A new study finds that the secretion of a protein known as KISS1 reduces metastasis of cells that express it to multiple organs in mice, but the mechanism for this continues to elude researchers.
The KISS1 protein also plays a role in sexual maturation when it is secreted and then processed into smaller peptides called kisspeptins, which in turn bind to a receptor known as GPR54. Kevin Nash, Ph.D., in the laboratory of Danny R. Welch, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and their colleagues wondered if the GPR54 receptor was also involved in metastasis suppression.
Using a human melanoma cell line that could not express KISS1, the researchers inserted one of two forms of the KISS1 gene into the cells - coding for either an unaltered form of KISS1 or a version that could not be secreted. The cells were later injected into mice that were monitored for changes in survival rates and metastatic activity of the injected cells.
The researchers concluded that KISS1 secretion was required for metastasis suppression of the melanoma cells. Only the cells with the intact form of KISS1 secreted kisspeptins, and these cells showed less metastatic activity when they were injected into the mice than those with the altered version. Mice that were injected with the gene for the intact KISS1 protein lived much longer, on average, than the mice with the non-secretable KISS1 cells. Furthermore, KISS1 blocked the growth of tumor cells that have already spread other organs. But, the authors conclude, the GPR54 receptors did not likely play a role in this process.
"The finding that KISS1 can inhibit metastatic growth in multiple organs is a particularly important feature for an antimetastatic molecular agent," the authors write. "Finally, the finding that KISS1 can suppress metastasis in the apparent absence of GPR54 in tumor cells opens up the possibility that additional KISS1 metastasis suppressor receptors and signaling pathways exist with the potential to be selectively targeted."
Contact:
Hank Black, UAB Media Relations
Other highlights in the February 21 JNCI
Note: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage. Visit the Journal online at jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals/.
Contact: Liz Savage
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
суббота, 30 апреля 2011 г.
пятница, 29 апреля 2011 г.
Low-Pathogenic Forms Of Bird Flu Do Cause Illness Among Birds
Migratory swans carrying a mild form of avian influenza depart from The Netherlands more than a month after their healthy counterparts do. They also feed slower and fly shorter distances. These insights will be published on January 31, 2007 in PLoS ONE, the International, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication from the Public Library of Science (PLoS) by scientists from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and the Department of Virology of the Erasmus MC. This contrasts previous ideas that mild forms of bird flu do not cause illness among wild birds. Moreover, these patterns can affect the rate of spread of avian influenza.
Wild birds were thought not to suffer from mild forms of avian influenza. But new data suggest that so-called 'low-pathogenic' avian influenza viruses do affect the lives of birds. The Bewick's swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) is a migratory bird that breeds in NW-Russia and overwinters in NW-Europe, especially in The Netherlands. In this species, a team of ecologists and virologists showed that infected individuals initiate their migration by the end of January or early February, while uninfected individuals already do so by the end of December. Also, their next 'fuelling station' is only 35 km away instead of the usual 250 km. Sick birds fuel at a lower rate: they take fewer bites per day and their digestion seems to be impaired. Presumably, this is due to their need to channel more energy towards their immune system.
Being ill is no fun for us, but for a migratory bird being ill could potentially mess up its whole calendar for the rest of the year. According to scientist Jan van Gils from NIOO, "Infected swans clearly suffer from their 'mild' disease. The late departure from the wintering grounds could lead to late arrival in the breeding grounds, and thus to a lost breeding season. All in all, these low-pathogenic viruses have a much greater impact than previously thought. Because of their slower migration, ill birds get in touch with many more healthy birds passing by them on migration. In this way the virus can spread itself more rapidly than previously thought."
Acquiring more knowledge about mild but illness-causing avian influenza viruses is very important. Van Gils adds, "These mild virus-types always formed the origin of massive pandemics such as the Spanish Flu. Only such viruses that are non-lethal to birds can be spread easily by (wild or captive) birds, simply because the birds stay alive." Only after mixing with human flu can such a low-pathogenic avian flu cause the nightmare of a deadly pandemic among humans. "High-pathogenic avian flu that causes death among birds seems to originate from intensive poultry farms."
In the Dutch study 25 swans were investigated. The birds were caught in polder Wieringermeer (NW-Netherlands) last winter and were measured, weighed and screened for the prevalence of avian influenza viruses. Twelve birds were equipped with a GPS attached to their neck collar (80 g in total). This enabled the researchers to follow the birds' movements in great detail. When within 300 m of the bird, all "travel data" were downloadable by wireless modern technology. Birds were found back by volunteer bird watchers reading and reporting the code on each bird's neck collar. Among the twelve neck-collared birds, two were infected with bird flu: type H6N2 and H6N8. These mild virus types are common among free-living waterfowl. From antibodies found back in blood samples it could be concluded that a few more individuals had been infected before but were fully recovered and behaved as the other healthy birds. Both birds that were infected last winter have returned this winter and seem fully recovered too.
Disclaimer
The above press release refers to an upcoming article in PLoS ONE. The release has been provided by the article authors and/or their institutions. Any opinions expressed in this release are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the releases and articles and your use of such information.
Citation: van Gils JA, Munster VJ, Radersma R, Liefhebber D, Fouchier RAM et al (2007) Hampered Foraging and Migratory Performance in Swans Infected with Low-Pathogenic Avian Influenza A Virus. PLoS ONE 2(1): e184. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000184
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: dx.doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000184
Contact: Froukje Rienks
Public Library of Science
Wild birds were thought not to suffer from mild forms of avian influenza. But new data suggest that so-called 'low-pathogenic' avian influenza viruses do affect the lives of birds. The Bewick's swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) is a migratory bird that breeds in NW-Russia and overwinters in NW-Europe, especially in The Netherlands. In this species, a team of ecologists and virologists showed that infected individuals initiate their migration by the end of January or early February, while uninfected individuals already do so by the end of December. Also, their next 'fuelling station' is only 35 km away instead of the usual 250 km. Sick birds fuel at a lower rate: they take fewer bites per day and their digestion seems to be impaired. Presumably, this is due to their need to channel more energy towards their immune system.
Being ill is no fun for us, but for a migratory bird being ill could potentially mess up its whole calendar for the rest of the year. According to scientist Jan van Gils from NIOO, "Infected swans clearly suffer from their 'mild' disease. The late departure from the wintering grounds could lead to late arrival in the breeding grounds, and thus to a lost breeding season. All in all, these low-pathogenic viruses have a much greater impact than previously thought. Because of their slower migration, ill birds get in touch with many more healthy birds passing by them on migration. In this way the virus can spread itself more rapidly than previously thought."
Acquiring more knowledge about mild but illness-causing avian influenza viruses is very important. Van Gils adds, "These mild virus-types always formed the origin of massive pandemics such as the Spanish Flu. Only such viruses that are non-lethal to birds can be spread easily by (wild or captive) birds, simply because the birds stay alive." Only after mixing with human flu can such a low-pathogenic avian flu cause the nightmare of a deadly pandemic among humans. "High-pathogenic avian flu that causes death among birds seems to originate from intensive poultry farms."
In the Dutch study 25 swans were investigated. The birds were caught in polder Wieringermeer (NW-Netherlands) last winter and were measured, weighed and screened for the prevalence of avian influenza viruses. Twelve birds were equipped with a GPS attached to their neck collar (80 g in total). This enabled the researchers to follow the birds' movements in great detail. When within 300 m of the bird, all "travel data" were downloadable by wireless modern technology. Birds were found back by volunteer bird watchers reading and reporting the code on each bird's neck collar. Among the twelve neck-collared birds, two were infected with bird flu: type H6N2 and H6N8. These mild virus types are common among free-living waterfowl. From antibodies found back in blood samples it could be concluded that a few more individuals had been infected before but were fully recovered and behaved as the other healthy birds. Both birds that were infected last winter have returned this winter and seem fully recovered too.
Disclaimer
The above press release refers to an upcoming article in PLoS ONE. The release has been provided by the article authors and/or their institutions. Any opinions expressed in this release are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the releases and articles and your use of such information.
Citation: van Gils JA, Munster VJ, Radersma R, Liefhebber D, Fouchier RAM et al (2007) Hampered Foraging and Migratory Performance in Swans Infected with Low-Pathogenic Avian Influenza A Virus. PLoS ONE 2(1): e184. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000184
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: dx.doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000184
Contact: Froukje Rienks
Public Library of Science
четверг, 28 апреля 2011 г.
Link Between Sirtuins And Life Extension Strengthened By Study
A new paper from MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente strengthens the link between longevity proteins called sirtuins and the lifespan-extending effects of calorie restriction.
For decades, it has been known that cutting normal calorie consumption by 30 to 40 percent can boost lifespan and improve overall health in animals such as worms and mice. Guarente believes that those effects are controlled by sirtuins - proteins that keep cells alive and healthy in the face of stress by coordinating a variety of hormonal networks, regulatory proteins and other genes.
In his latest work, published Dec. 15 in the journal Genes and Development, Guarente adds to his case by reporting that sirtuins bring about the effects of calorie restriction on a brain system, known as the somatotropic signaling axis, that controls growth and influences lifespan length.
"This puts SIRT1 at a nexus connecting the effects of diet and the somatropic signaling axis," says Guarente. "This is a major shot across the bow that says sirtuins really are involved in fundamental aspects of calorie restriction."
Guarente and others believe that drugs that boost sirtuin production could help fight diseases of aging such as diabetes and Alzheimer's, improving health in later life and potentially extending lifespan. Drugs that promote sirtuin production are now in clinical trials in diabetes patients, with results expected next year.
How they did it: The researchers genetically engineered mice whose ability to produce the major mammalian sirtuin SIRT1 in the brain was greatly reduced. Those mice and normal mice were placed on a calorie-restricted diet. The normal mice showed much lower levels of circulating growth hormones, demonstrating that their somatotropic signaling system was impaired, but calorie restriction had no effect on hormone levels of mice that could not produce SIRT1.
Next steps: In future work, Guarente plans to investigate the mechanism by which sirtuins regulate the somatotropic axis. The work could also help researchers and companies in their search for small molecules that modulate sirtuins for maximum benefit.
Notes:
"Neuronal SIRT1 regulates endocrine and behavioral responses to calorie restriction," Dena Cohen, Leonard Guarente et al. Genes and Development, Dec. 15, 2009.
Funding: CHDI Inc., the Hereditary Disease Foundation, the American Parkinson's Disease Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the Paul F. Glenn Foundation.
Written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
Source: Jen Hirsch
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
For decades, it has been known that cutting normal calorie consumption by 30 to 40 percent can boost lifespan and improve overall health in animals such as worms and mice. Guarente believes that those effects are controlled by sirtuins - proteins that keep cells alive and healthy in the face of stress by coordinating a variety of hormonal networks, regulatory proteins and other genes.
In his latest work, published Dec. 15 in the journal Genes and Development, Guarente adds to his case by reporting that sirtuins bring about the effects of calorie restriction on a brain system, known as the somatotropic signaling axis, that controls growth and influences lifespan length.
"This puts SIRT1 at a nexus connecting the effects of diet and the somatropic signaling axis," says Guarente. "This is a major shot across the bow that says sirtuins really are involved in fundamental aspects of calorie restriction."
Guarente and others believe that drugs that boost sirtuin production could help fight diseases of aging such as diabetes and Alzheimer's, improving health in later life and potentially extending lifespan. Drugs that promote sirtuin production are now in clinical trials in diabetes patients, with results expected next year.
How they did it: The researchers genetically engineered mice whose ability to produce the major mammalian sirtuin SIRT1 in the brain was greatly reduced. Those mice and normal mice were placed on a calorie-restricted diet. The normal mice showed much lower levels of circulating growth hormones, demonstrating that their somatotropic signaling system was impaired, but calorie restriction had no effect on hormone levels of mice that could not produce SIRT1.
Next steps: In future work, Guarente plans to investigate the mechanism by which sirtuins regulate the somatotropic axis. The work could also help researchers and companies in their search for small molecules that modulate sirtuins for maximum benefit.
Notes:
"Neuronal SIRT1 regulates endocrine and behavioral responses to calorie restriction," Dena Cohen, Leonard Guarente et al. Genes and Development, Dec. 15, 2009.
Funding: CHDI Inc., the Hereditary Disease Foundation, the American Parkinson's Disease Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the Paul F. Glenn Foundation.
Written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
Source: Jen Hirsch
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
среда, 27 апреля 2011 г.
Yale Biophysicist Thomas Steitz Receives Gairdner Award For Medical Research
Yale biophysicist Thomas A. Steitz has received one of the four 2007 Gairdner International Awards, among the most prestigious awards in science, for his groundbreaking work on the structure and function of the large subunit of the ribosome and the structural basis for the action of antibiotics that target the ribosome.
"The 2007 awards reflect the importance of basic discoveries that lead to a better understanding of human disease and the development of treatments and cures to alleviate them," said John Dirks, President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation.
Thomas A. Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Harry F. Noller of the University of California at Santa Cruz were honored for their studies on the structure and function of the ribosome, demonstrating that a step in bacterial protein synthesis is an RNA-catalyzed reaction. This step is inhibited by many antibiotics, and understanding the structural basis of the function points the way to the development of new antibiotics.
