Case Western Reserve University

Biochemistry faculty utilize state of the art techniques and animal models to address how dysregulation of cell survival, cell division, metabolism and chromatin organization contribute to tumor development and progression. Unraveling the complexities of the pathways that trigger tumor initiation and progression is an essential step towards the development of effective therapies for cancer patients.

Loss of metabolic homeostasis, frequently associated with a western diet and obesity, is an increasing health risk and is known to contribute to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Faculty utilize approaches including structural biology, genomics, and animal models to define mechanistic insights that link altered metabolism with disease.

Proper gene expression is essential for the homeostasis of cells and organism. Mechanistic insights that emerge from the analysis of chromatin organization and dynamics, epigenetic and transcriptional control in normal versus disease settings will be the foundation for how biochemistry faculty address solve paradigms that limit our understanding of biochemical and cellular processes.

Examination of synthesis, stability and biophysical properties of RNA is central activity of Biochemistry faculty. Our faculty investigate the properties of both the RNA molecules as well as the proteins that determine RNA fate.

To understand the functions of proteins and how this pertains to disease, it is necessary to frame function in the context of protein structure. The Biochemistry faculty use structural biology techniques along with complementary biophysical and molecular biology methods to investigate protein structure-function relationships. These studies are aimed at understanding normal functions in healthy cells, revealing mechanisms of disease, and discovering new small molecule ligands to inhibit or enhance protein function.