Our Impact

Using a new approach that combines data from human tumors grown in mice with data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, a team led by University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center researchers has uncovered several previously unknown biomarkers for glioblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor.

“Many patients are frustrated that they’ve had to try multiple therapies and still nothing is working well,” Allison Billi, M.D., Ph.D., says. “To be able to tell them that we’re working on a mouse that has the same disease as them, and that we need their help, brings out their motivation and interest in research.”

U-M researchers have discovered that the enzyme CPS1 can spur the body to prevent or repair acute liver injury in mice, which could be harnessed as a therapy or used as a biomarker to treat patients with liver damage.

A new multi-year, multi-disciplinary study examining Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) at the cellular level has found that two drugs reduced the development of blood clots in mice affected with the condition.

In a surprising finding, researchers from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have shown that knocking out NLRP6, a protein that plays a protective role in other diseases, led to better outcomes and less-severe symptoms after bone marrow transplants in mice.

To better understand the role that sleep plays in the formation of new memories, an international team of researchers designed a new study to monitor the brain activity of sleeping rats after they completed a new maze. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the team discovered that the process of ‘replay’ may help cellular consolidation and trigger memory transfer from the hippocampus to other brain regions.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, has occasionally been known to cause life-threatening infections. In a study published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, Michigan Medicine researchers share how mouse models helped them discover the important role that mitochondria play in supporting the immune system’s response against MRSA infection.

A new mouse study, published by U-M researchers in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, shows that bacteria in healthy lungs may play an important role in helping ward off disease.

A new University of Michigan study in mice reveals a new role for insulin in the control of fat production.

Thanks to a new mouse study, U-M researchers have discovered why stem cells become resistant to cancer treatment and are now developing therapies to combat this resistance.