"A major health consequence of the increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria is that two million people every year get infections from them in hospital facilities - and 90,000 per year die from them," said Steitz.
His close collaboration with Yale faculty colleague, Peter Moore and interactions with William Jorgenson led to the establishment of a company, Rib-X Pharmaceutical, Inc., which is using this knowledge of the structures of the large ribosomal subunit and its antibiotic complexes to create new classes of antibiotics. In just five years, Rib-X, has moved one potential compound into Phase II clinical trials and hope that shortly others will enter the Phase I trials pipeline.
Two additional investigators were honored by the Gairdner Foundation honored for their work in cell biology. C. David Allis of The Rockefeller University discovered the histone code hypothesis, a universal mechanisms for modifications in histone proteins that affect stability of the genome and gene transcription. Kim A. Nasmyth of Oxford University made a series of discoveries pinpointing mechanisms in cell division that are essential to life.
The Gairdner Foundation was established in 1957 by Toronto businessman James A. Gairdner, a successful stockbroker and industrialist. His lifelong practical interest in clinical medicine and medical research led to a conviction that the achievements of medical scientists should be acknowledged in a tangible way.
Since 1959, the Gairdner International Awards have recognized extraordinary accomplishment in medical science; they are acknowledgements of achievement, rather than grants for the support of future research. The awards honor outstanding contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly improve the quality of life. Of the 283 Gairdner winners, 68 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
As part of the Gairdner's mandate to communicate the work of medical researchers, each October, Gairdner winners visit universities across Canada and present academic lectures on their area of expertise. Each prize carries a cash award of $CDN 30,000 (about $26,700).
Since 2003, the lead national sponsor of the Gairdner awards has been the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada that supports the work of 10,000 researchers in universities, teaching hospitals and research institutes across Canada.
Three additional Yale faculty members have received Gairdner International Awards in the recent past. In 2006, Joan Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, was honored for her work on small nuclear RNAs in gene expression. That same year Thomas Pollard, M.D., Sterling Professor and Chair of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology was recognized for discoveries about the cell's cytoskeleton, and the basis of cell motility and its relevance to human disease. In 2004, Arthur Horwich, M.D., Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics was cited for his discoveries about protein folding in the cell and its relevance to neurodegeneration.
"The 2007 awards reflect the importance of basic discoveries that lead to a better understanding of human disease and the development of treatments and cures to alleviate them," said John Dirks, President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation.
Thomas A. Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Harry F. Noller of the University of California at Santa Cruz were honored for their studies on the structure and function of the ribosome, demonstrating that a step in bacterial protein synthesis is an RNA-catalyzed reaction. This step is inhibited by many antibiotics, and understanding the structural basis of the function points the way to the development of new antibiotics.
"A major health consequence of the increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria is that two million people every year get infections from them in hospital facilities - and 90,000 per year die from them," said Steitz.
His close collaboration with Yale faculty colleague, Peter Moore and interactions with William Jorgenson led to the establishment of a company, Rib-X Pharmaceutical, Inc., which is using this knowledge of the structures of the large ribosomal subunit and its antibiotic complexes to create new classes of antibiotics. In just five years, Rib-X, has moved one potential compound into Phase II clinical trials and hope that shortly others will enter the Phase I trials pipeline.
Two additional investigators were honored by the Gairdner Foundation honored for their work in cell biology. C. David Allis of The Rockefeller University discovered the histone code hypothesis, a universal mechanisms for modifications in histone proteins that affect stability of the genome and gene transcription. Kim A. Nasmyth of Oxford University made a series of discoveries pinpointing mechanisms in cell division that are essential to life.
The Gairdner Foundation was established in 1957 by Toronto businessman James A. Gairdner, a successful stockbroker and industrialist. His lifelong practical interest in clinical medicine and medical research led to a conviction that the achievements of medical scientists should be acknowledged in a tangible way.
Since 1959, the Gairdner International Awards have recognized extraordinary accomplishment in medical science; they are acknowledgements of achievement, rather than grants for the support of future research. The awards honor outstanding contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly improve the quality of life. Of the 283 Gairdner winners, 68 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
As part of the Gairdner's mandate to communicate the work of medical researchers, each October, Gairdner winners visit universities across Canada and present academic lectures on their area of expertise. Each prize carries a cash award of $CDN 30,000 (about $26,700).
Since 2003, the lead national sponsor of the Gairdner awards has been the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada that supports the work of 10,000 researchers in universities, teaching hospitals and research institutes across Canada.
Three additional Yale faculty members have received Gairdner International Awards in the recent past. In 2006, Joan Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, was honored for her work on small nuclear RNAs in gene expression. That same year Thomas Pollard, M.D., Sterling Professor and Chair of Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology was recognized for discoveries about the cell's cytoskeleton, and the basis of cell motility and its relevance to human disease. In 2004, Arthur Horwich, M.D., Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics was cited for his discoveries about protein folding in the cell and its relevance to neurodegeneration.
вторник, 26 апреля 2011 г.
Alliance Between Arizona's TGen And Michigan's Van Andel Research Institute To Promote Worldwide Science And Health
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) will forge a strategic alliance that will enable both to maximize their worldwide contributions to science and health.
The non-profit research institutes jointly announced today the initiation of an "alliance and affiliation agreement."
The partnership between Phoenix, Ariz.-based TGen and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based VARI will enable both institutes to speed up their mutual goals of moving research discoveries about cancer and other debilitating medical conditions as quickly as possible from laboratories to patient care.
"Combining many of the scientific, educational, financial and business potentials of TGen and VARI will advance the research of both institutions and enhance the economic development of both Arizona and Western Michigan," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen since its founding in 2002
.
"This alliance will elevate both organizations in the world of scientific research," said Dr. Trent, who will retain his roles at TGen, but upon implementation of the agreement also will become President and Research Director of VARI.
VARI is the research arm of the Van Andel Institute (VAI), established in 1996 as a philanthropic research and educational organization by the late Jay and Betty Van Andel.
"We are excited to welcome Dr. Trent and TGen as they combine forces with us in our mission to conquer cancer and human disease," said VAI Chairman and CEO David Van Andel. "This alliance demonstrates that VARI and TGen are at the forefront of redefining a borderless, collaborative, national and international scientific community that transcends geographical limitations."
The alliance combines the groundbreaking basic research expertise of VARI with the cutting-edge translational genomics and analysis of TGen.
Dr. Trent will replace Dr. George Vande Woude, who in 1998 was appointed the founding Director of VARI.
"The search for a new director has ended with the best possible results - a renowned, research director in Dr. Trent, who will now lead VARI, and an alliance that strengthens two of the nation's fast-emerging leaders in biomedical research," David Van Andel said.
Dr. Vande Woude, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, will remain at VARI as head of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology. Dr. Vande Woude, who held top-level administrative posts at the National Cancer Institute since the early 1980's, will be able to achieve a long-held desire to return to the lab full-time.
"This is a great moment for both Institutions. I have known Dr.Trent professionally for nearly 20 years and have always admired him as one of the nation's leading scientists. One of Dr. Trent's greatest attributes is bringing together researchers from many disciplines to work on problems that will improve human health," Dr. Vande Woude said.
TGen is dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and infectious diseases. TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research, in which investigators unravel the genetic basis of complex diseases and medical conditions.
VARI opened its facility in 2000. Its 18 research laboratories are primarily dedicated to molecular cancer research, but it also focuses on conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, osteoporosis, and heart disease. VARI will open a 240,000 square-foot building expansion this fall, which will allow it to broaden its efforts to include additional neurological disorders and chronic illnesses. VARI's primary work has been in basic research - looking for what occurs to cause disease in individual cells, and using that information to identify "biomarkers" that can help predict and diagnose diseases, and lead to the development of safer, more effective drugs.
"VARI is on the verge of expanding its already strong basic research programs and implementing further translational research," said Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-In-Chief and a world-renowned cancer scientist.
"TGen is poised to translate the discoveries generated in laboratories from both organizations into real solutions for patients," said Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare. "This is a terrific opportunity to work together and increase our chances of making a difference for our patients."
Both TGen and VARI are relatively young organizations that have triggered regional growth of the life sciences and biomedical industries in Arizona and Western Michigan.
Both organizations have a strong focus on cancer, collaborations and expansion locally, nationally and internationally.
The "alliance and affiliation agreement" is expected to become effective July 1, 2009.
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research where investigators are able to unravel the genetic components of common and complex diseases. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities, TGen believes it can make a substantial contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For additional media resources and more information, visit: tgen/news/index.cfm?pageid=57&newsid=1404.
About Van Andel Research Institute
Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996, Van Andel Institute (VAI) is an independent research and educational organization based in Grand Rapids, Mich., dedicated to preserving, enhancing and expanding the frontiers of medical science, and to achieving excellence in education by probing fundamental issues of education and the learning process. VARI, the research arm of VAI, is dedicated to probing the genetic, cellular and molecular origins of cancer, Parkinson and other diseases and working to translate those findings into effective therapies. This is accomplished through the work of over 200 researchers in 18 on-site laboratories, in laboratories in Singapore and Nanjing, and in collaborative partnerships that span the globe. For more information, visit: vai.
Source: Steve Yozwiak, TGen Senior Science Writer
The Translational Genomics Research Institute
The non-profit research institutes jointly announced today the initiation of an "alliance and affiliation agreement."
The partnership between Phoenix, Ariz.-based TGen and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based VARI will enable both institutes to speed up their mutual goals of moving research discoveries about cancer and other debilitating medical conditions as quickly as possible from laboratories to patient care.
"Combining many of the scientific, educational, financial and business potentials of TGen and VARI will advance the research of both institutions and enhance the economic development of both Arizona and Western Michigan," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen since its founding in 2002
.
"This alliance will elevate both organizations in the world of scientific research," said Dr. Trent, who will retain his roles at TGen, but upon implementation of the agreement also will become President and Research Director of VARI.
VARI is the research arm of the Van Andel Institute (VAI), established in 1996 as a philanthropic research and educational organization by the late Jay and Betty Van Andel.
"We are excited to welcome Dr. Trent and TGen as they combine forces with us in our mission to conquer cancer and human disease," said VAI Chairman and CEO David Van Andel. "This alliance demonstrates that VARI and TGen are at the forefront of redefining a borderless, collaborative, national and international scientific community that transcends geographical limitations."
The alliance combines the groundbreaking basic research expertise of VARI with the cutting-edge translational genomics and analysis of TGen.
Dr. Trent will replace Dr. George Vande Woude, who in 1998 was appointed the founding Director of VARI.
"The search for a new director has ended with the best possible results - a renowned, research director in Dr. Trent, who will now lead VARI, and an alliance that strengthens two of the nation's fast-emerging leaders in biomedical research," David Van Andel said.
Dr. Vande Woude, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, will remain at VARI as head of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology. Dr. Vande Woude, who held top-level administrative posts at the National Cancer Institute since the early 1980's, will be able to achieve a long-held desire to return to the lab full-time.
"This is a great moment for both Institutions. I have known Dr.Trent professionally for nearly 20 years and have always admired him as one of the nation's leading scientists. One of Dr. Trent's greatest attributes is bringing together researchers from many disciplines to work on problems that will improve human health," Dr. Vande Woude said.
TGen is dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and infectious diseases. TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research, in which investigators unravel the genetic basis of complex diseases and medical conditions.
VARI opened its facility in 2000. Its 18 research laboratories are primarily dedicated to molecular cancer research, but it also focuses on conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, osteoporosis, and heart disease. VARI will open a 240,000 square-foot building expansion this fall, which will allow it to broaden its efforts to include additional neurological disorders and chronic illnesses. VARI's primary work has been in basic research - looking for what occurs to cause disease in individual cells, and using that information to identify "biomarkers" that can help predict and diagnose diseases, and lead to the development of safer, more effective drugs.
"VARI is on the verge of expanding its already strong basic research programs and implementing further translational research," said Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-In-Chief and a world-renowned cancer scientist.
"TGen is poised to translate the discoveries generated in laboratories from both organizations into real solutions for patients," said Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare. "This is a terrific opportunity to work together and increase our chances of making a difference for our patients."
Both TGen and VARI are relatively young organizations that have triggered regional growth of the life sciences and biomedical industries in Arizona and Western Michigan.
Both organizations have a strong focus on cancer, collaborations and expansion locally, nationally and internationally.
The "alliance and affiliation agreement" is expected to become effective July 1, 2009.
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research where investigators are able to unravel the genetic components of common and complex diseases. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities, TGen believes it can make a substantial contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For additional media resources and more information, visit: tgen/news/index.cfm?pageid=57&newsid=1404.
About Van Andel Research Institute
Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996, Van Andel Institute (VAI) is an independent research and educational organization based in Grand Rapids, Mich., dedicated to preserving, enhancing and expanding the frontiers of medical science, and to achieving excellence in education by probing fundamental issues of education and the learning process. VARI, the research arm of VAI, is dedicated to probing the genetic, cellular and molecular origins of cancer, Parkinson and other diseases and working to translate those findings into effective therapies. This is accomplished through the work of over 200 researchers in 18 on-site laboratories, in laboratories in Singapore and Nanjing, and in collaborative partnerships that span the globe. For more information, visit: vai.
