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:
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
+ Hunt for Autism Genes To Be Led by Hopkins Researchers
+ "Energy Blocker" Kills Big Tumors in Rats
+ Mitochondrial Fusion Visualized Step-By-Step
NEWS BRIEFS:
Animal Research Town Hall Meeting Nov. 4
Nov. 8-9 Seminar: Gene-Environment Effects In Brain Disease
History of Medicine Institute Turns 75
Add Researchers to Animal Protocols for Facility Access
Update Your Printed Directory Listing
HONORS AND AWARDS:
Three Hopkins Faculty Elected To IOM
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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.
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
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10/11/04
Hunt for Autism Genes To Be Led by Hopkins Researchers
With a three-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins scientists will lead the largest hunt for genetic contributors to autism, a neuropsychiatric condition whose causes are almost as mysterious today as when the condition was first described in 1943.
The researchers will apply new genome searching technologies to available samples and information from 465 families, including 979 individuals with autism, to identify genetic factors that contribute to the condition.
"We'll be looking for combinations of genetic mutations and extra or missing gene copies that are much less common, even in the affected group, than most scientists are used to considering," says Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, principal investigator of the project and director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Hopkins. "This is a huge undertaking."
Recent research suggests that as many as 1 of every 500 births is affected by autism, which is characterized by social and communication deficits and restricted and repetitive interests. Understanding the condition's genetic roots may reveal important clues to its biology, and hence targets for treating some of its effects or trying to prevent it, says project member Edwin Cook, MD, director of the University of Chicago's Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience and a child and adolescent psychiatrist who sees patients with autism.
Leaders of the project's various components are Chakravarti, Victor Velculescu, David Cutler and Dan Arking of Johns Hopkins; and Cook of the University of Chicago.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/10_11a_04.html
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10/14/04
"Energy Blocker" Kills Big Tumors in Rats
Building on their earlier work, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that an apparently nontoxic cellular "energy blocker" can eradicate large liver tumors grown in rats. Six months to more than a year after treatment was stopped, the rats are still cancer free.
While the results are dramatic, clinical trials with the chemical, 3-bromopyruvate, are likely some years away, says the study's leader, Young Ko, PhD, assistant professor of radiology and biological chemistry. If tests in the lab continue to be promising, however, the chemical or one like it may become an option for treating advanced liver cancers and perhaps other tumors in people.
"Liver cancer usually isn't detected in people until it's difficult or impossible to treat, and many other aggressive cancers spread to the liver, so we need more treatment options," says Peter Pedersen, PhD, professor of biological chemistry in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at Johns Hopkins. "The compound Dr. Ko tested in animals targets a fundamental process cancer cells need to survive, can kill big tumors, and appears so far to have little or no effect on normal tissues."
In Ko's experiments, described in the Nov. 5 issue of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, she found that treating rat liver cancer cells with 3-bromopyruvate halted the cells' production of energy -- the molecule ATP -- within 30 minutes, and visual evidence of the cells' self-destruction was apparent almost immediately. Four times as much of the compound was necessary to begin decreasing ATP production in normal liver cells.
Turning to animal studies, Ko injected rat liver cancer cells into either the abdomen or the upper back of 33 rats. Nineteen of the animals received daily injections of the compound into the tumor site for five days or longer, which caused all of the cancers to disappear within four weeks. Untreated control animals had to be euthanized within 10 days because of their tumors.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/10_14_04.html
Biochem Biophys Res Comm 5 Nov 2004;324(1):269-275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2004.09.047
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10/12/04
Mitochondrial Fusion Visualized Step-By-Step
Writing in the Aug. 6 and Sept. 17 issues of Science, scientists from Johns Hopkins and elsewhere explain the complicated process by which mitochondria split apart and recombine, potentially laying the groundwork for new treatment approaches to a wide range of diseases, including some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Mitochondria constantly split and recombine, and as cells divide, they pass along to each "daughter" cell the full complement of mitochondria necessary for healthy cell physiology. Recent research suggests that when this process goes awry, healthy cells die, resulting in a wide range of diseases.
"Fusion of single membranes[, such as cell membranes,] is a well-delineated process, involving well-known, well-studied proteins," says J. Michael McCaffery, a research scientist in the Department of Biology, director of The Johns Hopkins University's Integrated Imaging Center, and an author on both studies. "However, the same cannot be said for mitochondrial fusion, in which [two distinct, compositionally very different membranes must join]."
