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:
+ Embryonic Stem Cells Accrue Genetic Changes
+ SPECT/CT Tracks Migration of Stem Cells to Heart
+ Gene Pathway Affects Prostate Cells' Sensitivity to Antioxidants
NEWS BRIEFS:
Ethics and Animal Welfare Lecture Oct. 17
Professional Development Seminars Oct. 19, Nov. 11
100+ Women Professors Symposium Nov. 1
Jews in Medicine Conference Nov. 6 in NYC
IN THE NEWS:
John McDonald and Doug Kerr in the Baltimore Sun
Doug Kerr in the Washington Post
Sol Snyder 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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9/4/05
Embryonic Stem Cells Accrue Genetic Changes
An international team of researchers has compared "early" and "late" batches of each of nine federally approved human embryonic stem cell lines and discovered that the lines accumulate changes in their genetic material over time.
The findings do not limit the utility of the cells for some types of research or for some future clinical applications, the researchers say, but draw attention to the need to closely monitor stem cell lines for genetic changes and to study how these alterations affect the cells' behavior. The researchers' work appeared online Sept. 4 in Nature Genetics.
"The majority of the lines we tested had genetic changes over time," says Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD, one of the research team's leaders and professor and director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins. "While this is a snapshot of the genomic changes that can happen, it's certainly not everything going on."
Most of the "late" batches of stem cells -- those grown in the lab a year to three years longer than their early counterparts -- displayed gross changes in the number of copies of chromosomes or parts of chromosomes, in the marks that control whether a gene is used by the cell, or in the sequence of DNA found in the cell's mitochondria, says Anirban Maitra, MBBS, an assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins. Maitra and Dan Arking, PhD, an instructor at Hopkins, shared first authorship of the paper. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/09_04_05.html
Nature Genetics Oct. 2005;37(10):1099-1103.
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v37/n10/abs/ng1631.html
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9/5/05
SPECT/CT Tracks Migration of Stem Cells to Heart
A team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins Department of Radiology and the Institute of Cell Engineering has used non-invasive SPECT/CT imaging successfully to trace stem cells' travels after being injected into dogs with surgically induced heart damage.
"Our study demonstrates that SPECT/CT imaging is well suited to dynamically track the biodistribution and movement of stem cells to both target and non-target organs," says lead investigator Dara Kraitchman, PhD, DVM, an associate professor of radiology at the Johns Hopkins Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science.
In the study, six dogs with surgically induced heart damage received canine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) labeled with a radioactive tracer for SPECT/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent to enhance image quality. MSCs can naturally become bone, cartilage, muscle and fat.
The internal distribution of the injected stem cells was tracked with SPECT/CT and MRI immediately after injection and at multiple time points over seven days to assess whether the MSCs preferentially migrated to damaged cardiac tissue.
In the Sept. 6 issue of Circulation, the team reports that SPECT/CT revealed redistribution of the radiolabeled MSCs from their initial location in the lungs to the heart at 24 hours post-injection. MRI was unable to demonstrate targeted cardiac localization of MSCs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/09_05_05.html
Circulation 6 Sept. 2005;112(10):1451-61.
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/112/10/1451
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9/15/05
Gene Pathway Affects Prostate Cells' Sensitivity to Antioxidants
Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey have identified a molecular pathway in mice that makes prostate cells vulnerable to oxidative damage. The pathway, which is also involved in human prostate cancer, may help determine how and whether antioxidants might be able to prevent prostate cancer.
The researchers found that when the tumor suppressor gene Nkx3.1 malfunctions, prostate cells lose the ability to protect themselves from oxidative damage. The findings appear in the August issue of Cancer Research.
"Normally, cells with functioning Nkx3.1 seem to process oxidative free radicals appropriately," says Theodore DeWeese, MD, a co-author of the study and director of the Department of Radiation Oncology & Molecular Radiation Sciences at Hopkins. "But cells with faulty Nkx3.1 genes cannot manage oxidative injury. Then, their DNA gets damaged, and that leads to other mutations that in turn can bring about cancer."