Source: Steve Yozwiak, TGen Senior Science Writer
The Translational Genomics Research Institute
понедельник, 25 апреля 2011 г.
Using Living Pond Creatures As Biosensors
If the pond life goes star-shaped, you'd be wise not to drink the water.
Researchers from CRC CARE are pioneering a world-first technology to warn people if their local water or air is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals and metal-like substances.
Andrew McKay, a PhD student at CRC CARE and The University of Queensland, is studying the changes that take place in a unique water microbe when it is exposed to arsenic, cadmium and lead -- industrial and natural contaminants around the world.
"Our goal is to develop a simple field test that can warn people or environmental authorities if dangerous levels of toxic metals or metalloids (metal-like substances such as arsenic) are present in the environment, to which they might be exposed," he explains.
The test could provide vital in helping to tackle one of the world's greatest disasters -- the poisoning of tens of millions of people in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, through naturally-occurring arsenic in their household well water.
"But countries such as Australia and New Zealand also have an arsenic problem from the tens of thousands of old sheep and cattle dips where arsenic was used for decades to control pests," Mr McKay said.
"In many cases these old dip sites have been forgotten and spreading urbanization has covered them.
"We also have numerous old gold mining sites where arsenic was once used, tailings dumps from almost any kind of metal mine and wetlands that were used to trap contaminated runoff."
Mr McKay said old factories which produced paint or batteries had left historical residues of lead in our inner city areas, while fertilizer plants and other industrial processes had deposited cadmium and other toxic metals.
"If toxic metals are present in the soil there is always a risk they will leach into drinking water, get into our food chain and reach infants and children," he said.
"As city land value increase due to demand, we need better ways to make sure the land is clean and safe to live and work on."
He said there was good progress in developing water organisms as an early warning tool for such contamination, especially where a mix of toxic contaminants is involved.
"We've found a number of readily-observable changes which take place in the organism when it is exposed to increased levels of toxic metals and metalloids," he said.
"Their growth and reproduction rates slow down and their shape changes -- becoming star or V-shaped.
"And of course, at high levels of the toxins, they die."
These changes will enable scientists to use the pond creatures as living sensors -- or biosensors -- for toxic metal contamination.
The current research challenge, he says, is to use the organisms to develop a sensitive enough test to discern whether or not the level of contamination poses a risk to human health and life.
Simple pond creatures are often more tolerant of metals than humans, who accumulate the toxins over a much longer period of time, leading to cancers, immune system breakdown, nerve or brain damage or other forms of poisoning.
The research task now is to equate the symptoms observed in the microbes with levels of risk to humans and animals, and to package this as a cheap, simple test that can provide a quick answer in the field -- rather than through long and expensive laboratory testing, Mr McKay said.
Source: Jan King
Research Australia
Researchers from CRC CARE are pioneering a world-first technology to warn people if their local water or air is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals and metal-like substances.
Andrew McKay, a PhD student at CRC CARE and The University of Queensland, is studying the changes that take place in a unique water microbe when it is exposed to arsenic, cadmium and lead -- industrial and natural contaminants around the world.
"Our goal is to develop a simple field test that can warn people or environmental authorities if dangerous levels of toxic metals or metalloids (metal-like substances such as arsenic) are present in the environment, to which they might be exposed," he explains.
The test could provide vital in helping to tackle one of the world's greatest disasters -- the poisoning of tens of millions of people in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, through naturally-occurring arsenic in their household well water.
"But countries such as Australia and New Zealand also have an arsenic problem from the tens of thousands of old sheep and cattle dips where arsenic was used for decades to control pests," Mr McKay said.
"In many cases these old dip sites have been forgotten and spreading urbanization has covered them.
"We also have numerous old gold mining sites where arsenic was once used, tailings dumps from almost any kind of metal mine and wetlands that were used to trap contaminated runoff."
Mr McKay said old factories which produced paint or batteries had left historical residues of lead in our inner city areas, while fertilizer plants and other industrial processes had deposited cadmium and other toxic metals.
"If toxic metals are present in the soil there is always a risk they will leach into drinking water, get into our food chain and reach infants and children," he said.
"As city land value increase due to demand, we need better ways to make sure the land is clean and safe to live and work on."
He said there was good progress in developing water organisms as an early warning tool for such contamination, especially where a mix of toxic contaminants is involved.
"We've found a number of readily-observable changes which take place in the organism when it is exposed to increased levels of toxic metals and metalloids," he said.
"Their growth and reproduction rates slow down and their shape changes -- becoming star or V-shaped.
"And of course, at high levels of the toxins, they die."
These changes will enable scientists to use the pond creatures as living sensors -- or biosensors -- for toxic metal contamination.
The current research challenge, he says, is to use the organisms to develop a sensitive enough test to discern whether or not the level of contamination poses a risk to human health and life.
Simple pond creatures are often more tolerant of metals than humans, who accumulate the toxins over a much longer period of time, leading to cancers, immune system breakdown, nerve or brain damage or other forms of poisoning.
The research task now is to equate the symptoms observed in the microbes with levels of risk to humans and animals, and to package this as a cheap, simple test that can provide a quick answer in the field -- rather than through long and expensive laboratory testing, Mr McKay said.
Source: Jan King
Research Australia
воскресенье, 24 апреля 2011 г.
Potential Oral Vaccine Against Anthrax
Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that the good bacteria found in dairy products and linked to positive health benefits in the human body might also be an effective vehicle for an oral vaccine that can provide immunity to anthrax exposure. The approach could possibly be used to deliver any number of specific vaccines that could block other types of viruses and pathogens.
The oral vaccine riding inside the good bacteria makes it way through the stomach and into the small intestine, an important immunological organ, where it easily and efficiently binds to cells that trigger an immune response - in this case, protection against anthrax in mice.
The finding, published the week of Feb. 16 in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that an oral vaccine can be as effective as one given by needle, a potentially huge advance in drug delivery. Most vaccines are proteins, and as such normally won't maintain their effectiveness after being digested in the stomach.
The good bacteria - Lactobacillus acidophilus, a lactic acid bacteria - are naturally found in dairy products like milk and cheese, and are added by manufacturers to foods like yogurt. They are used in food fermentationas, are safe for consumption and some are considered as probiotics that contribute to our general health and well being.
In the paper, Dr. Todd Klaenhammer, Distinguished University Professor and William Neal Reynolds Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Dr. Tri Duong from the functional genomics program at NC State, and colleagues from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease show that the acid tolerant lactic acid bacteria can act like an EZ Pass, delivering the anthrax vaccine through the stomach and releasing it into the small intestine.
There, the vaccine targets the first line of immune cells, dendritic cells, that can trigger the mucosal immune system to respond and elicit protection against anthrax. In the study, the oral vaccine worked about as well as a vaccine delivered by needle, the standard way of inoculating living things from viruses and pathogens.
"Normally, you can't eat vaccines because the digestive process in the stomach destroys them, so vaccines are administered by needle," Klaenhammer says. "But using 'food grade' lactic acid bacteria as a vehicle provides a safe way of getting the vaccine into the small intestine without losing any of the drug's efficacy in binding to the dendritic cells, which can then trigger an immune response."
Klaenhammer and his colleagues are now attempting to use lactic acid bacteria to carry varying types of oral vaccines to provide immunity to important viruses and pathogens. They are also working to improve the efficiency of binding of Lactobacillus acidophilus and the vaccine to dendritic cells.
"Can we make these generally recognized as safe lactic acid bacteria into a premier delivery system for vaccines and biotherapeutics? That's the question we're now trying to answer," Klaenhammer says.
The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and the North Carolina Dairy Foundation.
An abstract of the paper follows.
"Dendritic cell targeting of Bacillus anthracis protective antigen expressed by Lactobacillus acidophilus protects mice from lethal challenge"
Authors: M. Mohamadzadeh, Northwestern University; T. Duong, Washington State University; S.J. Sandwick and T. Hoover,
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases;
and Todd Klaenhammer, North Carolina State University;
Published: The week of Feb. 16, 2009, online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Abstract: Efficient vaccines potentiate antibody avidity and increase T cell longevity, which confer protection against microbial lethal challenge. A vaccine strategy was established by using Lactobacillus acidophilus to deliver Bacillus anthracis protective antigen (PA) via specific dendritic cell-targeting peptides to dendritic cells (DCs), which reside in the periphery and mucosal surfaces, thus directing and regulating acquired immunity. The efficiency of oral delivery of L. acidophilus expressing a PA-DCpep fusion was evaluated in mice challenged with lethal B. anthracis Sterne. Vaccination with L. acidophilus expressing PA-DCpep induced robust protective immunity against B. anthracis Sterne compared with mice vaccinated with L. acidophilus expressing PA-control peptide or an empty vector. Additionally, serum anti-PA titers, neutralizing PA antibodies, and the levels of IgA-expressing cells were all comparable with the historical recombinant PA plus aluminum hydroxide vaccine administered s.c. Collectively, development of this strategy for oral delivery of DC-targeted antigens provides a safe and protective vaccine via a bacterial adjuvant that may potentiate mucosal immune responses against deadly pathogens.
Source: Mick Kulikowski
North Carolina State University
The oral vaccine riding inside the good bacteria makes it way through the stomach and into the small intestine, an important immunological organ, where it easily and efficiently binds to cells that trigger an immune response - in this case, protection against anthrax in mice.
The finding, published the week of Feb. 16 in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that an oral vaccine can be as effective as one given by needle, a potentially huge advance in drug delivery. Most vaccines are proteins, and as such normally won't maintain their effectiveness after being digested in the stomach.
The good bacteria - Lactobacillus acidophilus, a lactic acid bacteria - are naturally found in dairy products like milk and cheese, and are added by manufacturers to foods like yogurt. They are used in food fermentationas, are safe for consumption and some are considered as probiotics that contribute to our general health and well being.
In the paper, Dr. Todd Klaenhammer, Distinguished University Professor and William Neal Reynolds Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Dr. Tri Duong from the functional genomics program at NC State, and colleagues from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease show that the acid tolerant lactic acid bacteria can act like an EZ Pass, delivering the anthrax vaccine through the stomach and releasing it into the small intestine.
There, the vaccine targets the first line of immune cells, dendritic cells, that can trigger the mucosal immune system to respond and elicit protection against anthrax. In the study, the oral vaccine worked about as well as a vaccine delivered by needle, the standard way of inoculating living things from viruses and pathogens.
"Normally, you can't eat vaccines because the digestive process in the stomach destroys them, so vaccines are administered by needle," Klaenhammer says. "But using 'food grade' lactic acid bacteria as a vehicle provides a safe way of getting the vaccine into the small intestine without losing any of the drug's efficacy in binding to the dendritic cells, which can then trigger an immune response."
Klaenhammer and his colleagues are now attempting to use lactic acid bacteria to carry varying types of oral vaccines to provide immunity to important viruses and pathogens. They are also working to improve the efficiency of binding of Lactobacillus acidophilus and the vaccine to dendritic cells.
"Can we make these generally recognized as safe lactic acid bacteria into a premier delivery system for vaccines and biotherapeutics? That's the question we're now trying to answer," Klaenhammer says.
The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and the North Carolina Dairy Foundation.
An abstract of the paper follows.
"Dendritic cell targeting of Bacillus anthracis protective antigen expressed by Lactobacillus acidophilus protects mice from lethal challenge"
Authors: M. Mohamadzadeh, Northwestern University; T. Duong, Washington State University; S.J. Sandwick and T. Hoover,
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases;
and Todd Klaenhammer, North Carolina State University;
Published: The week of Feb. 16, 2009, online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Abstract: Efficient vaccines potentiate antibody avidity and increase T cell longevity, which confer protection against microbial lethal challenge. A vaccine strategy was established by using Lactobacillus acidophilus to deliver Bacillus anthracis protective antigen (PA) via specific dendritic cell-targeting peptides to dendritic cells (DCs), which reside in the periphery and mucosal surfaces, thus directing and regulating acquired immunity. The efficiency of oral delivery of L. acidophilus expressing a PA-DCpep fusion was evaluated in mice challenged with lethal B. anthracis Sterne. Vaccination with L. acidophilus expressing PA-DCpep induced robust protective immunity against B. anthracis Sterne compared with mice vaccinated with L. acidophilus expressing PA-control peptide or an empty vector. Additionally, serum anti-PA titers, neutralizing PA antibodies, and the levels of IgA-expressing cells were all comparable with the historical recombinant PA plus aluminum hydroxide vaccine administered s.c. Collectively, development of this strategy for oral delivery of DC-targeted antigens provides a safe and protective vaccine via a bacterial adjuvant that may potentiate mucosal immune responses against deadly pathogens.
Source: Mick Kulikowski
North Carolina State University
суббота, 23 апреля 2011 г.
Lab-On-A-Chip Device From Berkeley Lab To Speed Proteomics Research
In recent years, the science of biology has been dominated by genomics - the study of genes and their functions. The genomics era is now making way for the era of proteomics - the study of the proteins that genes encode. Future proteomics research should see a substantial acceleration with the development of a new device that provides the first monolithic interface between mass spectrometry and silicon/silica-based microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" technologies. This new device, called a multinozzle nanoelectrospray emitter array, was developed by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
"Proteomics has become an indispensable tool in biological research, be it diagnostics, therapeutics, bioenergy or stem cell research, and mass spectrometry is proteomics' enabling technology," said Daojing Wang, a scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division who leads the proteomics research group and was the principal investigator behind the development of the multinozzle nanoelectrospray emitter.
