BMB Weekly #19: May 9, 2025

 

Micro metal-movers: MSU biochemists are one step closer to better cancer treatments   Featuring Hu and Merz Groups. Read the full article here.

 

 

 

 

What can art tell us about the relationship between plants and humans? Join Maeve Bassett, Applied Ethnobotanist and Education Director of the Beal Botanical Garden, for an immersive tour unearthing the historical, social, and political narratives growing within works of art from the MSU Broad Art Museum's collection. Registration for this free tour is encouraged. Learn more and register here.

Should people trust science more? In the face of political attacks on scientific institutions, many leaders in science education have called for a renewed focus on “trusting science.” In this talk, Dr. Weeth Feinstein will take a closer look at the idea of 'trust in science', starting with an appraisal of the context: What cultural and historical factors define the social atmosphere in which science education is done today? Please consider presenting a poster of your work! Learn more and register here.

The ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar series offers a window into the cutting-edge biochemistry and molecular biology research driving discovery. Plants are remarkable chemical factories, producing specialized metabolites like phenolic compounds that aid in environmental adaptation and act as major carbon sinks. This presentation focuses on the biosynthesis and regulation of flavonoids and phenylpropanoids (two phenolic compound classes) in maize and other plants. Grotewold will explore how natural variation in metabolite accumulation drives pathway discovery and discuss gene regulatory mechanisms linked to variations in metabolite levels. Finally, he will highlight unexpected biological activities of flavonoid pathway intermediates, offering new insights into their roles beyond the conventional functions of the resulting flavonoid pigments. Registration is required. Learn more and register here.

This interdisciplinary research forum will explore trends in research on heat stress through a series of presentations by experts in the field, followed by networking time. Discuss emerging trends across academic disciplines and share insights for further innovation at MSU. Learn more and register here.

Enjoy an engaging presentation from an MSU professor in the unique space of the Erickson Kiva on Thursday, May 15. The Mid- Michigan Spartans are pleased to feature MSU Professor of Education Policy Josh Cowen as he offers relevant and researched insights on the public’s role in ensuring our education, health care, retirement and job infrastructure remains strong. Learn more and register here.

 

 

MSU IT Educational Technology is offering a lineup of resources in May that highlight D2L Brightspace and educational tips. Additionally, save the date for the MSU Campus Technology Summit, held June 2-5, 2025. This event aims to familiarize instructors, staff, and students with campus technologies supporting teaching and learning. Interested in attending? You can register for the MSU Educational Technology Summit here.

You can find the latest department news over on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Give us a follow and be sure to tag us with research updates, publications, and lab updates to help spread the word!

Hot off the press! The second University Health and Wellbeing Annual Report is now available! Explore the latest insights on how health and wellbeing was advanced on campus and delivered positive impact for the Spartan community in 2024.

The MSU Student Food Bank is a resource available to students and scholars who may be experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank provides free food and other essential items to those in need within our MSU community. Learn more here.

 

 

 

Ölander, M., Rea Vázquez, D., Meier, K., Singh, A., Silva de Sousa, A., Puértolas-Balint, F., Milivojevic, M., Mooij, L., Fredlund, J., Calpe Bosch, E., Rayón Díaz, M., Lundgren, M., van der Wal, K., Zhu, S., Mateus, A., Schroeder, B. O., Lohman, J. R., & Sixt, B. S. (2025). A multi-strategy antimicrobial discovery approach reveals new ways to treat Chlamydia. PLoS biology, 23(4), e3003123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003123

Mardikoraem, M., Eaves, J. N., Belecciu, T., Pascual, N., Aljets, A., Hagenbuch, B., Shapiro, E. M., Orlando, B. J., & Woldring, D. R. (2025). Predicting inhibitors of OATP1B1 via heterogeneous OATP-ligand interaction graph neural network (HOLIgraph). Journal of cheminformatics, 17(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13321-025-01020-5

Jiang N, Grotewold E. Flavonoids and Derived Anthocyanin Pigments in Plants-Structure, Distribution, Function, and Methods for Quantification and Characterization. Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2025 May 5;2025(5):pdb.top108516. doi: 10.1101/pdb.top108516. PMID: 39187304.

Jiang, N., Gomez, L., & Grotewold, E. (2025). Extraction and Quantification of Total Anthocyanins, Determination of Anthocyanidin Core Structures, and Characterization of Specific Anthocyanins from Maize. Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 2025(5), pdb.prot108577. https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot108577

Hagar, H. T., Fernandez-Vega, V., Wang, K. W., Jordan, L. M. O., Shumate, J., Scampavia, L., Tapayan, A. S., Nguyen, H. M., Spicer, T. P., & Kuo, M. H. (2025). Hyperphosphorylated tau-based Alzheimer's Disease drug discovery: Identification of inhibitors of tau aggregation and cytotoxicity. SLAS discovery : advancing life sciences R & D, 33, 100235. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.slasd.2025.100235

Gomez, L., Jiang, N., & Grotewold, E. (2025). Extraction and Quantification of Phenolic Compounds in Maize. Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 2025(5), pdb.prot108576. https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot108576

Chatterjee, S., Rankin, J. A., Farrugia, M. A., J S Rifayee, S. B., Christov, C. Z., Hu, J., & Hausinger, R. P. (2025). Biochemical, Structural, and Conformational Characterization of a Fungal Ethylene-Forming Enzyme. Biochemistry, 64(9), 2054–2067. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.5c00038

 

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 58, No.19