Researchers at Johns Hopkins are constantly advancing science through basic, translational and clinical investigations. Here are highlights of our most current findings.
Fat In Your Brain
Our brain cells are packed with fat molecules—as they should be. But if their fat content gets too high, they’ll be in trouble. In a recent study in mice, researchers pinpointed an enzyme that keeps neurons’ fat levels under control, and it may have implications for human neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Got Gout?
Scientists have learned how a genetic mutation causes the breakdown of a cellular pump that clears an acidic waste product from the bloodstream, leading to the painful condition known as gout. The researchers also identified a compound that partially repairs the pump in laboratory tests.
Risk/Benefit Analysis for Kidney Recipients
Patients that need a kidney transplant often face a difficult choice: take an available kidney from a risky source or risk waiting for a safer one that might not come in time. Now they have a web-based calculator to help them weigh their options, thanks to the work of a team of researchers at Hopkins.
Important Role in Type 2 Diabetes Found for Overlooked Protein
Researchers found that a protein long believed to have a minor role in type 2 diabetes is, in fact, a central player in the development of the condition that affects nearly 26 million people in the United States alone. Doctors hope that it may also be an effective therapeutic target.
Rats Envision a Route Before Taking It
Studying rats’ ability to navigate familiar territory, scientists found that the hippocampus of the brain uses remembered spatial information to imagine routes the rats then follow. Their discovery has implications for understanding memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline, and could eventually shed light on higher-order thought processes like decision-making.
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