"Lab-on-a-chip technology has enormous potential for proteomics research," Wang said, "but for this potential to be fully realized, a major advance in interfacing microfluidics with mass spectrometry is needed. Our device provides that interface."
Wang and Peidong Yang, a leading nanoscience authority with Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry and Materials Sciences Division, and also a chemistry professor with the University of California's Berkeley campus, co-authored a paper on this work which is being published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The paper, which is now available in the on-line version. is entitled: "Microfabricated Monolithic Multinozzle Emitters for Nanoelectrospray Mass Spectrometry."
Other authors of the ACS paper were Woong Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Foundry, and Mingquan Guo, a postdoctoral fellow in the Life Sciences Division.
When the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, giving scientists a complete catalogue of human DNA, the next big effort focused on genomics, identifying DNA sequences that code for proteins, aka, genes. With the identification of each and every new gene, the emphasis shifts to determining the biochemical function of its associated proteins.
All biological cells are constructed from aggregations of proteins that interact with other protein aggregations like an elaborate, finely choreographed network of interdependent machines. This biomolecular machinery also controls nearly every chemical process inside a cell, and forms much of the connectivity that enable cells to come together into tissues and organs. One of the first steps in proteomics research is to determine the identity and modifications of individual proteins that make up a cell or tissue sample. The principal means of doing this is through mass spectrometry.
Mass spectrometers use a combination of ionization and magnets to separate a protein's constituent peptides. Detection and analysis of this mass spectrum can then be used to identify the protein and quantify its presence in a sample. The most popular technique today for ionizing a protein's constituents for mass spectrometry is to liquefy the protein and send it through electrically charged capillaries - a technique known as electrospray ionization. One of the best candidates for high throughput integration of the detection and analysis processes is to interface the mass spectrometers with lab-on-a-chip technology, where biological fluids are introduced onto a microprocessor chip. However, microfluidic analysis of proteins has been a separate process from mass spectrometry - until now.
"Ours is the first report of a silicon/silica microfluidic channel that is integrated monolithically with a multinozzle nanoelectrospray emitter," said Wang. "This paves the way for the large scale integration of mass spectrometry and lab-on-a-chip analysis in proteomics research."
Each emitter consists of a parallel array of silica nozzles protruding out from a hollow silicon sliver with a conduit size of 100 x 10 microns. Multiple nozzles (100 nozzles per millimeter was a typical density) were used rather than single nozzles in order to reduce the pressure and clogging problems that arise as the microfluidic channels on a chip downsize to a nanometer scale. The emitters and their nozzles were produced from a silicon wafer, with the dimension and number of nozzles systematically and precisely controlled during the fabrication process. Fabrication required the use of only a single mask and involved photolithographic patterning and various etching processes.
Said Peidong Yang, "Once integrated with a mass spectrometer, our microfabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters achieved a sensitivity and stability in peptide and protein detection comparable to commercial silica-based capillary nanoelectrospray tips. This indicates that our emitters could serve as a critical component in a fully integrated silicon/silica-based micro total analysis system for proteomics."
Added Daojing Wang, "This is also the first report of a multinozzle emitter that can be fabricated through standard microfabrication processes. In addition to having lower back pressure and higher sensitivity, multinozzle emitters also provide a means to systematically study the electrospray ionization processes because the size of each nozzle and density of nozzles on the emitters can be adjusted."
According to Wang and Yang, the fabrication and application of the microfabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters, called "M3 emitters" for short, could be commercialized immediately and should be highly competitive with current silica capillary emitters in terms of cost and mass production.
"We are now in the process of creating a chip that integrates sample processing and preparation as well as detection and analysis," said Wang. "The ability to perform the full process on a single chip has enormous commercial potential."
Berkeley lab has filed for a patent on this technology. The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, with some of the work done at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, which is supported by the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy.
Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit our Website at lbl/
Contact: Lynn Yarris
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
"Proteomics has become an indispensable tool in biological research, be it diagnostics, therapeutics, bioenergy or stem cell research, and mass spectrometry is proteomics' enabling technology," said Daojing Wang, a scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division who leads the proteomics research group and was the principal investigator behind the development of the multinozzle nanoelectrospray emitter.
"Lab-on-a-chip technology has enormous potential for proteomics research," Wang said, "but for this potential to be fully realized, a major advance in interfacing microfluidics with mass spectrometry is needed. Our device provides that interface."
Wang and Peidong Yang, a leading nanoscience authority with Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry and Materials Sciences Division, and also a chemistry professor with the University of California's Berkeley campus, co-authored a paper on this work which is being published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The paper, which is now available in the on-line version. is entitled: "Microfabricated Monolithic Multinozzle Emitters for Nanoelectrospray Mass Spectrometry."
Other authors of the ACS paper were Woong Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Foundry, and Mingquan Guo, a postdoctoral fellow in the Life Sciences Division.
When the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, giving scientists a complete catalogue of human DNA, the next big effort focused on genomics, identifying DNA sequences that code for proteins, aka, genes. With the identification of each and every new gene, the emphasis shifts to determining the biochemical function of its associated proteins.
All biological cells are constructed from aggregations of proteins that interact with other protein aggregations like an elaborate, finely choreographed network of interdependent machines. This biomolecular machinery also controls nearly every chemical process inside a cell, and forms much of the connectivity that enable cells to come together into tissues and organs. One of the first steps in proteomics research is to determine the identity and modifications of individual proteins that make up a cell or tissue sample. The principal means of doing this is through mass spectrometry.
Mass spectrometers use a combination of ionization and magnets to separate a protein's constituent peptides. Detection and analysis of this mass spectrum can then be used to identify the protein and quantify its presence in a sample. The most popular technique today for ionizing a protein's constituents for mass spectrometry is to liquefy the protein and send it through electrically charged capillaries - a technique known as electrospray ionization. One of the best candidates for high throughput integration of the detection and analysis processes is to interface the mass spectrometers with lab-on-a-chip technology, where biological fluids are introduced onto a microprocessor chip. However, microfluidic analysis of proteins has been a separate process from mass spectrometry - until now.
"Ours is the first report of a silicon/silica microfluidic channel that is integrated monolithically with a multinozzle nanoelectrospray emitter," said Wang. "This paves the way for the large scale integration of mass spectrometry and lab-on-a-chip analysis in proteomics research."
Each emitter consists of a parallel array of silica nozzles protruding out from a hollow silicon sliver with a conduit size of 100 x 10 microns. Multiple nozzles (100 nozzles per millimeter was a typical density) were used rather than single nozzles in order to reduce the pressure and clogging problems that arise as the microfluidic channels on a chip downsize to a nanometer scale. The emitters and their nozzles were produced from a silicon wafer, with the dimension and number of nozzles systematically and precisely controlled during the fabrication process. Fabrication required the use of only a single mask and involved photolithographic patterning and various etching processes.
Said Peidong Yang, "Once integrated with a mass spectrometer, our microfabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters achieved a sensitivity and stability in peptide and protein detection comparable to commercial silica-based capillary nanoelectrospray tips. This indicates that our emitters could serve as a critical component in a fully integrated silicon/silica-based micro total analysis system for proteomics."
Added Daojing Wang, "This is also the first report of a multinozzle emitter that can be fabricated through standard microfabrication processes. In addition to having lower back pressure and higher sensitivity, multinozzle emitters also provide a means to systematically study the electrospray ionization processes because the size of each nozzle and density of nozzles on the emitters can be adjusted."
According to Wang and Yang, the fabrication and application of the microfabricated monolithic multinozzle emitters, called "M3 emitters" for short, could be commercialized immediately and should be highly competitive with current silica capillary emitters in terms of cost and mass production.
"We are now in the process of creating a chip that integrates sample processing and preparation as well as detection and analysis," said Wang. "The ability to perform the full process on a single chip has enormous commercial potential."
Berkeley lab has filed for a patent on this technology. The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, with some of the work done at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, which is supported by the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy.
Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit our Website at lbl/
Contact: Lynn Yarris
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
пятница, 22 апреля 2011 г.
Molecular Changes In Brain Fluid Give Insight Into Brain-Damaging Disease
Soon after an individual becomes infected with HIV the virus infects cells in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system [CNS]). Although this causes no immediate problems, during the late-stages of disease it can cause dementia and encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain that can cause death). Monkeys infected with a relative of HIV (SIV) also sometimes develop CNS damage and provide a good model of CNS disease in individuals infected with HIV. Insight into the mechanisms of CNS damage in SIV-infected monkeys has now been provided by a team of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, who developed an approach to identify molecular changes in the fluid bathing the CNS (the CSF). The researchers, who were led by Howard Fox and Gary Siuzdak, hope that similar approaches could be used to provide new information about other neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.
In the study, an approach known as global metabolomics was used to assess the levels of molecules known as metabolites in the CSF before and after SIV-induced encephalitis was manifest. The level of a number of metabolites, including some known as fatty acids and phospholipids, was observed to increase during infection. Consistent with this, a protein known to be important in the generation of fatty acids was found to be increased in the brain of monkeys with SIV-induced encephalitis. Further studies will be required to determine the precise role of the increased level of each metabolite, but it should be noted that many of them are known to induce receptor signaling and thereby might be able to further modulate CNS function.
TITLE:
Metabolomic analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid reveals changes in phospholipase expression in the CNS of SIV-infected macaques
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Howard S. Fox
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Gary Siuzdak
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Source: Karen Honey
Journal of Clinical Investigation
In the study, an approach known as global metabolomics was used to assess the levels of molecules known as metabolites in the CSF before and after SIV-induced encephalitis was manifest. The level of a number of metabolites, including some known as fatty acids and phospholipids, was observed to increase during infection. Consistent with this, a protein known to be important in the generation of fatty acids was found to be increased in the brain of monkeys with SIV-induced encephalitis. Further studies will be required to determine the precise role of the increased level of each metabolite, but it should be noted that many of them are known to induce receptor signaling and thereby might be able to further modulate CNS function.
TITLE:
Metabolomic analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid reveals changes in phospholipase expression in the CNS of SIV-infected macaques
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Howard S. Fox
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Gary Siuzdak
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Source: Karen Honey
Journal of Clinical Investigation
четверг, 21 апреля 2011 г.
Hebrew University, US Scientists Find Clue To Mystery Of How Biological Clock Operates On 24-hour Cycle
How does our biological system know that it is supposed to operate on a 24-hour cycle? Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered that a tiny molecule holds the clue to the mystery.
Human as well as most living organisms on earth possess circadian a (24-hour) life rhythm. This rhythm is generated from an internal clock that is located in the brain and regulates many bodily functions, including the sleep-wake cycle and eating.
Although the evidence for their existence is obvious and they have been studied for more than 150 years, only recently the mechanisms that generate these rhythms have begun to be unraveled.
A researcher of the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University, Dr. Sebastian Kadener, and one of his students, Uri Weissbein, are among a collaborative group of researchers that have now found that tiny molecules known as miRNAs are central constituents of the circadian clock. Their discovery holds wide-ranging implications for future therapeutic treatment to deal with sleep deprivation and other common disorders connected with the daily life cycle.
The sleep-wake cycle, the most characterized manifestation of the circadian clock, is generated thanks to specialized neurons found both in humans and fruitflies. (The mechanism governing the circadian clock in fruitflies is almost identical to the one mammals -- and humans -- have.)
These neurons have the striking capability of counting time very accurately via a complex process of gene activation and repression that result in a tightly controlled process that takes exactly 24 hours.
The new research by Dr. Kadener and his colleagues, published in an article in the journal Genes and Development (and that was highlighted in Nature Review Neuroscience), has shown that a new mode of regulation has a pivotal importance for the ability of our internal clock to accurately count those 24 hours each day. Specifically, they have shown that the very tiny miRNA molecules are necessary for the circadian rhythms to function.
MiRNAs have recently been discovered and have been shown to be involved in different processes in animals. By the use of new state-of-the-art techniques (most of them developed in the present study) the authors demonstrate that one specific miRNA (called bantam) recognizes and regulates the translation of the gene clock.
This constitutes the first example of a defined miRNA-gene regulation in the central clock. Perhaps even more importantly, the researchers were among the first to prove that there is a clear role of miRNA regulation in the brain in general and behavior in particular.
In addition to Kadener and Weissman, others participating in the research were Prof. Michael Rosbash, Dr. Jerome Menet, Dr. Pipat Nawathean, Prof. Sacha Nelson and Dr. Ken Sugino from Brandeis University in the US and Prof. Phil Zamore, Dr. Michael Horwich and Dr. Vasia Vagin from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Human as well as most living organisms on earth possess circadian a (24-hour) life rhythm. This rhythm is generated from an internal clock that is located in the brain and regulates many bodily functions, including the sleep-wake cycle and eating.
Although the evidence for their existence is obvious and they have been studied for more than 150 years, only recently the mechanisms that generate these rhythms have begun to be unraveled.
