Congratulations to Dr. Mary Napier, Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, who is a recipient of a 2012 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award.

The left panel illustrates the structure of a metal-binding RNA. Each nucleotide is colored according to its experimentally-determined exposure to the outside solvent. Blue nucleotides tend to be buried inside the structure, and red nucleotides are mostly

Dokholyan lab researchers publish a paper in the April 16, 2012 issue of Nature Methods demonstrating the structure and function of RNA molecules and paving the way to develop targets for new therapeutics.

Do you need peptides synthesized? Peptide antigens for antibody production? Or even specialized peptide libraries? -- The UNC High Throughput Peptide Synthesis and Array Facility can help!

Congratulations to Dr. Parise who will become an Associate Editor of Blood, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Hematology, effective January 2013 for a four-year term.

Congratulations to Dr. Rinku Majumder, Research Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, who receives a UNC Junior Faculty Research Award.

Dokholyan lab has a cover story in the December 7, 2011 issue of Structure. Dagliyan et al. present a rapid molecular dynamics-based approach to reveal the mechanism of protein-peptide recognition. The authors find that the peptide, rather than the protein, undergoes an induced fit, and that electrostatic interactions guide the peptide toward the binding region.

Congratulations to Dr. Julia Brittain, Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, who was recently selected to the Editorial Board for the publication World Journal of Hematology.

Congratulations to Dr. Henrik Dohlman, Professor & Vice-Chair of Biochemistry & Biophysics, who was elected as a 2011 AAAS fellow.

Circadian control of skin cancer. Image courtesy of Marian Miller (University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH). Upper left quadrant: Hourtide by Edward Henry Potthast, 1920; Lower left quadrant: Sleeping Woman by Felix Valloton, 1899.

Exposure to UV radiation triggers DNA lesions that can lead to skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in the United States. Previous studies in mice have shown that levels of a protein called XPA, involved in repairing UV-induced DNA lesions, waxes and wanes with the time of day. Shobhan Gaddameedhi et al. found that the protein's level and activity in mouse skin cells are at their lowest at 4 AM and their highest at 4PM.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Boise State University have been named partners in one of five US centers that will use genetic data to search for proteins that are abnormally made by cancer cells. The partnerships form the new Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

From the cover of JBC issue July 22, 2011

On the JBC Cover: The circadian clock is the internal timekeeping molecular system that generates a daily rhythm in an organism's physiology and behavior.

Finding published in the July 21, 2011 issue of Science shows that researchers from the UNC School of Medicine have discovered the seventh and eighth bases of DNA.

Tag: Faculty & Lab News

Mary Napier receives a Massey Award for Distinguished Service

Three-dimensional RNA modeling opens scientific doors

Open for business: UNC High Throughput Peptide Synthesis and Array Facility

Leslie Parise nominated as a new Associate Editor of Blood

Rinku Majumder receives a UNC Research Council Award

Dokholyan lab featured on the cover of Structure

Julia Brittain Selected to the Editorial Board of the World Journal of Hematology

Henrik Dohlman elected as a 2011 AAAS Fellow

Sancar lab featured on “In This Issue” of PNAS, published on November 15, 2011

National Cancer Institute-funded center to study proteins for better cancer diagnosis, treatment

Sancar lab featured on the cover of JBC published on July 22, 2011

Yi Zhang Lab identifies seventh and eighth bases of DNA