By using both light and electron microscopy, the researchers discovered that mitochondria removed from their host-cell environment were still able to fuse, suggesting that mitochondria contain within themselves all the proteins necessary for fusion.
Two distinct stages of fusion were noted, McCaffery says. The first involved outer membrane fusion yielding an intermediate structure of two conjoined mitochondria, and the second caused fusion of the inner membranes giving rise to a single mitochondrion.
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home04/oct04/mitochon.html
Science 6 Aug 2004;305(5685):858-862.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5685/858
Science 17 Sept 2004;305(5691):1747-1752.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5691/1747
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NEWS BRIEFS:
Animal Research Town Hall Meeting Nov. 4 -- All persons involved in animal research at Hopkins are strongly encouraged to attend a Town Hall Meeting for Animal Research from 9 am until noon, Thursday, Nov. 4, in Tilghman Auditorium (Turner Building). The meeting is being held by the IACUC, the Office of the Provost and the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing. Key institutional officials will provide salient updates on the state of and future directions of the animal care program at Johns Hopkins University, and feedback from attendees is encouraged.
Nov. 8-9 Conference: Gene-Environment Effects In Brain Disease -- The Stanley Neurovirology Laboratory in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is sponsoring a two day conference, Gene-Environmental Interactions in Human Brain Diseases, 8:30 am until 5 pm on Nov. 8 and 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on Nov. 9 in the Tilghman Auditorium (Turner Building). The meeting will focus on the role of genes, infectious agents and other environmental factors on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and autism. Moderators will be Robert Yolken, Stanley Neurovirology Lab, and Christopher Ross, psychiatry and behavioral sciences. There will be a variety of guest speakers. There is no attendance fee, but registration is suggested because seating is limited. Contact Ann Cusic at acusic@jhmi.edu for more information or to register.
History of Medicine Institute Turns 75 -- Founded in 1929 by William Welch, the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins was the first department of its kind in the U.S. "The institute has, for 75 years, sought to bring historical perspectives to bear on contemporary health issues like AIDS, malaria and the explosive development of technology in medicine with the goal of advancing the art and science of medicine for society as a whole," says Randall Packard, PhD, current director and William H. Welch Professor of the History of Medicine. Today, eight full-time members, annually appointed visiting faculty, and postdoctoral fellows and graduate students conduct research on topics ranging from the history of early modern medicine, to the history of disease and public health, to the role of genetics in medical education and practice. The institute also is the home of the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, the official journal of the American Association for the History of Medicine.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/10_07_04.html
Add Researchers to Animal Protocols for Facility Access -- Now that new students and others have arrived on campus, the Animal Care and Use Committee reminds investigators that all persons working with animals must complete online animal care and use training (https://secure.lwservers.net/default.cfm ), be listed on an approved animal research protocol and be enrolled in the Animal Exposure Surveillance Program (AESP). To enroll in AESP call 410-614-1129 or go to 98 N. Broadway, Room 421. To be granted card access to animal facilities, individuals must be listed on an approved protocol. To add an individual to a protocol, complete the Personnel Amendment Form (http://www.jhu.edu/animalcare/forms1.html ) and submit it to the IACUC office.
Update Your Printed Directory Listing -- The 2005 edition of the Johns Hopkins Institutions' printed faculty and staff telephone directory will be published soon. You may review and update or correct your personal listing by using your JHED username and password to log on to http://printeddirectory.johnshopkins.edu . The deadline to make changes to your printed listing is Nov. 25. Updating the printed directory information does not update any other directory. To update information in the online JHED directory, log onto http://jhed.johnshopkins.edu and click "Change My Info."
Three Hopkins Faculty Elected To IOM -- Three Johns Hopkins researchers have been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine, a component of the National Academy of Sciences. Thomas Quinn, MD, Diane Griffin, MD, PhD, and John Griffin, MD, are among just 65 new members nationwide announced today by the IOM. Quinn is professor of medicine and deputy director of infectious disease at the school of medicine and is professor of international health and of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Diane Griffin is the Alfred and Jill Sommer Chair of the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. John Griffin is professor and director of neurology and is also a professor of neuroscience and of pathology at the school of medicine.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/10_18c_04.html
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--JHMI--