A researcher of the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University, Dr. Sebastian Kadener, and one of his students, Uri Weissbein, are among a collaborative group of researchers that have now found that tiny molecules known as miRNAs are central constituents of the circadian clock. Their discovery holds wide-ranging implications for future therapeutic treatment to deal with sleep deprivation and other common disorders connected with the daily life cycle.
The sleep-wake cycle, the most characterized manifestation of the circadian clock, is generated thanks to specialized neurons found both in humans and fruitflies. (The mechanism governing the circadian clock in fruitflies is almost identical to the one mammals -- and humans -- have.)
These neurons have the striking capability of counting time very accurately via a complex process of gene activation and repression that result in a tightly controlled process that takes exactly 24 hours.
The new research by Dr. Kadener and his colleagues, published in an article in the journal Genes and Development (and that was highlighted in Nature Review Neuroscience), has shown that a new mode of regulation has a pivotal importance for the ability of our internal clock to accurately count those 24 hours each day. Specifically, they have shown that the very tiny miRNA molecules are necessary for the circadian rhythms to function.
MiRNAs have recently been discovered and have been shown to be involved in different processes in animals. By the use of new state-of-the-art techniques (most of them developed in the present study) the authors demonstrate that one specific miRNA (called bantam) recognizes and regulates the translation of the gene clock.
This constitutes the first example of a defined miRNA-gene regulation in the central clock. Perhaps even more importantly, the researchers were among the first to prove that there is a clear role of miRNA regulation in the brain in general and behavior in particular.
In addition to Kadener and Weissman, others participating in the research were Prof. Michael Rosbash, Dr. Jerome Menet, Dr. Pipat Nawathean, Prof. Sacha Nelson and Dr. Ken Sugino from Brandeis University in the US and Prof. Phil Zamore, Dr. Michael Horwich and Dr. Vasia Vagin from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
среда, 20 апреля 2011 г.
Directed Self-Ordering Of Organic Molecules For Electronic Devices
A simple surface treatment technique demonstrated by a collaboration between researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Penn State and the University of Kentucky potentially offers a low-cost way to mass produce large arrays of organic electronic transistors on polymer sheets for a wide range of applications including flexible displays, "intelligent paper" and flexible sheets of biosensor arrays for field diagnostics.
In a paper posted this week,* the team describes how a chemical pretreatment of electrical contacts can induce self-assembly of molecular crystals to both improve the performance of organic semiconductor devices and provide electrical isolation between devices.
Organic electronic devices are inching towards the market. Compounds with tongue-twisting names like "5,11-bis(triethylsilylethynyl) anthradithiophene" can be designed with many of the electrical properties of more conventional semiconductors. But unlike traditional semiconductors that require high-temperature processing steps, organic semiconductor devices can be manufactured at room temperature. They could be built on flexible polymers instead of rigid silicon wafers. Magazine-size displays that could be rolled up or folded to pocket size and plastic sheets that incorporate large arrays of detectors for medical monitoring or diagnostics in the field are just a couple of the tantalizing possibilities.
One unsolved problem is how to manufacture them efficiently and at low cost. Large areas can be coated rapidly with a thin film of the organic compound in solution, which dries to a semiconductor layer. But for big arrays like displays, that layer must be patterned into electrically isolated devices. Doing that requires one or more additional steps that are costly, time-consuming and/or difficult to do accurately.
The NIST team and their partners studied the organic version of a workhorse device - the field effect transistor (FET) - that commonly is used as a switch to, for example, turn pixels on and off in computer displays. The essential structure consists of two electrical contacts with a channel of semiconductor between them. The researchers found that by applying a specially tailored pretreatment compound to the contacts before applying the organic semiconductor solution, they could induce the molecules in solution to self-assemble into well-ordered crystals at the contact sites. These structures grow outwards to join across the FET channel in a way that provides good electrical properties at the FET site, but further away from the treated contacts the molecules dry in a more random, helter-skelter arrangement that has dramatically poorer properties - effectively providing the needed electrical isolation for each device without any additional processing steps. The work is an example of the merging of device structure and function that may enable low cost manufacturing, and an area where organic materials have important advantages.
In addition to its potential as a commercially important manufacturing process, the authors note, this chemically engineered self-ordering of organic semiconductor molecules can be used to create test structures for fundamental studies of charge transport and other important properties of a range of organic electronic systems.
* D.J. Gundlach, J.E. Royer, S.K. Park, S. Subramanian, O.D. Jurchescu, B.H. Hamadani, A.J. Moad, R.J. Kline, L.C. Teague, O. Kirillov, C.A. Richter, J.G. Kushmerick, L.J. Richter, S.R. Parkin, T.N. Jackson and J.E. Anthony. Contact-induced crystallinity for high-performance soluble acene-based transistors and circuits. Nature Materials Advanced Online Publication, 17 February 2008.
Source: Michael Baum
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
In a paper posted this week,* the team describes how a chemical pretreatment of electrical contacts can induce self-assembly of molecular crystals to both improve the performance of organic semiconductor devices and provide electrical isolation between devices.
Organic electronic devices are inching towards the market. Compounds with tongue-twisting names like "5,11-bis(triethylsilylethynyl) anthradithiophene" can be designed with many of the electrical properties of more conventional semiconductors. But unlike traditional semiconductors that require high-temperature processing steps, organic semiconductor devices can be manufactured at room temperature. They could be built on flexible polymers instead of rigid silicon wafers. Magazine-size displays that could be rolled up or folded to pocket size and plastic sheets that incorporate large arrays of detectors for medical monitoring or diagnostics in the field are just a couple of the tantalizing possibilities.
One unsolved problem is how to manufacture them efficiently and at low cost. Large areas can be coated rapidly with a thin film of the organic compound in solution, which dries to a semiconductor layer. But for big arrays like displays, that layer must be patterned into electrically isolated devices. Doing that requires one or more additional steps that are costly, time-consuming and/or difficult to do accurately.
The NIST team and their partners studied the organic version of a workhorse device - the field effect transistor (FET) - that commonly is used as a switch to, for example, turn pixels on and off in computer displays. The essential structure consists of two electrical contacts with a channel of semiconductor between them. The researchers found that by applying a specially tailored pretreatment compound to the contacts before applying the organic semiconductor solution, they could induce the molecules in solution to self-assemble into well-ordered crystals at the contact sites. These structures grow outwards to join across the FET channel in a way that provides good electrical properties at the FET site, but further away from the treated contacts the molecules dry in a more random, helter-skelter arrangement that has dramatically poorer properties - effectively providing the needed electrical isolation for each device without any additional processing steps. The work is an example of the merging of device structure and function that may enable low cost manufacturing, and an area where organic materials have important advantages.
In addition to its potential as a commercially important manufacturing process, the authors note, this chemically engineered self-ordering of organic semiconductor molecules can be used to create test structures for fundamental studies of charge transport and other important properties of a range of organic electronic systems.
* D.J. Gundlach, J.E. Royer, S.K. Park, S. Subramanian, O.D. Jurchescu, B.H. Hamadani, A.J. Moad, R.J. Kline, L.C. Teague, O. Kirillov, C.A. Richter, J.G. Kushmerick, L.J. Richter, S.R. Parkin, T.N. Jackson and J.E. Anthony. Contact-induced crystallinity for high-performance soluble acene-based transistors and circuits. Nature Materials Advanced Online Publication, 17 February 2008.
Source: Michael Baum
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
вторник, 19 апреля 2011 г.
New Insights Into Cell Migration And Tissue Morphogenesis In Zebrafish
Using zebrafish embryos as a model system, researchers of the Max DelbrГјck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have gained new insights into the complex morphogenesis of epithelial cells during their development and migration. David Hava, Dr. Ulrike Forster and Dr. Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried studied the development of the lateral line organ in zebrafish, a sensory system found in fish and amphibians which serves to detect water flow and movements. Their findings show that two genes regulate cell organization within this epithelial tissue, which is found at different points along the fish body surface. Both genes also play a role in cancer development. (Journal of Cell Science, 10. February 10, 2009, doi: 10.1242/jcs.032102)*.
The study focused on the formation of cellular rosettes within an epithelial tissue and their separation from it. Normally, each cellular rosette gives rise to a neuromast, a sensor whose function it is to detect water flow movements. The researchers have described for the first time the cellular machinery that is needed to form these epithelial cell rosettes within a compact migratory tissue. Their research demonstrates that two genes have an important function in the formation of cellular rosettes: namely, to allow cells within the rosettes to adhere more strongly to each other than to the cells of the surrounding tissue. However, if one of the genes is lacking, the cells within the rosettes adhere to each other less strongly and the rosettes can no longer separate entirely from the surrounding tissue. As a consequence, fewer sensors develop.
Cell migration is not only significant for embryonic development but also in the development of cancer. Being a vertebrate, the tiny zebrafish shares many of the features of human systems which is why scientists use it as a model organism for studying vertebrate development and disease.
*Apical membrane maturation and cellular rosette formation during morphogenesis of the zebrafish lateral line
David Hava1*, Ulrike Forster1*, Miho Matsuda2, Shuang Cui3, Brian A. Link3, Jenny Eichhorst4, Burkhard Wiesner4, Ajay Chitnis2, and Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried1,#
1 Max DelbrГјck Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine, D-13125 Berlin, Germany
2 Unit on Vertebrate Neural Development, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NIH/NICHD, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
3 Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509, USA
4 L eibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP), D-13125 Berlin, Germany
*both authors contributed equally
Source
Barbara Bachtler
Press and Public Affairs
Max DelbrГјck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10; 13125 Berlin; Germany
mdc-berlin
The study focused on the formation of cellular rosettes within an epithelial tissue and their separation from it. Normally, each cellular rosette gives rise to a neuromast, a sensor whose function it is to detect water flow movements. The researchers have described for the first time the cellular machinery that is needed to form these epithelial cell rosettes within a compact migratory tissue. Their research demonstrates that two genes have an important function in the formation of cellular rosettes: namely, to allow cells within the rosettes to adhere more strongly to each other than to the cells of the surrounding tissue. However, if one of the genes is lacking, the cells within the rosettes adhere to each other less strongly and the rosettes can no longer separate entirely from the surrounding tissue. As a consequence, fewer sensors develop.
Cell migration is not only significant for embryonic development but also in the development of cancer. Being a vertebrate, the tiny zebrafish shares many of the features of human systems which is why scientists use it as a model organism for studying vertebrate development and disease.
*Apical membrane maturation and cellular rosette formation during morphogenesis of the zebrafish lateral line
David Hava1*, Ulrike Forster1*, Miho Matsuda2, Shuang Cui3, Brian A. Link3, Jenny Eichhorst4, Burkhard Wiesner4, Ajay Chitnis2, and Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried1,#
1 Max DelbrГјck Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine, D-13125 Berlin, Germany
2 Unit on Vertebrate Neural Development, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NIH/NICHD, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
3 Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509, USA
4 L eibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP), D-13125 Berlin, Germany
*both authors contributed equally
Source
Barbara Bachtler
Press and Public Affairs
Max DelbrГјck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10; 13125 Berlin; Germany
mdc-berlin
понедельник, 18 апреля 2011 г.
News From The American Chemical Society
A Rosetta Stone for traditional Chinese medicine
Scientists in the United Kingdom have "decoded" the inscrutable language of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), revealing its strong chemical foundation in a way that may help scientists mine age-old Chinese medicines to develop tomorrow's new drugs. Their study is scheduled for the Nov./Dec. issue of ACS' bi-monthly Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
David J. Barlow, Thomas M. Ehrman, and Peter J. Hylands point out that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) -- regarded by many Western experts as an archaic system doomed to extinction 50 years ago -- has undergone a "remarkable renaissance" in recent years. However, the arcane language used to describe categories of medication in TCM has hindered effective understanding of one of the most developed and mature systems of alternative medicine in existence.
To overcome that barrier, the researchers analyzed patterns among 8411 compounds from 240 Chinese herbs in relation to the categories found in traditional Chinese medicine. Organizing their findings in a kind of herbal "map," their results reveal that many categories in Chinese medicine are amenable to translation to Western terminology. TCM's "fire poison" group, for example, is comparable to today's family of anti-inflammatory medicines. Now, future researchers will better understand the chemical basis of remedies that have been in use for thousands of years, the study indicated.
"This is likely to be of benefit both in the search for new drugs and, equally significantly, in understanding how Chinese medicine works," say the authors.
"Phytochemical Informatics of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Therapeutic Relevance"
CONTACT:
David J. Barlow, Ph.D.
King's College
London, U.K.
Boiled peanuts pack big antioxidant punch
Boiled peanuts, a regional treat from the southern United States, may be as healthy as they are delicious. In the Oct. 31 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Alabama scientists report that boiling these legumes imbues them with more antioxidants than roasted peanuts or peanut butter.
Peanuts are usually consumed as processed products, mainly as peanut butter and roasted nuts. Studies have shown that peanuts contain powerful antioxidants called isoflavones which may reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes and coronary heart diseases. Although the effect of processing on the isoflavone content of legumes has been extensively studied, there has never been such a study on peanuts.
Lloyd Walker and colleagues evaluated the effect of boiling and oil- and dry-roasting on peanuts. They found that boiled peanuts -- South Carolina's official snack food -- contained up to four times more isoflavones than raw peanuts or oil- and dry-roasted ones.
