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).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
IN THIS ISSUE:
+ Nerve Cells' Mitochondria "Clogged" in Lou Gehrig's Disease
+ Molecular Motor Shuttles Key Protein in Response to Light
+ Cell Death Protein Has Surprising Role in Cell Migration
+ Educating Immune System May Ease Future Use of Stem Cells
NEWS BRIEFS:
Annual Scott Lecture Sept. 9
HONORS AND AWARDS:
Rose Receives Humboldt Research Award
Greider, Griffin Elected Fellows of Academy of Microbiology
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7/8/04
Nerve Cells' Mitochondria "Clogged" in Lou Gehrig's Disease
By studying rodent models of the relatively rare inherited form of Lou Gehrig's disease and tissue samples from a patient with the condition, scientists have discovered the first evidence that damage to nerve cell mitochondria is directly responsible for these cells' death. The findings appear in the July 8 issue of Neuron.
The research team from the University of California San Diego, Johns Hopkins and elsewhere discovered that dysfunctional proteins clog the transport system that brings vital substances into mitochondria, the tiny organelles that provide energy to cells. This damage occurs in muscle-controlling nerve cells, the researchers report, helping explain the selective nature of inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.
"Mitochondria don't look normal in motor neurons in animal models of ALS and in patients with ALS, but this is the first study that links ALS and a specific problem with the mitochondria," says study co-author Jeffrey Rothstein, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and director of the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins.
The discovery provides new avenues to try to prevent or treat the progressive, fatal condition, say the researchers, and creates the possibility that mitochondria also might be involved in the more common forms of ALS or in other neurodegenerative diseases.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/07_13_04.html
Neuron 8 July 2004:43(1);5-17
http://www.neuron.org/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0896627304003630
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7/8/04
Molecular Motor Shuttles Key Protein in Response to Light
In experiments with fruit flies, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered how a key light-detecting molecule in the eye moves in response to changes in light intensity.
Their finding adds to growing evidence that some creatures -- and probably people -- adapt to light not only by mechanically shrinking the pupil to physically limit how much light enters the eye, but also by a chemical response.
Building on their previous work showing that specific proteins in eye cells are redistributed in response to bright light, the Johns Hopkins team now reports how a key protein called arrestin is shuttled from a "holding area" to another part of the cell where it binds and calms a light-detecting protein. Writing in the July 8 issue of Neuron, the team says arrestin is moved around by a tiny molecular motor, called myosin, which travels along the "train tracks" of the cell's internal skeleton.
"We knew that arrestin was transported, but we didn't know how this occurred," says Craig Montell, PhD, professor of biological chemistry in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. "Arrestin is pasted onto the myosin motor and is quickly taken to its target destination within the cell. This explains why it moves much faster than if it just moved passively."
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/07_16_04.html
Neuron 8 July 2004;43(1):93-103
http://www.neuron.org/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0896627304003563
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7/9/04
Cell Death Protein Has Surprising Role in Cell Migration
By studying fruit fly ovaries, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a protein known to block cell death also has the completely independent role of enabling normal cell movement. The discovery creates an unexpected new path to follow in the effort to understand the biochemical steps behind cells' movement, a critical aspect of embryonic development and the spread of cancer.
In experiments conducted by graduate student and now postdoctoral fellow Erika Geisbrecht, a small number of cells in the fruit fly ovaries had a dysfunctional protein called Rac, which prevented the cells' normal movement and made the flies sterile. The Hopkins team discovered that increasing production of a protein called "inhibitor of apoptosis-1" (or IAP) can restore the tightly choreographed cellular movement that naturally occurs in fruit fly ovaries as egg cells mature. The work is described in the July 9 issue of Cell.
"This discovery was completely unexpected," says Denise Montell, PhD, professor of biological chemistry in Johns Hopkins' Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. "Based on what was known about this protein's function in blocking cell death, there would have been no way to predict its involvement in cell migration."
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/07_13a_04.html
Cell 9 July 2004:118(1);111-125
http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867404006221
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7/10/04
Educating Immune System May Ease Future Use of Stem Cells
Results of laboratory experiments by Johns Hopkins scientists suggest it may be possible to "educate" the immune system to recognize rather than destroy human embryonic stem cells. Doing so could reduce the risk of rejection if the primitive cells are someday transplanted into people with conditions like Parkinson's disease, diabetes or spinal cord injuries, the researchers say.
In their experiments, described in the July 10 issue of The Lancet, the Hopkins team successfully coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become the special "flag-waving" cells that tell the immune system what is "friend" and what is "foe." In additional experiments in the lab, the researchers found that these so-called antigen presenting cells can control the responses of other immune cells, called T cells, whose job is either to attack or to co-exist with "foreign" cells.
"This is the first evidence that human embryonic stem cells can generate antigen presenting cells that could be used to educate a patient's immune system," says Linzhao Cheng, PhD, assistant professor in Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering. "It's a small but important step toward future clinical use of the stem cells, but many challenges remain."
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2004/07_19_04.html
Lancet 10 July 2004;364(26):163-171 http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9429/contents
(The article is available for individual purchase at the above site, or is accessible online from a Johns Hopkins computer by connecting to the July 10 issue via Welch Medical Library: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01406736.)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NEWS BRIEFS:
Annual Scott Lecture Sept. 9 -- Charles Sawyers, MD, director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program Area at the University of California Los Angeles, will deliver the 4th annual William Wallace Scott lecture starting at 8 am, Thursday, Sept. 9, in the Weinberg Auditorium. His talk is entitled "Molecular Studies of Prostate Cancer Progression."
Rose Receives Humboldt Research Award -- Ken Rose, PhD, professor of functional anatomy and evolution, has received a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. The awards are granted to scientists and scholars outside Germany in recognition of their lifetime academic achievements.
http://www.avh.de/en/programme/preise/pt.htm
Greider, Griffin Elected Fellows of Academy of Microbiology -- Carol Greider, PhD, professor and director of molecular biology and genetics at the medical school, and Diane Griffin, MD, PhD, chair of the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, have been elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.
http://www.asm.org/Academy/index.asp?bid=2096
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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
Have you or your colleagues been quoted? Check out http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org and click on "News Clips"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
--JHMI--
