News

Nov. 2, 2022 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Central| Free registration required

The ASBMB Career Expo aims to highlight the diversity of career choices available to modern biomedical researchers. No matter your career stage, this virtual event will provide a plethora of career options for you to explore while simultaneously connecting you with knowledgeable professionals in these careers.

Each 60-minute session will focus on a different career path and will feature breakout rooms with a range of professionals in those paths. Attendees can choose to meet in a small group with a single professional for the entire session or move freely between breakout rooms to sample advice from multiple professionals.

Sessions will feature the following five sectors: industry, government, science communication, science policy, and other.

Hepatitis C virus non-structural protein NS3 unfolds viral G-quadruplex RNA structures.
Belachew B, Gao J, Byrd AK, Raney KD.
J Biol Chem.

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Anti-glioblastoma activity of monensin and its analogs in an organoid model of cancer.
Urbaniak A, Reed MR, Heflin B, Gaydos J, Piña-Oviedo S, Jędrzejczyk M, Klejborowska G, Stępczyńska N, Chambers TC, Tackett AJ, Rodriguez A, Huczyński A, Eoff RL, MacNicol AM.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2022

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Small molecule SJ572946 activates BAK to initiate apoptosis.
Sekar G, Singh G, Qin X, Guibao CD, Schwam B, Inde Z, Grace CR, Zhang W, Slavish PJ, Lin W, Chen T, Lee RE, Rankovic Z, Sarosiek K, Moldoveanu T.
iScience. 2022

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Improving Risk Assessment for Metastatic Disease in Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer Patients Using Molecular and Clinical Features: An NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group Study.
Casablanca Y, Wang G, Lankes HA, Tian C, Bateman NW, Miller CR, Chappell NP, Havrilesky LJ, Wallace AH, Ramirez NC, Miller DS, Oliver J, Mitchell D, Litzi T, Blanton BE, Lowery WJ, Risinger JI, Hamilton CA, Phippen NT, Conrads TP, Mutch D, Moxley K, Lee RB, Backes F, Birrer MJ, Darcy KM, Maxwell GL.
Cancers (Basel).

Doctor of Philosophy students who passed their candidacy exams in the last year received their white coats at the Graduate School Research Induction Ceremony. Students from the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department who received their white coats were Clara Stiefel and Jessica Kelliher, both mentored by Justin Leung, Ph.D., Matthew Thompson, mentored by Alicia Byrd, Ph.D., Haven Griffin, mentored by Giulia Baldini, M.D., Ph.D., and Jake Edmonson, mentored by Alan Tackett, Ph.D. and Brian Koss, Ph.D. Congratulations to all!

Similar 5F-APINACA Metabolism between CD-1 Mouse and Human Liver Microsomes Involves Different P450 Cytochromes.
Crosby SV, Ahmed IY, Osborn LR, Wang Z, Schleiff MA, Fantegrossi WE, Nagar S, Prather PL, Boysen G, Miller GP.
Metabolites.

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Monitoring helicase-catalyzed unwinding of multiple duplexes simultaneously.
Thompson MD, Malone EG, Byrd AK.
Methods Enzymol.

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Alignment of helicases on single-stranded DNA increases activity.
Ozaslan D, Byrd AK, Belachew B, Raney KD.
Methods Enzymol.

Targeting a Novel G-Quadruplex in the CARD11 Oncogene Promoter with Naptho(2,1-b)furan-1-ethanol,2-nitro- Requires the Nitro Group.
Swafford K, Acharya B, Xu YZ, Raney T, McCrury M, Saha D, Frett B, Kendrick S.
Genes (Basel).

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Adaptive Control of the Meiotic Recombination Landscape by DNA Site-dependent Hotspots With Implications for Evolution.
Protacio RU, Davidson MK, Wahls WP.
Front Genet.

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Bioactivation and Reactivity Research Advances – 2021 year in review.
Jackson KD, Argikar UA, Cho S, Crouch RD, Driscoll JP, Heck C, King L, Maw HH, Miller GP, Seneviratne HK, Wang S, Wei C, Zhang D, Khojasteh SC.
Drug Metab Rev.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $11.5 million in Phase II funding to the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute based on the successes of the Center for Translational Pediatric Research, established five years ago under the leadership of Alan Tackett, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The center applies a cutting-edge systems biology approach to understand how diseases like cancer form in children’s developing bodies. Read More

A 2019 paper in the Journal of Endocrinology by Dr. Giulia Baldini, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Dr. Kevin Phelan, Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, continues to provide obesity researchers with important insights and context. Their review article, “The melanocortin pathway and control of appetite-progress and therapeutic implications,” was one of the most highly cited articles in the Journal of Endocrinology in 2021 and is now being showcased in the journal’s Impact Factor Collection. Congratulations, Dr. Baldini and Dr. Phelan!

Congratulations to Drs. Reine Protacio, Tresor Mukiza, Mari Davidson and Wayne Wahls in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The significance of their recent Genetics paper on the plasticity of meiotic recombination – a component of evolution of species – was just highlighted in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Genetics. These accolades were featured with top billing on the home page of the journal and will appear in the August print issue (volume 23, issue 8).  The discoveries made by Protacio et al. were also the topic of an invited perspective article in Frontiers in Genetics.

Dr. Kevin Raney, Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, notes that this is the tenth time that a scientific publication from Dr. Wahls’ laboratory has been discussed in a commentary, editorial, highlight or editors’ choice of top papers published during the year. “This is a remarkable achievement,” said Dr. Raney. “It reflects the sustained high quality of fundamental, basic science research conducted by a group of talented UAMS scientists.”

The Wahls laboratory uses a model experimental organism, fission yeast, to discover mechanisms for chromosome dynamics in meiosis, which is an essential component of the sexual life cycle of eukaryotes. Their research has provided insight into how chromosomes are transmitted faithfully between generations, how genetic recombination is positioned within genomes, and how meiotic processes contribute to the evolution of species.

Research in the Wahls laboratory is currently supported by a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which is the basic sciences institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Reine U. Protacio, Mari K. Davidson and Wayne P. Wahls. Adaptive Control of the Meiotic Recombination Landscape by DNA Site-dependent Hotspots With Implications for Evolution. Front. Genet.

SURF students presented their research at the Mid-Summer Symposium.