"Changes in the Phytochemical Composition and profile of Raw, Boiled, and Roasted Peanuts"
CONTACT:
Lloyd Walker, Ph.D.
Alabama A&M University
Normal, Ala. 35762
The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Source: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society
Scientists in the United Kingdom have "decoded" the inscrutable language of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), revealing its strong chemical foundation in a way that may help scientists mine age-old Chinese medicines to develop tomorrow's new drugs. Their study is scheduled for the Nov./Dec. issue of ACS' bi-monthly Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
David J. Barlow, Thomas M. Ehrman, and Peter J. Hylands point out that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) -- regarded by many Western experts as an archaic system doomed to extinction 50 years ago -- has undergone a "remarkable renaissance" in recent years. However, the arcane language used to describe categories of medication in TCM has hindered effective understanding of one of the most developed and mature systems of alternative medicine in existence.
To overcome that barrier, the researchers analyzed patterns among 8411 compounds from 240 Chinese herbs in relation to the categories found in traditional Chinese medicine. Organizing their findings in a kind of herbal "map," their results reveal that many categories in Chinese medicine are amenable to translation to Western terminology. TCM's "fire poison" group, for example, is comparable to today's family of anti-inflammatory medicines. Now, future researchers will better understand the chemical basis of remedies that have been in use for thousands of years, the study indicated.
"This is likely to be of benefit both in the search for new drugs and, equally significantly, in understanding how Chinese medicine works," say the authors.
"Phytochemical Informatics of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Therapeutic Relevance"
CONTACT:
David J. Barlow, Ph.D.
King's College
London, U.K.
Boiled peanuts pack big antioxidant punch
Boiled peanuts, a regional treat from the southern United States, may be as healthy as they are delicious. In the Oct. 31 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Alabama scientists report that boiling these legumes imbues them with more antioxidants than roasted peanuts or peanut butter.
Peanuts are usually consumed as processed products, mainly as peanut butter and roasted nuts. Studies have shown that peanuts contain powerful antioxidants called isoflavones which may reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes and coronary heart diseases. Although the effect of processing on the isoflavone content of legumes has been extensively studied, there has never been such a study on peanuts.
Lloyd Walker and colleagues evaluated the effect of boiling and oil- and dry-roasting on peanuts. They found that boiled peanuts -- South Carolina's official snack food -- contained up to four times more isoflavones than raw peanuts or oil- and dry-roasted ones.
"Changes in the Phytochemical Composition and profile of Raw, Boiled, and Roasted Peanuts"
CONTACT:
Lloyd Walker, Ph.D.
Alabama A&M University
Normal, Ala. 35762
The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Source: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society
воскресенье, 17 апреля 2011 г.
Giant Danio Can Keep Growing - Paired With Zebrafish, Danio Is Important Model For Muscle Growth
Two fish that share much in common genetically appear to have markedly different abilities to grow, a finding that could provide a new way to research such disparate areas as muscle wasting disease and fish farming, a new study shows.
The study in the November issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, finds that the giant danio, unlike its cousin the zebrafish, appears to have the ability to recruit new muscle throughout its life. Humans have the same ability before birth, but mostly lose it after birth.
Because the zebrafish and giant danio are closely related, and the zebrafish's genome has already been mapped, scientists hope they can more easily identify the genetic keys to the difference in growth potential between them. According to co-author Peggy R. Biga, "I don't think there will be a major genomic difference between them. I believe it will be easy to define the difference."
The study "Zebrafish and giant danio as models for muscle growth: Determinate versus indeterminate growth as determined by morphometric analysis," was carried out by Biga and Frederick W. Goetz, both of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Great Lakes Wisconsin Aquatic Technology and Environmental Research (WATER) Institute, Milwaukee. The American Physiological Society published the study.
Zebrafish versus Giant Danio
Zebrafish and giant danios, members of the minnow family, are easy to raise and are popular inhabitants of home aquariums. They are native to the warm waters around India and some other areas of southern Asia. Although both are small, the danio is a giant among minnows, growing to a maximum of six inches. The zebrafish, in contrast, grows to about two inches.
The zebrafish has been a staple of genetic research because it is easy to raise and maintain. But the fish is too tiny for physiological research. So the researchers were interested in finding a close zebrafish relative to allow them to do physiological research while drawing on the knowledge base of the zebrafish genome.
The researchers saw the giant danio as the physiological model and began a series of experiments on differences in muscle growth between the fish. In this two-phased experiment, they discovered that the giant danio can keep growing even into adulthood, but the zebrafish stops growing. The giant danio can get bigger because it exhibits a type of muscle growth that is different from the zebrafish.
"One of these species either lost or gained the ability to continuously grow, but most likely, the zebrafish lost it" Biga explained. Because genes are the key, the zebrafish's mapped genome will be invaluable in finding what is different about the danio's genetic pathways that allow it to keep growing.
Study: Phase I - First four weeks of life
In the first phase of the study, the researchers tracked the size of the fish from the time they hatched through the first four weeks of their larval stage. They found that the two species were the same size at hatch. By the end of week one, the giant danio was significantly larger and remained so. This result was not surprising, since the giant danio is so much larger at adulthood, about twice as large. But the study was the first to report the early larval growth of these species, the authors said.
The researchers also documented muscle changes over the first four weeks in the fleshy portion of the fish's midsection, known as the myotome. They measured growth in length and width and tracked the number and size of muscle fibers, and found that the fish employ different methods of growth.
"Muscle growth in vertebrates is defined as being either determinate or indeterminate," the authors wrote. "Animals such as mammals exhibit determinate growth, in which there is a finite size. In contrast, many fish species growth is indeterminate, in which there is no fixed size and some growth may continue throughout the life of the fish."
Indeterminate growers increase muscle mass both by recruiting new muscle fibers (hyperplasia) and by increasing the size of the existing muscle fibers (hypertrophy). Many fish species exhibit indeterminate (hyperplastic) growth.
In this first phase of the study, the researchers found that hyperplasia accounts for 67 percent of the giant danio's muscle growth, compared to the zebrafish in which hyperplasia accounts for only 47 percent of the growth.
Study: Phase II - Adult growth
In the study's second phase, the researchers applied growth hormone once every three weeks for 17 weeks to adults of both species. The adult danio continued to grow during the 17-week trial and analysis of muscle fibers showed hyperplastic muscle growth.
Adult zebrafish did not exhibit increased growth or hyperplasia in response to growth hormone, suggesting that zebrafish reach a growth plateau similar to mammals and hence exhibit determinate growth. The zebrafish exhibited little hyperplastic growth after the juvenile phase.
Next step
This model can be used to investigate muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy. Other studies have already shown that a condition similar to muscular dystrophy can be experimentally induced in zebrafish. One of the next steps for the researchers is to induce the condition in the giant danio.
"We anticipate that the giant danio will be able to handle the muscular dystrophy better because of their ability to increase muscle," Biga said. What makes this intriguing is that human embryos exhibit hyperplasia, but then lose that ability after birth, with one exception. When humans injure a muscle, the muscle sends a signal to special cells attached to the muscle fibers, telling these cells to grow and join to adjacent muscle fiber to repair the injury.
There is also an application to fish farming. "If we understood how fish grow, we could figure out strategies for enhancing the growth of farmed fish such as Atlantic salmon and decrease the time to get to market size. "The more we understand about growth, the more likely we can come up with acceptable ways to enhance it," she said.
Funding
This project was supported by National Research Initiative competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service to Peggy R. Biga and Frederick W. Goetz and by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER Institute.
The American Physiological Society (APS) was founded in 1887 to foster basic and
applied bioscience. The Bethesda, Maryland-based society has 10,500 members
and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals containing almost 4,000 articles annually.
APS provides a wide range of research, educational and career support and programming to further the contributions of physiology to understanding the mechanisms of diseased and healthy states. In 2004, APS received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
the-aps
The study in the November issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, finds that the giant danio, unlike its cousin the zebrafish, appears to have the ability to recruit new muscle throughout its life. Humans have the same ability before birth, but mostly lose it after birth.
Because the zebrafish and giant danio are closely related, and the zebrafish's genome has already been mapped, scientists hope they can more easily identify the genetic keys to the difference in growth potential between them. According to co-author Peggy R. Biga, "I don't think there will be a major genomic difference between them. I believe it will be easy to define the difference."
The study "Zebrafish and giant danio as models for muscle growth: Determinate versus indeterminate growth as determined by morphometric analysis," was carried out by Biga and Frederick W. Goetz, both of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Great Lakes Wisconsin Aquatic Technology and Environmental Research (WATER) Institute, Milwaukee. The American Physiological Society published the study.
Zebrafish versus Giant Danio
Zebrafish and giant danios, members of the minnow family, are easy to raise and are popular inhabitants of home aquariums. They are native to the warm waters around India and some other areas of southern Asia. Although both are small, the danio is a giant among minnows, growing to a maximum of six inches. The zebrafish, in contrast, grows to about two inches.
The zebrafish has been a staple of genetic research because it is easy to raise and maintain. But the fish is too tiny for physiological research. So the researchers were interested in finding a close zebrafish relative to allow them to do physiological research while drawing on the knowledge base of the zebrafish genome.
The researchers saw the giant danio as the physiological model and began a series of experiments on differences in muscle growth between the fish. In this two-phased experiment, they discovered that the giant danio can keep growing even into adulthood, but the zebrafish stops growing. The giant danio can get bigger because it exhibits a type of muscle growth that is different from the zebrafish.
"One of these species either lost or gained the ability to continuously grow, but most likely, the zebrafish lost it" Biga explained. Because genes are the key, the zebrafish's mapped genome will be invaluable in finding what is different about the danio's genetic pathways that allow it to keep growing.
Study: Phase I - First four weeks of life
In the first phase of the study, the researchers tracked the size of the fish from the time they hatched through the first four weeks of their larval stage. They found that the two species were the same size at hatch. By the end of week one, the giant danio was significantly larger and remained so. This result was not surprising, since the giant danio is so much larger at adulthood, about twice as large. But the study was the first to report the early larval growth of these species, the authors said.
The researchers also documented muscle changes over the first four weeks in the fleshy portion of the fish's midsection, known as the myotome. They measured growth in length and width and tracked the number and size of muscle fibers, and found that the fish employ different methods of growth.
"Muscle growth in vertebrates is defined as being either determinate or indeterminate," the authors wrote. "Animals such as mammals exhibit determinate growth, in which there is a finite size. In contrast, many fish species growth is indeterminate, in which there is no fixed size and some growth may continue throughout the life of the fish."
Indeterminate growers increase muscle mass both by recruiting new muscle fibers (hyperplasia) and by increasing the size of the existing muscle fibers (hypertrophy). Many fish species exhibit indeterminate (hyperplastic) growth.
In this first phase of the study, the researchers found that hyperplasia accounts for 67 percent of the giant danio's muscle growth, compared to the zebrafish in which hyperplasia accounts for only 47 percent of the growth.
Study: Phase II - Adult growth
In the study's second phase, the researchers applied growth hormone once every three weeks for 17 weeks to adults of both species. The adult danio continued to grow during the 17-week trial and analysis of muscle fibers showed hyperplastic muscle growth.
Adult zebrafish did not exhibit increased growth or hyperplasia in response to growth hormone, suggesting that zebrafish reach a growth plateau similar to mammals and hence exhibit determinate growth. The zebrafish exhibited little hyperplastic growth after the juvenile phase.
Next step
This model can be used to investigate muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy. Other studies have already shown that a condition similar to muscular dystrophy can be experimentally induced in zebrafish. One of the next steps for the researchers is to induce the condition in the giant danio.
"We anticipate that the giant danio will be able to handle the muscular dystrophy better because of their ability to increase muscle," Biga said. What makes this intriguing is that human embryos exhibit hyperplasia, but then lose that ability after birth, with one exception. When humans injure a muscle, the muscle sends a signal to special cells attached to the muscle fibers, telling these cells to grow and join to adjacent muscle fiber to repair the injury.
There is also an application to fish farming. "If we understood how fish grow, we could figure out strategies for enhancing the growth of farmed fish such as Atlantic salmon and decrease the time to get to market size. "The more we understand about growth, the more likely we can come up with acceptable ways to enhance it," she said.
Funding
This project was supported by National Research Initiative competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service to Peggy R. Biga and Frederick W. Goetz and by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER Institute.
The American Physiological Society (APS) was founded in 1887 to foster basic and
applied bioscience. The Bethesda, Maryland-based society has 10,500 members
and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals containing almost 4,000 articles annually.
APS provides a wide range of research, educational and career support and programming to further the contributions of physiology to understanding the mechanisms of diseased and healthy states. In 2004, APS received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
the-aps
понедельник, 11 апреля 2011 г.
Autism Advocacy Community Applauds U.S. Senators Santorum (R-PA) and Dodd (D-CT) for Introducing Combating Autism Act of 2005
Authorizes $880 Million for Autism-Specific Federal Programs - Autism Community Unites to Urge Congress to Expand Autism
Research and Funding.
