This is the twice-per-month electronic newsletter for basic, preclinical and translational research news related to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Please forward freely. Direct comments or questions to Joanna Downer, PhD, in the Office of Corporate Communications (4-5105, jdowner1@jhmi.edu).
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IN THIS ISSUE:
+ Similar Genetic Origins Possible for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
+ Johns Hopkins and ATCC Form Collaboration
+ Nevirapine Effectively Reduces HIV Transmission from Mom to Baby
NEWS BRIEFS:
Half-Day Seminar Oct. 7 on Improving Animal Research
Colwell Lecture Rescheduled for Oct. 8
University-Wide Conflict of Interest Training Deadline Oct. 31
AWARDS AND HONORS:
Hildreth Receives Visionary Research Award
Yasui and Agre Win Research Prize
Do you have an interesting research finding about one month from publication or presentation? Send manuscripts to Joanna Downer at jdowner1@jhmi.edu or fax to 410-614-8951. Information about awards and honors received by laboratory personnel and others is welcomed also.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
9/6/03
Similar Genetic Origins Possible for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, University of Cambridge and the Stanley Medical Research Institute appears to offer the first hard evidence that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may have similar genetic roots.
The researchers, writing in the Sept. 6 issue of The Lancet, trace the disorders to reduced expression of the genes responsible for myelin development in brain cells called oligodendrocytes. Myelin sheaths insulate nerve cells, enabling them to safely conduct electric signals between the brain and other parts of the body.
"The expression profiles of most known oligodendrocyte-specific and myelin-associated genes were greatly reduced, and several transcription factors known to coordinate myelin gene expression showed corresponding changes," says the study's co-author, Robert Yolken, MD, a neurovirologist at the Children's Center. "These results provide strong evidence for oligodendrocyte and myelin dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder."
Yolken says the reason for this dysfunction is not known. For the study, the researchers evaluated expression of myelin-associated genes in the preserved brains of 15 people with schizophrenia, 15 with bipolar disorder and 15 controls.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/September/030909.htm
Lancet 2003 Sept 6;362(9386):798-805
This article can be accessed online, from a Johns Hopkins computer, via the Lancet link.
9/11/03
Johns Hopkins and ATCC Form Collaboration
In an unusual collaboration, The Johns Hopkins University and the non-profit American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) have established the Johns Hopkins Special Collection, an ever-expanding set of biological materials developed at Johns Hopkins that will now be more readily available to researchers worldwide through ATCC.
The research materials offered through the special collection include cell lines (such as rat prostate cancer and lung cells from a person with cystic fibrosis), clones of important human genes, and "kits" that simplify creation of viruses carrying genetic instructions.
"This collaboration disseminates, publicizes and safeguards our faculty's research materials through a highly regulated channel," says William Tew, PhD, associate provost and assistant dean of licensing and technology development at Johns Hopkins. "Our scientists can more easily share important research materials, and ATCC strengthens their product listings. Scientists worldwide stand to benefit from these efforts."
Once a new potential product, such as a cell line or key bit of DNA, is described in the peer-reviewed scientific literature and a few outside scientists have requested the item, it will be eligible for inclusion in the special collection. ATCC provides secure maintenance of the materials, promotes their availability, protects intellectual property rights and documents compliance with regulations regarding the shipping of materials.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/September/030911A.htm
For more information on how your lab might become involved in the collection, contact Catherine Vorwald in Licensing and Technology Development at cvorwal1@jhmi.edu .
From the Clinic:
9/11/03
Nevirapine Effectively Reduces HIV Transmission From Mom To Baby
In the Sept. 13 issue of The Lancet, Johns Hopkins and Ugandan researchers report final results of a study showing that a safe, simple and inexpensive treatment reduces transmission of HIV from mothers to babies during childbirth and the first few weeks of life, offering a good chance to curb the spread of HIV.
In their study of more than 600 women in Uganda, giving one dose of nevirapine, a common HIV fighting drug, to HIV-positive mothers during labor, and one dose to their newborns, reduced transmission by 41 percent, compared to a multi-dose regimen of the drug zidovudine, commonly called AZT. The report documents all the babies' health at 6 to 8 weeks and at 18 months.
"This use of nevirapine, if widely implemented, has the potential to prevent several hundred thousand new infections every year," says Brooks Jackson, MD, director of pathology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Because of the drugs' short duration, some babies in both treatment groups subsequently became infected with HIV, most likely through breast feeding, but the nevirapine group still had about 41 percent fewer HIV infections even after a year and a half, says Jackson, who led the study with Francis Mmiro, FRCOG, of Makarere University in Kampala, Uganda.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/September/030911B.htm
Lancet 2003 Sept 13;362(9387):859-868
This article can be accessed online, from a Johns Hopkins computer, via the Lancet link.
Half-Day Seminar Oct. 7 on Animal Research at Hopkins -- A half-day symposium will address "Enhancing Humane Science: Improving Animal Research," on Oct. 7, 9 am until 12:45 pm in the School of Nursing, room 202. Participants are scheduled to include Ted Poehler, vice provost for research; Edward Miller, dean of the medical faculty; Chris Newcomer, associate provost for animal research and resources; Martin Pomper, associate professor of radiology; Alan Goldberg, director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing; Nancy Ator, chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC); and James Owiny, training and regulatory administrator for the IACUC. Faculty and staff are especially encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Candace Eff at cmeff@jhmi.edu or 410-955-3273.
Colwell Lecture Rescheduled for Oct. 8 -- Rita Colwell, PhD, director of the National Science Foundation, will present her lecture "Setting the Course: Post-doctorates in Transition" on Oct 8, with a reception to follow. The time and place will be announced. This seminar, organized by the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association, was postponed due to Tropical Storm Isabel. Visit the association's website for updates.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/jhpda/
University-Wide Conflict of Interest Training Deadline Oct. 31 -- Individuals who submit private agreements to the Office of Policy Coordination for review and approval, and all individuals proposing arrangements that are subject to review by the Committee on Conflict of Interest must complete the "Conflict of Interest and Commitment" online training module by Oct. 31, 2003. All other University faculty, staff, researchers, students, trainees and administrators (including administrative assistants) must complete the course by Dec. 31. The training module is at https://secure.lwservers.net
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/coi_training_module.html
Hildreth Receives Visionary Research Award -- On Dec. 2, James Hildreth, MD, PhD, will accept the National Medical Fellowships' Visionary Research Award in Academic Medicine at their annual awards gala in New York. Hildreth, a professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences, is being recognized for his "groundbreaking discoveries and extraordinary research in HIV," according to the award letter from NMF. NMF's goal is to help qualified and highly motivated minority medical students overcome the cost barriers associated with securing a medical education. Coincidentally, Hildreth received two NMF awards while in medical school at Johns Hopkins -- The William and Charlotte Cadbury Award in 1986, and The Kaiser Foundation Award in 1987.
http://www.nmfonline.org
Yasui and Agre Win Research Prize -- Last spring, Masato Yasui, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, division of neonatology, and Peter Agre, MD, professor of biological chemistry, shared the 2003 Biennial Spa Foundation Prize from the Belgian Paediatric Society. The prize recognized their research showing the importance of aquaporin water channels in kidney development during early infancy.
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