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 (410-614-5105, jdowner1@jhmi.edu).
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IN THIS ISSUE:
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:
+ New Memory Drug Works Best in Combination with Older Remedy
+ Study: Nose Doesn't Smell Like The Eyes See
NEWS BRIEFS:
Newsletter "Basics" Now Available Online
Save the Date: 100+ Women Professors Celebration Nov. 1
IN THE NEWS:
Hal Dietz on BBC online
Stephen Baylin in the Washington Post
Peter Agre in the Baltimore Sun
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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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6/15/05
New Memory Drug Works Best in Combination with Older Remedy
Studies with normal rats suggest that an experimental drug combined with an already-popular memory-enhancing compound (tradename Aricept) may further delay memory loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the University of North Carolina report.
The findings, described in the June issue of Neuropharmacology, also indicate that the experimental treatment in question -- a compound known as SGS742 -- works by blocking certain chemicals that interfere with memory formation.
"The findings in laboratory animals -- both improved memory in our tests and evidence that the drug targets the biology for making memories in the brain -- places this compound on solid footing as a candidate therapeutic agent," says lead author Michela Gallagher, PhD, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor and the chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in Johns Hopkins' Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
The research team conducted this study on 60 normal young male rats who were not memory-impaired. Each rat was given at various times SGS742, Aricept, a combination of the two drugs or no drugs at all, and was tested on its skill navigating a series of mazes that placed increasing demands on its memory. Rats given either drug performed better than rats given no drug, and those given both drugs acquired information faster and retained it longer than any other group, the researchers report.
SGS742, previously shown to improve memory in animals, is an experimental treatment for memory disorders. It is currently in human clinical trials led by California-based Saegis Pharmaceuticals Inc., which holds a worldwide exclusive license granted by the compound's developer. For Conflict of Interest disclosure, see the full news release:
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home05/jun05/memory.html
Neuropharmacology June 2005;48(7):956-64.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2005.01.019
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6/24/05
Study: Nose Doesn't Smell Like The Eyes See
Johns Hopkins scientists have uncovered new details of how smelly things create signals in the nose that eventually go to the brain. The findings, published in the June 24 issue of Science, raise issues about how biology textbooks have described the process involved.
The textbooks say that our sense of smell converts odors into brain signals just like our vision converts light into brain signals. But the new work shows that while a key protein pathway is used in both, it behaves quite differently in the nose than it does in the eye.
At issue is the behavior of a huge family of proteins called G-protein-coupled receptors. When activated by light in the eye or by a molecule in other settings, each G-protein-coupled receptor uses a similar switch -- the exchange of a tiny bit called GTP for a related bit called GDP on the aptly named G-protein -- to trigger the cell's response.
In the eye, a single unit of light can keep a specific G-protein-coupled receptor (the light-detecting molecule rhodopsin) activated long enough to trigger the GTP-to-GDP conversion on a number of G-protein molecules, amplifying the incoming signal. Some scientists have claimed a similar thing happens when odorants bind to G-protein-coupled receptors in the nose.
"But we found that most of the time, a single odorant molecule does not trigger a response. And even when it does, the response we measured is about 100 times lower than reported for cells in the eye," says lead author Vikas Bhandawat, a graduate student in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins who is working with King-Wai Yau, PhD.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/07_12_05.html
Science 24 June 2005;308(5730):1931-1934. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/308/5730/1931
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NEWS BRIEFS:
Newsletter "Basics" Now Available Online -- "Basics," a monthly printed newsletter on the basic sciences found in "Change," a newsletter for faculty and senior staff, is now available online. Six issues of Basics have been appeared in Change since January 2005. After a summer hiatus, four more issues will be produced starting in September. Basics is funded by the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. Missed it? Check out past issues (June 22, May 24, April 18, March 16, Feb. 16, and Jan. 12) online from a Hopkins computer.
http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org/change/archive/index.cfm
Save the Date: 100+ Women Professors Celebration Nov. 1 -- On Tuesday, Nov. 1, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Office of the Dean and the Women's Leadership Council will host a celebration for reaching the milestone of having more than 100 women faculty promoted to the rank of professor since the school's founding in 1893. The event will also honor the legacy of Mary Elizabeth Garrett, who provided the endowment to fund the medical school and who insisted women be admitted from the very beginning. Linda Buck, PhD, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Medicine, is confirmed as a keynote speaker. Keep an eye on http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wlc for more information.
Hal Dietz on a newly defined aortic aneurysm syndrome on BBC online. "Vessel time-bomb killing children," BBC online, July 1, 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4642145.stm
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_07/06/timebomb.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this Clips page.)
Stephen Baylin on work suggesting that epigenetics can explain differences between twins, in the Washington Post. "Twin data highlight genetic changes," by Rick Weiss, Washington Post, July 5, 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/04/AR2005070400845.html
(Sign-in is necessary to access this story on the Washington Post website.)
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_07/05/twin.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this Clips page.)
Peter Agre on Hudson Bay, in the Baltimore Sun. "To Hudson Bay," by Peter Agre, the Baltimore Sun, June 26, 2005.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/bal-tr.hudson26jun26,1,3134225.story
(Sign-in is necessary to access this story and photos on the Baltimore Sun website.)
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_06/27/hudsonbay.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this Clips page.)
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John Sales contributed to the Research Highlights for this issue.
Find "Change" and "Basics" online from a Hopkins computer:
http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org/change
Visit the "Research WebNotes" newsletter online:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/webnotes/
For more news from Hopkins, see:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/index.html
Upcoming lectures and seminars:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/faculty_staff/scicalendar.html
Find other news stories about Hopkins at:
http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org and click on "News Clips"
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--JHMI--