Landmark legislation that would
significantly increase and expand the federal government's response to autism,
a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate and
relate to others and that now affects as many as one of every 166 children in
America, was introduced today by U.S. Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and
Christopher Dodd (D-CT). The Combating Autism Act of 2005 would authorize
$176 million annually over the next five years to combat autism through
research, screening, intervention and education efforts, in effect doubling
the current National Institutes of Health's (NIH) autism funding.
"Senators Santorum and Dodd have launched an attack on autism that has
never been seen at the federal level," said Jonathan Shestack, the father of a
son with autism, and co-founder of Cure Autism Now, one of the largest private
funders of autism research. "The legislation introduced today will cut across
federal agency lines to more effectively fund autism research and expand
autism treatment and early diagnosis. It is truly the result of the autism
community pulling together to focus the nation's attention on this public
health crisis," Shestack continued. "As the incidence of autism continues to
rise, the proposed legislation introduced today would ensure continued
resources to zero in on the cause so we can treat the current generation and
develop preventive practices for future generations."
When the Children's Health Act, the first federal legislation addressing
autism, was passed in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated the
prevalence of autism at 1 in 500 children in the United States. In 2004, the
CDC revised that figure to as many as 1 in 166.
"We are thrilled to see Senators Santorum and Dodd spearheading this
critical endeavor in support of families of children with autism. The
Combating Autism Act of 2005 would give the director of NIH the authority to
expand collaborative research for autism and autism-support programs that will
have a striking impact on the autism community," said Bob Wright, vice
chairman, General Electric, and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal and co-
founder of Autism Speaks, a new initiative devoted to education, funding,
research and motivating private and governmental resources. "I am confident
that increased federal funding for research will continue to unlock autism's
secrets and lead us to more effective treatments and, ultimately, to a cure.
As the grandparents of a child diagnosed with autism just last year, my wife,
Suzanne, and I -- along with the rest of the highly dedicated autism community
-- are committed to seeing that this legislation is enacted."
The Combating Autism Act of 2005 would provide grant programs for every
state to develop autism screening, early diagnosis and intervention programs
for children - perhaps the most important thing that could happen, short of a
cure. The Act would also provide:
-- Twice the number of NIH Centers of Excellence Programs for research on
autism
-- Expansion of the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism
-- Funds for CDC epidemiological surveillance programs
-- Establishment of Centers of Excellence regarding environmental health
and autism
-- Reauthorization of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
(IACC), established in the Children's Health Act of 2000, to coordinate
all efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services
concerning autism, including activities carried out through NIH and the
CDC
"Unraveling the mysteries of autism demands a large, collaborative effort
on many fronts," said Prisca Chen Marvin, board chair of the National Alliance
for Autism Research (NAAR) and the mother of a child with autism. "This
legislation is critical to our ability to continue advancing our search for
answers -- for children and families today and for future generations."
The introduction of the Combating Autism Act of 2005 could not have
happened without the hundreds of thousands of active parents and concerned
Americans around the country.
"The Autism Society of America is most grateful for the Senators' efforts,
and on behalf of the millions of individuals living with or affected by
autism, it is our hope that lawmakers take action and support this important
piece of legislation so that not one more American family has to worry about
the future of autism research, treatment or early diagnosis," said Lee
Grossman, President and CEO of the Autism Society of America, who is the
father of a son with autism. "Parents and their children deserve nothing
less, and I am confident that our active autism community will work together
and bring attention to this legislation."
About Autism
Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that now affects as many as 1 in
every 166 children in the United States. Autism is commonly diagnosed by the
age of three, and in some cases, as early as one year. Characterized by
varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions,
and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, children with
autism can exhibit symptoms that run mild to severe with widely differing
symptom profiles.
About Cure Autism Now
The Cure Autism Now Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
promoting and funding autism research, and accelerating the pace of scientific
progress toward effective treatments and a cure. Cure Autism Now is one of
the largest private funders of biological research on autism, providing more
than $24 million for research grants, outreach and scientific resources since
its inception in 1995. During that time, it has established and supported the
Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), as well as numerous outreach and
awareness initiatives aimed at families, physicians, governmental officials
and the general public. More information about Cure Autism Now can be found
at cureautismnow.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is a new initiative devoted to educating the public about
autism, facilitating and funding research, motivating private and governmental
resources, and, ultimately, finding a cure for autism. Co-founded by Bob
Wright, Vice Chairman of GE, and Chairman and CEO of NBC Universal, and his
wife, Suzanne, Autism Speaks recognizes the importance of a coordinated effort
to investigate the causes of autism, develop effective treatments, and
ultimately find a cure. More information about Autism Speaks can be found at
autismspeaks.
About the National Alliance for Autism Research
Established in 1994, the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) is
the first nonprofit organization in the country dedicated to funding and
accelerating biomedical research for autism spectrum disorders. The
organization was established by parents of children with autism, concerned
about the limited amount of funding for autism research. To date, NAAR has
committed $21.1 million in grants for biomedical research projects worldwide
that seek to find the causes, prevention, effective treatments and,
ultimately, cure for autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, NAAR was
instrumental in establishing the Autism Tissue Program, a parent-led brain
tissue donation program for autism research. More information about NAAR can
be found at naar.
About the Autism Society of America
Since its inception in 1965, the Autism Society of America (ASA) has
served as the leading source of information and referral on autism, and
addressed the needs of the autism community across the lifespan. With
hundreds of thousands of members and supporters and a network of over 200
chapters nationwide, ASA's mission is to promote lifelong access and
opportunity for all individuals within the autism spectrum, and their
families, to be fully participating, included members of their communities.
More information about the Autism Society of America can be found at
autism-society.
Cure Autism Now
cureautismnow
naar
autismspeaks
autism-society
Research and Funding.
Landmark legislation that would
significantly increase and expand the federal government's response to autism,
a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate and
relate to others and that now affects as many as one of every 166 children in
America, was introduced today by U.S. Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and
Christopher Dodd (D-CT). The Combating Autism Act of 2005 would authorize
$176 million annually over the next five years to combat autism through
research, screening, intervention and education efforts, in effect doubling
the current National Institutes of Health's (NIH) autism funding.
"Senators Santorum and Dodd have launched an attack on autism that has
never been seen at the federal level," said Jonathan Shestack, the father of a
son with autism, and co-founder of Cure Autism Now, one of the largest private
funders of autism research. "The legislation introduced today will cut across
federal agency lines to more effectively fund autism research and expand
autism treatment and early diagnosis. It is truly the result of the autism
community pulling together to focus the nation's attention on this public
health crisis," Shestack continued. "As the incidence of autism continues to
rise, the proposed legislation introduced today would ensure continued
resources to zero in on the cause so we can treat the current generation and
develop preventive practices for future generations."
When the Children's Health Act, the first federal legislation addressing
autism, was passed in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated the
prevalence of autism at 1 in 500 children in the United States. In 2004, the
CDC revised that figure to as many as 1 in 166.
"We are thrilled to see Senators Santorum and Dodd spearheading this
critical endeavor in support of families of children with autism. The
Combating Autism Act of 2005 would give the director of NIH the authority to
expand collaborative research for autism and autism-support programs that will
have a striking impact on the autism community," said Bob Wright, vice
chairman, General Electric, and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal and co-
founder of Autism Speaks, a new initiative devoted to education, funding,
research and motivating private and governmental resources. "I am confident
that increased federal funding for research will continue to unlock autism's
secrets and lead us to more effective treatments and, ultimately, to a cure.
As the grandparents of a child diagnosed with autism just last year, my wife,
Suzanne, and I -- along with the rest of the highly dedicated autism community
-- are committed to seeing that this legislation is enacted."
The Combating Autism Act of 2005 would provide grant programs for every
state to develop autism screening, early diagnosis and intervention programs
for children - perhaps the most important thing that could happen, short of a
cure. The Act would also provide:
-- Twice the number of NIH Centers of Excellence Programs for research on
autism
-- Expansion of the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism
-- Funds for CDC epidemiological surveillance programs
-- Establishment of Centers of Excellence regarding environmental health
and autism
-- Reauthorization of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
(IACC), established in the Children's Health Act of 2000, to coordinate
all efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services
concerning autism, including activities carried out through NIH and the
CDC
"Unraveling the mysteries of autism demands a large, collaborative effort
on many fronts," said Prisca Chen Marvin, board chair of the National Alliance
for Autism Research (NAAR) and the mother of a child with autism. "This
legislation is critical to our ability to continue advancing our search for
answers -- for children and families today and for future generations."
The introduction of the Combating Autism Act of 2005 could not have
happened without the hundreds of thousands of active parents and concerned
Americans around the country.
"The Autism Society of America is most grateful for the Senators' efforts,
and on behalf of the millions of individuals living with or affected by
autism, it is our hope that lawmakers take action and support this important
piece of legislation so that not one more American family has to worry about
the future of autism research, treatment or early diagnosis," said Lee
Grossman, President and CEO of the Autism Society of America, who is the
father of a son with autism. "Parents and their children deserve nothing
less, and I am confident that our active autism community will work together
and bring attention to this legislation."
About Autism
Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that now affects as many as 1 in
every 166 children in the United States. Autism is commonly diagnosed by the
age of three, and in some cases, as early as one year. Characterized by
varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions,
and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, children with
autism can exhibit symptoms that run mild to severe with widely differing
symptom profiles.
About Cure Autism Now
The Cure Autism Now Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
promoting and funding autism research, and accelerating the pace of scientific
progress toward effective treatments and a cure. Cure Autism Now is one of
the largest private funders of biological research on autism, providing more
than $24 million for research grants, outreach and scientific resources since
its inception in 1995. During that time, it has established and supported the
Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), as well as numerous outreach and
awareness initiatives aimed at families, physicians, governmental officials
and the general public. More information about Cure Autism Now can be found
at cureautismnow.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is a new initiative devoted to educating the public about
autism, facilitating and funding research, motivating private and governmental
resources, and, ultimately, finding a cure for autism. Co-founded by Bob
Wright, Vice Chairman of GE, and Chairman and CEO of NBC Universal, and his
wife, Suzanne, Autism Speaks recognizes the importance of a coordinated effort
to investigate the causes of autism, develop effective treatments, and
ultimately find a cure. More information about Autism Speaks can be found at
autismspeaks.
About the National Alliance for Autism Research
Established in 1994, the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) is
the first nonprofit organization in the country dedicated to funding and
accelerating biomedical research for autism spectrum disorders. The
organization was established by parents of children with autism, concerned
about the limited amount of funding for autism research. To date, NAAR has
committed $21.1 million in grants for biomedical research projects worldwide
that seek to find the causes, prevention, effective treatments and,
ultimately, cure for autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, NAAR was
instrumental in establishing the Autism Tissue Program, a parent-led brain
tissue donation program for autism research. More information about NAAR can
be found at naar.
About the Autism Society of America
Since its inception in 1965, the Autism Society of America (ASA) has
served as the leading source of information and referral on autism, and
addressed the needs of the autism community across the lifespan. With
hundreds of thousands of members and supporters and a network of over 200
chapters nationwide, ASA's mission is to promote lifelong access and
opportunity for all individuals within the autism spectrum, and their
families, to be fully participating, included members of their communities.
More information about the Autism Society of America can be found at
autism-society.
Cure Autism Now
cureautismnow
naar
autismspeaks
autism-society
The Autism Treatment Center Of America Announces 2nd Edition Of The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model For Curing Autism
The Autism Treatment Center of America(TM) (ATCA) continues to offer groundbreaking advances in curing autism. The ATCA has announced the 2nd Edition of The Son-Rise Program® Developmental Model.
The Son-Rise Program for autism treatment and education is the only program that:
-- Was created by parents for parents
-- Helps parents cure their children in some cases and bring about
significant improvement in almost all cases
-- Has worked for 25,000 families from 75 countries with a radical
departure from traditional behavior modification for Autism
-- Takes a situation that can be divisive and uses it to unite families
The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model is based on the understanding that the ability to socialize, create and sustain substantial interactive relationships is the fundamental challenge for people on the autistic spectrum. It is important to focus on all areas of a child's development, but the first and foremost skill must be social development, the ability to socially interact. By focusing on this area, parents and caregivers can create the greatest possibility for change.
The 2nd Edition of The Son-Rise Developmental Model offers more detail about the specific social skills required to develop a Son-Rise Program curriculum. It clearly explains the stages of social development, including easily understandable Social Developmental Charts, and how to create a curriculum that focuses on the skills most appropriate for a child's next step in social development.
Raun K. Kaufman, CEO of the ATCA and himself fully cured through The Son-Rise Program, said, "The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model will make a profound difference in your work with your child, or the child in your life."
About The Autism Treatment Center of America
The Autism Treatment Center of America is the worldwide teaching center for The Son-Rise Program, a powerful, effective and totally unique treatment for children and adults challenged by autism spectrum disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asberger's Syndrome, and other developmental difficulties.
autismtreatmentcenter
The Son-Rise Program for autism treatment and education is the only program that:
-- Was created by parents for parents
-- Helps parents cure their children in some cases and bring about
significant improvement in almost all cases
-- Has worked for 25,000 families from 75 countries with a radical
departure from traditional behavior modification for Autism
-- Takes a situation that can be divisive and uses it to unite families
The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model is based on the understanding that the ability to socialize, create and sustain substantial interactive relationships is the fundamental challenge for people on the autistic spectrum. It is important to focus on all areas of a child's development, but the first and foremost skill must be social development, the ability to socially interact. By focusing on this area, parents and caregivers can create the greatest possibility for change.