The researchers found that mice with malfunctioning Nkx3.1 incorrectly expressed 638 genes, including those that created a significant reduction in some antioxidant enzymes. These alterations occurred in mice as early as four months of age -- well before cellular changes are visible in the mouse prostate.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/09_15_05.html
Cancer Research 1 Aug. 2005;65(15):6773-6779.
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/65/15/6773
(This title is available online only from a Welch Library terminal or through personal subscription. For more information, see
http://www.welch.jhu.edu/eresources/notice_aacr.html )
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NEWS BRIEFS:
Ethics and Animal Welfare Lecture Oct. 17 -- Bernard Rollin, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University, will give the next talk in the Enhancing Humane Science Lecture Series on Monday, Oct. 17, starting at 4 p.m. in the Anna Baetjer Room, W1030, in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Rollin's talk is "Sociology of Ethics, Animal Welfare and Genetically Engineered Animal Models of Human Genetic Disease." The lecture series is sponsored by The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing and the JHU Associate Provost for Animal Research and Resources. For more information contact mprincip@jhsph.edu .
Professional Development Seminars Oct. 19, Nov. 11 -- The Professional Development Office (PDO) is offering their "Giving a Research Talk" workshop on Oct. 19 and the "Writing a Biomedical Research Paper" workshop on Nov. 11. These workshops are designed for new or junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows. Both workshops are held 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The $750 registration fee for each workshop is payable via tuition remission for faculty; the fee for postdoctoral fellows is $375. In December, the PDO is once again offering its multi-day grant writing workshop for new or junior faculty. For more information or to register for any of these workshops, email jhmipdo@jhmi.edu .
100+ Women Professors Symposium Nov. 1 -- At a symposium Nov. 1, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will be celebrating the promotion of more than 100 women to the rank of Full Professor since its founding in 1893. All are invited to the celebration, which will include a day of scientific lectures by internationally acclaimed women scientists including a keynote address by the co-recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Linda Buck, and a panel discussion including Catherine DeAngelis, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Cokie Roberts, CBS News. To review the program and to register for the event, visit:
http://100womengala.onc.jhmi.edu/
Jews and Medicine Conference Nov. 6 in NYC -- The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York City), in association with the New York Academy of Medicine, is hosting a national conference entitled "Jews and Medicine -- In the Footsteps of Maimonides: The Jewish Doctor as Healer, Scientist and Intellectual," on Sunday, Nov. 6. The conference will run from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and is open to healthcare professionals, interns, residents, students and the public. Nine leading medical experts and researchers will explore the history of Jews in medicine and the roles and responsibilities of Jews in the medical field. Registration is $75, or $15 for students, interns and residents. For more information and online registration, visit:
http://www.yivo.org/events/index.php?tid=113&aid=285
IN THE NEWS:
John McDonald and Doug Kerr on recovery from paralysis in the Baltimore Sun. "Moving to recovery," by Jonathan Bor, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 16, 2005.
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_09/16/moving.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this page.)
Doug Kerr on stem cells and spinal cord injury in the Washington Post. "Study: Stem Cells May Repair Cord Damage," by Lauren Neergaard, Associated Press, Sept. 19, 2005.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901028.html
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_09/20/may.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this page.)
Sol Snyder on stepping down as director of neuroscience in the Baltimore Sun. "Head of Hopkins neuroscience department to step down," by Jonathan Bor, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 22, 2005.
http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2005_09/22/head.html
(Must be at a Hopkins computer to access this page.)
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Find "Change" and "Basics" online from a Hopkins computer:
http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org/change
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For more news from Hopkins, see:
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Upcoming lectures and seminars:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/faculty_staff/scicalendar.html
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http://www.insidehopkinsmedicine.org and click on "News Clips"
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--JHMI--
