Molecular Biology Ph.D. Program // CU Anschutz

Congratulations to Molecular Biology Program faculty member Tânia Reis for being elected to the Board of Directors of the Genetics Society of America!

T32-appointee Kate Matlin, with Christopher Alderman and Art Wolin (who both earned their PhDs this year), are co-authors on a preprint
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

EYA3 regulation of NF-κB and CCL2 suppresses cytotoxic NK cells in the premetastatic niche to promote TNBC metastasis EYA3 promotes evasion of cytotoxic NK cells to enable metastasis, highlighting a therapeutic target in metastatic breast cancer.

Kaiah Fields, Annika Gustafson, and Art Wolin (who earned his PhD this year) are co-authors on a research article
doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Advanced Age Worsens Respiratory Function and Pulmonary Inflammation After Burn Injury and This Correlates With Changes in the Fecal Microbiome in Mice Abstract. Cutaneous burn injury in the elderly is associated with poor clinical outcomes and increased pulmonary-related complications. We and others have

Roy Khair, who also earned his PhD this year, is a co-author on a research article
doi.org/10.1093/jbcr...

Post-burn Lung Inflammation Is Associated With Induction of Pulmonary Cathelicidin-related Antimicrobial Peptide and S100a8 in Mice Abstract. Burn trauma triggers dysregulated systemic inflammation, leading to multiorgan dysfunction. Respiratory failure often follows burn injury, result

Roy Khair, who also earned his PhD this year, is first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1093/jbcr...

Wild yeast isolation by middle-school students reveals features of populations residing on North American oaks Abstract. Features of the natural life cycle of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were crucial to its domestication as a laboratory experimental m

Randi Yeager, who earned her PhD in 2023, is first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1093/g3jo...

Frontiers | Micro- and nano-plastics induce inflammation and cell death in human cells IntroductionThe presence of micro- and nano-plastics (MNPLs) in the environment has increased significantly in the past decades. However, the direct impact o...

Rachael Kostelecky, a T32 appointee, is a co-author on another research article
doi.org/10.3389/fimm...

E. coli genetically modified for purine nucleobase release promotes butyrate generation and colonic wound healing during DSS insult The gut microbiota transforms energy stored as undigestible carbohydrates into a remarkable number of metabolites that fuel intestinal bacterial communities and the host tissue. Colonic epithelial ...

Rachael Kostelecky, a T32 appointee, is a co-author on a research article
doi.org/10.1080/1949...

Rachel Sachs, one of our Bolie Scholars, is first author on a preprint
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Nate Nowling is a co-author on a review article
doi.org/10.1042/BCJ2...

Nate Nowling is a co-author on a preprint
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Natasia Paukovich, who also earned her PhD this year, is first author on a research article, on which MOLB student Nate Nowling is a co-author
doi.org/10.1016/j.jb...

Stepwise order in protein complex assembly: approaches and emerging themes | Open Biology Protein-based nanomachines drive every cellular process. An explosion of high-resolution structures of multiprotein complexes has improved our understanding of what these machines look like and how th...

Michael Brown is first author on a review article
doi.org/10.1098/rsob...

Luuli Tran, who also earned her PhD this year, is a co-author on a research article
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Luuli Tran, who also earned her PhD this year, is first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1101/gad....

αβ-tubulin heterodimers: Origins and regulation of microtubule build blocks | Molecular Biology of the Cell αβ-tubulin is an essential protein that is found in all eukaryotic cells. αβ-tubulins assemble into microtubule polymers that form intracellular transport networks, mitotic and meiotic spindles and pr...

Linnea Wethekam, who earned her PhD in 2023, is first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1091/mbc....

Kirsten Cosper is a co-author on a preprint
doi.org/10.1101/2024...

Charlie Moffatt is first author on a preprint, and Katie Vaeth is a co-author
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Katie Vaeth is a co-author on a research article on which Roberto Castro-Gutierrez, who earned his PhD in 2022, is first author
doi.org/10.3390/cell...

Rab40 GTPases regulate AMBRA1-mediated transcription and cell migration Summary: Rab40 GTPases interact with AMBRA1 and cause its non-degradative ubiquitylation. AMBRA1 regulates cancer cell migration, and RNA sequencing reveals global gene profiles regulated by AMBRA1.

Katie Vaeth co-authored a research article
doi.org/10.1242/jcs....

Katie Vaeth and T32 appointee Kate Matlin co-authored a research article
doi.org/10.1158/1541...

Kathryn Walters, who also earned her PhD this year, was first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Proteogenomic Discovery of Novel Open Reading Frames With HLA Immune Presentation on Human β-Cells Ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) measures translational regulation and reveals novel or unannotated open reading frames (nuORFs) otherwise difficult to identi

Kathryn Walters, who also earned her PhD this year, was first author on a research article also co-authored by MOLB student Roberto Castro-Gutierrez (who earned his PhD in 2022)
doi.org/10.2337/db24...

Masters of adaptation: How cancer and immune cell plasticity mediates tumor progression The ability of cancer cells and immune cells cell to dynamically change their phenotype contributes to tumor progression and therapy resistance. This Essay explores the mutual plasticity of various ce...

Kaiah Fields co-authored a review article
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

The RNA-binding protein HNRNPA2B1 regulates neurite RNA abundance and motor-dependent cargo transport | Molecular Biology of the Cell RNA molecules are localized to subcellular regions through interactions between localization-regulatory cis-elements and trans-acting RNA binding proteins (RBPs). However, the identities of RNAs whose...

Joelle Lo, who earned her PhD in 2024, was first author on a research article also co-authored by MOLB students Katie Vaeth and Camille Goo
doi.org/10.1091/mbc....

A specific gene expression program underlies antigen archiving by lymphatic endothelial cells in mammalian lymph nodes - Nature Communications Dendritic cells are supplied antigens by other cells such as lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) at late time points after immunization. Here the authors show antigen archiving is defined by a transcrip...

Ira Fleming co-authored a research article
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Quantification of subcellular RNA localization through direct detection of RNA oxidation Abstract. Across cell types and organisms, thousands of RNAs display asymmetric subcellular distributions. Studying this process requires quantifying abund

Grant Lo, who earned his PhD in 2024, was first author on a research article also co-authored by MOLB students Rae Goering (who earned her PhD in 2022), Joelle Lo (who earned her PhD in 2024), and Megan Pockalny
doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

A quadratic paradigm describes the relationship between phenotype severity and variation - Nature Communications Phenotype variation is higher in mutants than wild types. Examining a range of mutant severities, this study unexpectedly found that variation decreases in severe conditions. A quadratic trend best fi...

Grace Gustafson and Raisa Bailon-Zambrano (who earned her PhD in 2024) were co-authors on a research article
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Giovana Breda Veronezi, who also earned her PhD this year, co-authored a review article
doi.org/10.1042/BCJ2...

Giovana Breda Veronezi, who also earned her PhD this year, was first author on a research article
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...