Areas of Research
The Department of Biochemistry is a multidisciplinary program in basic science that encompasses a wide-range of advanced research topics utilizing cutting edge approaches in cellular and molecular biochemistry. The research faculty of the Department
of Biochemistry is actively involved in one or more of the following major research areas:
Bone Biology and Skeletal Complications of Malignancies |
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The
Department of Biology has unique programs that bring together a focus on the molecular, cellular and genetic models to understand regulatory mechanisms for the formation and homeostasis of bone and cartilage. Mechanisms regulating
cell population in the MSK system are being addressed. Pathologic disorders currently being investigated include osteopetrosis, metastatic bone disease, chondrodysplasia related to dwarfism, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, and bone
loss related to age, embryonic malformations associated with disruption of signaling pathways and transcription factor networks. Analysis of bone tissue from humans and mouse models are supported by Core facilities that include genetic
and proteomic analysis, specialized histology, in vivo molecular imaging, scanning and electron microscopy and high resolution micro-computed tomography. | Jane Lian - Lab Jonathan Gordon - Lab Janet Stein - Lab Gary Stein - Lab |
Cancer Biology and Pathology |
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Many
cancers arise from defects in cell biology, including osteosarcoma and soft tissue sarcoma, leukemia and lymphoma, and carcinoma of the skin, liver, colon, breast and prostate. Research investigates cell growth regulation and the links
between dysregulated cell growth, cancer, and aging. Topics include genetic and epigenetic regulation of oncogenes and tumor suppressors, and other factors that regulate the cell cycle, mediate cell senescence, control chromosome segregation,
and govern cell motility. Links between chromatin structure and/or nuclear structure and tumorigenesis are being explored. | Christopher Berger - Lab Beth Bouchard - Lab Chris Francklyn - Lab Prachi Ghule - Lab Robert Hondal - Lab Robert Kelm - Lab Scott Morrical - Lab Erik Ruggles - Lab Gary Stein - Lab Janet Stein - Lab Russell Tracy - Lab
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Cellular Structure and Function |
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The
nucleus architecturally organizes nucleic acid metabolism. The DNA containing chromatin, an RNA containing nuclear matrix, and the nuclear lamina/envelope are interconnected structures. Subassemblies at their intersections spatially
organize DNA replication, RNA transcription, RNA processing, the packaging of DNA into active or silenced chromatin, and other processes. Changes in these structural inter-relationships are a major driver of disease, including
cancer and premature aging.
| Gary Stein - Lab Janet Stein - Lab Jane Lian - Lab Delphine Quenet - Lab
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Coagulation Biology and Disease |
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T he
Coagulation group (often referred to as ‘The Clotters’) is a large and close knit group of investigators who are studying all aspects of hemostasis. The work includes the identification, purification, kinetic characterization
and structure determination of new clotting factors & inhibitors, pseudo in-vivo functional studies, cascade modeling, the role of the platelet and the identification of genetic risk markers. The Department has held an NIH Training
Grant in Hemostasis for over 20 years to support both students and postdoctoral fellows. | Beth Bouchard - Lab Stephen Everse - Lab Robert Kelm - Lab Thomas Orfeo - Lab Jay Silveira - Lab Russell Tracy - Lab Paula Tracy - Lab |
Enzymology, Physical Biochemistry, and Structural Biology |
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Enzymes
touch virtually every aspect of biochemistry. How an enzyme recognizes a substrate, cleaves it, and releases it are complex problems requiring a multi-disciplinary approach to understand. Many labs in the Department are taking a quantitative
and/or structural approach to study enzymes in action. Research areas include: selenium containing enzymes, tRNA synthetases, enzymes and co-factors of the coagulation cascade, and DNA replication and recombination machines amongst
others. The Department of Biochemistry, as part of the UVM College of Medicine’s Structural Biology Initiative, has embarked on a major program to establish structural biology as a core research discipline on this campus. This
program has been facilitated by major grants to UVM from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and from the Department of Energy (DOE). Ongoing projects include X-ray structures of: iron binding proteins, blood clotting factors,
DNA-protein complexes involved in replication, recombination, and transcriptional regulation, and synthetase-tRNA complexes. | Beth Bouchard - Lab Christopher Berger - Lab Chris Francklyn - Lab Erik Ruggles - Lab Jay Silveira - Lab Paula Tracy - Lab Robert Hondal - Lab Robert Kelm - Lab Russell Tracy - Lab Saulius Butenas - Lab Scott Morrical - Lab Stephen Everse - Lab Thomas Orfeo - Lab |
Functional Nucleic Acid/Protein Interactions |
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How
is a DNA replication fork assembled and regulated? How does a synthetase discriminate among dozens of tRNA species to find its one specific partner? How are DNA double-strand breaks repaired? Understanding mechanisms of transcription,
translation, DNA replication, repair, and recombination are fundamentally important for predicting the stability or instability of genomes, for a molecular understanding of carcinogenesis, and for the design of new anti-tumor and anti-microbial
agents. These and other important issues are being addressed by Biochemistry Faculty with interests in Nucleic Acid/Protein Interactions. Experimental approaches employed include thermodynamic, kinetic, and structural studies of DNA-protein
and RNA-protein complexes, site directed mutagenesis of protein and nucleic acid components, plus biochemical assays for DNA synthesis, RNA synthesis, aminoacylation of tRNA, DNA recombination and repair. | Prachi Ghule - Lab Robert Kelm - Lab Scott Morrical - Lab Gary Stein - Lab Janet Stein - Lab Russell Tracy - Lab Delphine Quenet - Lab
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Genetic and Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms |
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The
complicated interplay between eukaryotic RNA polymerases, transcription factors, cofactors, histone modifying and ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes, and the structural proteins that comprise the chromatin ultimately results
in the appropriate regulation of transcription initiation and elongation. Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by mRNA stability and microRNA function brings an added level of complexity to gene regulation. | Jane Lian - Lab Jonathan Gordon - Lab Gary Stein - Lab Prachi Ghule - Lab Janet Stein - Lab Delphine Quenet - Lab
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