When F-actin binds vinculin, actin flow rate is slowed and the cell can move forward. When vinculin is impaired in F-actin binding, F-actin does not engage the focal adhesion and actin retrograde flow increases.

Researchers at UNC and NIH have defined the role of the protein vinculin in enabling cell movement in a paper published in the JCB,

Dr. Wolfgang Bergmeier is the recipient of the Investigator Recognition Award at the 16th Biennial Awards for Contributions to Haemostasis (BACH) from the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH).

Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Parise, Professor and Chair of Biochemistry & Biophysics, who has been elected as chair of the Federal Issues Subcommittee of Public Affairs Advisory Committee for ASBMB.

Research in the Strahl lab helps to piece together how the 'histone code' contributes to chromatin regulation. Image credit: Scott Rothbart, PhD.

New research from the lab of Dr. Brian Strahl, associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has shown how a protein called UHRF1 “reads” the histone code in a specific way to perform an important cellular function.

Congratulations to Dr. Henrik Dohlman who will become an Associate Editor of Journal of Biological Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal, effective July 2013 for a five-year term.

At top is a structural model of uniRapR domain which binds small molecule rapamycin. The bottom left depicts inactive state of the protein of interest modified with uniRapR domain. Binding of rapamycin and uniRapR reactivates the protein (bottom right).

In the first application of this approach, the UNC researchers showed how a protein called Src kinase influences the way cells extend and move, a previously unknown role that is consistent with the protein’s ties to tumor progression and metastasis.

Congratulations to Biochemistry and Biophysics faculty Brian Kuhlman who was promoted from associate professor to full professor effective March 1, 2013.

Three scientists at the UNC-CH (Marcey Waters, Brian Strahl, Xian Chen) have received a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation’s Medical Research Program to study a widespread but largely unexplored phenomenon that may be implicated in many diseases, including cancer.

Congratulations to Dr. Qi Zhang, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, who has received the 2013 Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award from the March of Dimes Foundation.

The protein Ras plays an important role in cellular growth control. Researchers have focused on the protein because mutations in its gene are found in more than 30 percent of all cancers, making it the most prevalent human oncogene.

PCLS utilizing a group of amino acids to engage with a chemical marker that signals gene activation

Research from the Wang and Strahl labs has shed new light on how epigenetic signals may function together to determine the ultimate fate of a stem cell.

Congratulations to Dr. Charles Carter, Jr., Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, who was elected as a 2012 AAAS fellow.

Tag: Faculty & Lab News

NIH and UNC Researchers Define Role of Protein Vinculin in Cell Movement

Bergmeier receives the BACH Investigator Recognition Award from ISTH

Parise elected as the Federal Issues Subcommittee chair for the PAAC of ASBMB

Researchers in the Strahl lab identify another piece of the “histone code” puzzle

Dohlman selected as JBC associate editor

UNC researchers engineer ‘protein switch’ to dissect role of cancer’s key players

Kuhlman Promoted to Full Professor

UNC scientists awarded $1 million to develop new tools to study the protein methylome

Zhang awarded March of Dimes Starter Scholar award

New mechanism for cancer progression discovered by UNC and Harvard researchers

Wang discovers information from outside the genome influences stem cell differentiation, cancer development

Charles Carter elected as 2012 AAAS Fellow