Washington University
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have reached for the stars ? and seen what's inside. Argonne scientists, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Chicago, Washington University and the Universita di Torino in Italy, examined stardust from a meteorite and found remnants of now-extinct technetium atoms made in stars long ago. The stardust grains are tiny bits of stars that lived and died before the solar system formed. Each grain is many times smaller than the width of a human hair, and carries a chemical record of nuclear reactions in its parent star.
A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests two proteins work together in mice to prevent formation of brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. The proteins, apolipoprotein E (apoE) and clusterin, appear to act as "chaperones" orchestrating the clearance of potentially hazardous molecules out of the brain. Ironically, these proteins also have been implicated in a key stage of plaque formation.
Mice lacking only one copy of the gene for CD2-associated protein (CD2AP) appear to be significantly more susceptible to kidney disease and failure than normal mice. Moreover, the mutation appears to impair the elimination of proteins that accumulate in the kidney, a previously unidentified process.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have gained new insights into the causes of human deafness and balance disorders by studying the inner ear of chickens. The research provides new clues as to why birds can replace critical cells in the inner ear and humans cannot. Loss of these so-called sensory hair cells in humans is a leading cause of deafness and impaired balance due to aging, infectious disease and exposure to loud noise. The study will be published in the June 1 issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics and appears online today.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that terminally ill children with cancer who have neuropathic pain require more opioids during the final days of life than those without neuropathic pain. In addition, the team found preliminary evidence that a "cocktail" of several narcotics was significantly more effective at treating these patients than dramatically increasing the dosage of two commonly used opioids -- morphine and benzodiazepine.
What do wrinkles, hair growth and obesity have in common? All three may involve the same gene, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The team discovered that mice with a mutation in the gene that produces a protein already being investigated as a target for anti-obesity drugs fail to develop wrinkles or normal hair growth.
Researchers have completed sequencing the genome of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, one of the most prevalent bacteria that live in the human intestine. "Now that the draft sequence of the human genome is complete, it's critical that we study the environmental forces that regulate our gene expression," says principal investigator Jeffrey I. Gordon. "Humans enjoy mutually beneficial relationships with billions of bacteria that live in our gut. Discovering how these microbes manipulate our biology to benefit themselves and us should provide new insights about the foundations of our health and new therapeutic strategies for preventing or treating various diseases."
A procedure known as lung-volume reduction surgery (LVRS) appears to improve overall health and quality of life for individuals with end-stage emphysema, and these effects last as long as five years in more than half of this population, according to researchers in St. Louis.
"Evidence of the success of this surgery in patients with severe emphysema is overwhelming, and these latest findings confirm and underscore its potential for treating this critically ill population," said one of the lead researchers. "This publication represents a major, interdisciplinary team effort, which depended on expertise from a variety of areas, including pulmonary medicine, anesthesiology and nurse coordination."
Researchers have discovered a gene that appears to be critical for maintaining a healthy sense of balance in mice. The study, led by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears in the April 1 issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics and online March 24. "Loss of balance is a significant problem in the elderly because it can lead to dangerous falls and injuries," says one of the study's principal investigators, David M. Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine. "Loss of balance also is a problem for astronauts following exposure to zero gravity. Now that we've discovered this new gene, we can begin to understand the mechanisms that allow the body to sense gravity and maintain balance."
New data suggests that a novel molecule appears to be involved in the intestine's response to infection. The study was a collaboration between researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Institut Curie in Paris. "This is the first identified function for this molecule," says co-senior author Susan Gilfillan, Ph.D., research instructor in pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine. "Our findings suggest that this molecule may play a fundamental role in gut immunology."
Surveying patients who were screened for colorectal cancer, investigators at the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis found that most prefer "virtual" colonoscopy to traditional screening, but most had positive appraisals of both. Patients didn't, however, like the bowel preparation prior to either screening test.
A close relative of a common little-understood human virus that causes an estimated 23 million episodes of intestinal illness, 50,000 hospitalizations and 300 deaths each year has been discovered in mice. The finding by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is reported in the March 7 issue of the journal Science. Discovery of the new virus, known as murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), may lead to a better understanding of its disease-causing cousins known as Norwalk viruses, or human noroviruses (HNVs). HNVs cause 90 percent of epidemic viral gastroenteritis worldwide, including those that sweep through cruise ships, nursing homes and military encampments causing debilitating diarrhea and vomiting.
Genetic differences that prevent tiny blood vessels from relaxing may be one reason why some people have high blood pressure, or hypertension, according to research led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "These findings provide new insights into the cause of hypertension and how normal blood pressure is regulated," says lead investigator Kendall J. Blumer, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and physiology. "This may lead to a way of determining the underlying cause of a person's hypertension and the most effective treatment for that individual."
A drug called linezolid is more successful at treating a deadly form of pneumonia than the standard treatment, vancomycin, according to data presented Jan. 30 at the 32nd Critical Care Congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in San Antonio. These results are based on data from two identical phase III clinical trials comparing linezolid to vancomycin in the treatment of pneumonia cases that develop in the hospital.
A team of researchers has found that drugs commonly used to anesthetize children can cause brain damage and long-term learning and memory disturbances in infant rats. The researchers report their findings in the Feb. 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. "We frequently perform surgical procedures on children, including premature infants, and those procedures have become increasingly more complex and take longer to perform," says the study's lead author Vesna Jevtovic-Todorovic, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of Virginia Health System. "That means many pediatric patients are being exposed to anesthetic drugs more frequently and for longer periods of time. Our results would suggest that might be problematic."
