics
LSI researchers are breaking new ground in scientists’ quest to develop drugs that can target DNA transcription, which is dysregulated in a variety of diseases from cancer to diabetes.