The 2nd Edition of The Son-Rise Developmental Model offers more detail about the specific social skills required to develop a Son-Rise Program curriculum. It clearly explains the stages of social development, including easily understandable Social Developmental Charts, and how to create a curriculum that focuses on the skills most appropriate for a child's next step in social development.
Raun K. Kaufman, CEO of the ATCA and himself fully cured through The Son-Rise Program, said, "The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model will make a profound difference in your work with your child, or the child in your life."
About The Autism Treatment Center of America
The Autism Treatment Center of America is the worldwide teaching center for The Son-Rise Program, a powerful, effective and totally unique treatment for children and adults challenged by autism spectrum disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asberger's Syndrome, and other developmental difficulties.
autismtreatmentcenter
Neurobiology Of Autistic Spectrum Disorder
As part of the Winter 2008 Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association, psychoanalysts Susan P. Sherkow, M.D. (New York, NY) and Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D. (Boston, MA) will lead a discussion regarding "Psychoanalytic Approaches to Working with Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Dialogue between Psychoanalysis and Neurobiology." This session will be held on Wednesday, January 16 from 7:30 pm to 10: 00 pm at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, New York. Dr. Herbert is Assistant Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a Pediatric Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
This discussion group will extend a dialogue which began last year at the Winter 2007 Meeting with Dr. Herbert who is renowned for her work concerning the neurobiology of autistic spectrum disorder. This year, Susan Sherkow, M.D. will present clinical material from her analytic treatment of a child presenting with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This will serve as the basis for the discussion with Dr. Herbert. Among other topics, the discussion will include neurobiological perspectives on autistic spectrum disorder, as well as the concept of neuroplasticity and ways in which psychoanalytic treatment can affect brain functioning in children with ASD.
The American Psychoanalytic Association is a professional organization of psychoanalysts throughout the United States and is comprised of approximately 3,500 members. The Winter Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association is intended for the continuing education of the members and other registrants.
Visit apsa/ for more information.
Source: Dottie Jeffries
American Psychoanalytic Association
This discussion group will extend a dialogue which began last year at the Winter 2007 Meeting with Dr. Herbert who is renowned for her work concerning the neurobiology of autistic spectrum disorder. This year, Susan Sherkow, M.D. will present clinical material from her analytic treatment of a child presenting with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This will serve as the basis for the discussion with Dr. Herbert. Among other topics, the discussion will include neurobiological perspectives on autistic spectrum disorder, as well as the concept of neuroplasticity and ways in which psychoanalytic treatment can affect brain functioning in children with ASD.
The American Psychoanalytic Association is a professional organization of psychoanalysts throughout the United States and is comprised of approximately 3,500 members. The Winter Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association is intended for the continuing education of the members and other registrants.
Visit apsa/ for more information.
Source: Dottie Jeffries
American Psychoanalytic Association
US Government Develops 10-Year Research Plan to Battle Autism
The US government has developed a broad, decade-long research plan to help fight autism, including hunting genetic causes of the complex brain disorder and providing better educational services for children who have it.
Aiding the work will be a research partnership between government scientists and a parents group, the National Alliance for Autism Research.
The alliance has been gathering databases of affected families for both the gene hunt and separate research to find ways to diagnose autism earlier. National Institutes of Health scientists will work with the group on those projects instead of starting similar ones from scratch, a collaboration that the alliance said represented a joint commitment of more than $5 million.
Autism is a neurological disorder featuring a wide range of symptoms that include problems communicating and interacting socially. Some studies suggest it might affect at least 40 per 10,000 children in the United States.
That is 10 times higher than estimates a decade ago, which many scientists think reflects better diagnosis. The exact cause of autism is unknown, although both genetics and environmental factors are suspected of playing a role.
Under demand from Congress, the NIH came up with a broad strategy to improve scientific understanding of autism and how to help patients. There are few specifics, and no details on how NIH will fund the work.
The 10-year plan calls for a mix of research into biological markers that signal autism before today's usual diagnosis around age 3; genetic and environmental causes; and what behavioral, educational or other services best treat different degrees of autism.
Aiding the work will be a research partnership between government scientists and a parents group, the National Alliance for Autism Research.
The alliance has been gathering databases of affected families for both the gene hunt and separate research to find ways to diagnose autism earlier. National Institutes of Health scientists will work with the group on those projects instead of starting similar ones from scratch, a collaboration that the alliance said represented a joint commitment of more than $5 million.
Autism is a neurological disorder featuring a wide range of symptoms that include problems communicating and interacting socially. Some studies suggest it might affect at least 40 per 10,000 children in the United States.
That is 10 times higher than estimates a decade ago, which many scientists think reflects better diagnosis. The exact cause of autism is unknown, although both genetics and environmental factors are suspected of playing a role.
Under demand from Congress, the NIH came up with a broad strategy to improve scientific understanding of autism and how to help patients. There are few specifics, and no details on how NIH will fund the work.
The 10-year plan calls for a mix of research into biological markers that signal autism before today's usual diagnosis around age 3; genetic and environmental causes; and what behavioral, educational or other services best treat different degrees of autism.
Predictor Of Autism Severity: Toddlers' Focus On Mouths Rather Than On Eyes
Scientists at Yale School of Medicine have found that two-year-olds with autism looked significantly more at the mouths of others, and less at their eyes, than typically developing toddlers. This abnormality predicts the level of disability, according to study results published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Lead author Warren Jones and colleagues Ami Klin and Katelin Carr used eye-tracking technology to quantify the visual fixations of two-year-olds who watched caregivers approach them and engage in typical mother-child interactions, such as playing games like peek-a-boo.
After the first few weeks of life, infants look in the eyes of others, setting processes of socialization in motion. In infancy and throughout life, the act of looking at the eyes of others is a window into people's feelings and thoughts and a powerful facilitator in shaping the formation of the social mind and brain.
The scientists found that the amount of time toddlers spent focused on the eyes predicted their level of social disability. The less they focused on the eyes, the more severely disabled they were. These results may offer a useful biomarker for quantifying the presence and severity of autism early in life and screen infants for autism. The findings could aid research on the neurobiology and genetics of autism, work that is dependent on quantifiable markers of syndrome expression.
"The findings offer hope that these novel methods will enable the detection of vulnerabilities for autism in infancy," said Jones, a research scientist from the Yale School of Medicine Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program and the Yale Child Study Center. "We hope this technology can be used to detect and measure signs of an emerging social disability, potentially improving a child's outcome. Earlier intervention would capitalize on the neuroplasticity of the developing brain in infancy."
Study collaborator Ami Klin, director of the Autism Program at the Child Study Center, said they are now using this technology in a large prospective study of the younger siblings of children with autism, who are at greater risk of also developing the condition. "By following babies at risk of autism monthly from the time they are born, we hope to trace the origins of social engagement in human infants and to detect the first signs of derailment from the normative path," said Klin.
Jones and Klin are also engaged in parallel studies aimed at identifying the mechanisms underlying abnormal visual fixation in infants with autism. "Our working hypothesis is that these children's increased fixation on mouths points to a predisposition to seek physical, rather than social contingencies in their surrounding world. They focus on the physical synchrony between lip movements and speech sounds, rather than on the social-affective context of the entreating eye gaze of others," said Jones. "These children may be seeing faces in terms of their physical attributes alone; watching a face without necessarily experiencing it as an engaging partner sharing in a social interaction."
Citation: Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(8), 946-954.
Source: Karen N. Peart
Yale University
Lead author Warren Jones and colleagues Ami Klin and Katelin Carr used eye-tracking technology to quantify the visual fixations of two-year-olds who watched caregivers approach them and engage in typical mother-child interactions, such as playing games like peek-a-boo.
After the first few weeks of life, infants look in the eyes of others, setting processes of socialization in motion. In infancy and throughout life, the act of looking at the eyes of others is a window into people's feelings and thoughts and a powerful facilitator in shaping the formation of the social mind and brain.
The scientists found that the amount of time toddlers spent focused on the eyes predicted their level of social disability. The less they focused on the eyes, the more severely disabled they were. These results may offer a useful biomarker for quantifying the presence and severity of autism early in life and screen infants for autism. The findings could aid research on the neurobiology and genetics of autism, work that is dependent on quantifiable markers of syndrome expression.
"The findings offer hope that these novel methods will enable the detection of vulnerabilities for autism in infancy," said Jones, a research scientist from the Yale School of Medicine Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program and the Yale Child Study Center. "We hope this technology can be used to detect and measure signs of an emerging social disability, potentially improving a child's outcome. Earlier intervention would capitalize on the neuroplasticity of the developing brain in infancy."
Study collaborator Ami Klin, director of the Autism Program at the Child Study Center, said they are now using this technology in a large prospective study of the younger siblings of children with autism, who are at greater risk of also developing the condition. "By following babies at risk of autism monthly from the time they are born, we hope to trace the origins of social engagement in human infants and to detect the first signs of derailment from the normative path," said Klin.
Jones and Klin are also engaged in parallel studies aimed at identifying the mechanisms underlying abnormal visual fixation in infants with autism. "Our working hypothesis is that these children's increased fixation on mouths points to a predisposition to seek physical, rather than social contingencies in their surrounding world. They focus on the physical synchrony between lip movements and speech sounds, rather than on the social-affective context of the entreating eye gaze of others," said Jones. "These children may be seeing faces in terms of their physical attributes alone; watching a face without necessarily experiencing it as an engaging partner sharing in a social interaction."
Citation: Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(8), 946-954.
Source: Karen N. Peart
Yale University
MMR Vaccine Cleared As A Risk Factor For Autism
A new MUHC study provides conclusive evidence that the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine is not associated with the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The study, published in the scientific journal Pediatrics, reveals fundamental errors in previous molecular studies that falsely implicated the MMR vaccine as a risk factor for autism. This study arose from a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Dr Brian Ward, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the MUHC, and Dr Eric Fombonne, Director of Pediatric Psychiatry at the Montreal Children's Hospital of the MUHC
"The hypothesis linking the MMR vaccine to autism was initially supported by molecular studies that found the measles virus persisting in certain biological tissues of children with autism who had received the MMR vaccination," says Dr. Eric Fombonne. Yasmin D'Souza, a graduate student in Dr. Ward's laboratory, used a carefully-structured approach to uncover errors in the techniques that had been used in these earlier studies which led to the false identification of the measles virus.
"The reluctance of parents to inoculate their children due to widespread fear of the MMR vaccine generated by these early studies has resulted in measles outbreaks, likely contributing to the deaths of several infants in the United Kingdom," says Dr. Brian Ward. "We hope that our investigation of these earlier studies will finally clear the MMR vaccine of its link to autism and give parents confidence in their choice to accept vaccination their children against this potentially fatal disease."
The biological evidence from this new MUHC study correlates with the epidemiological evidence from another previous MUHC study that also proves that the MMR vaccine has no link to autism. The previous study, led by Dr. Fombonne, was published in the July 5 issue of Pediatrics. All well-conducted epidemiological studies have found no association between the MMR vaccine and autism at the population level. The MUHC team's new data now demonstrate that the putative MMR-ASD link can no longer be argued even at the level of the individual child with autism.
Funding for this study was provided by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada and the Fonds de Recherche en Sante du Quebec.
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and health-care hospital research centre. Located in Montreal, Quebec, the institute is the research arm of the MUHC, a university health center affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. The institute supports over 500 researchers, nearly 1000 graduate and post-doctoral students and operates more than 300 laboratories devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental and clinical research. The Research Institute operates at the forefront of knowledge, innovation and technology and is inextricably linked to the clinical programs of the MUHC, ensuring that patients benefit directly from the latest research-based knowledge. For further details visit: muhc.ca/research.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University -- the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge. htmuhc.ca/
Contact: Ian Popple
McGill University
"The hypothesis linking the MMR vaccine to autism was initially supported by molecular studies that found the measles virus persisting in certain biological tissues of children with autism who had received the MMR vaccination," says Dr. Eric Fombonne. Yasmin D'Souza, a graduate student in Dr. Ward's laboratory, used a carefully-structured approach to uncover errors in the techniques that had been used in these earlier studies which led to the false identification of the measles virus.
"The reluctance of parents to inoculate their children due to widespread fear of the MMR vaccine generated by these early studies has resulted in measles outbreaks, likely contributing to the deaths of several infants in the United Kingdom," says Dr. Brian Ward. "We hope that our investigation of these earlier studies will finally clear the MMR vaccine of its link to autism and give parents confidence in their choice to accept vaccination their children against this potentially fatal disease."
The biological evidence from this new MUHC study correlates with the epidemiological evidence from another previous MUHC study that also proves that the MMR vaccine has no link to autism. The previous study, led by Dr. Fombonne, was published in the July 5 issue of Pediatrics. All well-conducted epidemiological studies have found no association between the MMR vaccine and autism at the population level. The MUHC team's new data now demonstrate that the putative MMR-ASD link can no longer be argued even at the level of the individual child with autism.
Funding for this study was provided by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada and the Fonds de Recherche en Sante du Quebec.
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and health-care hospital research centre. Located in Montreal, Quebec, the institute is the research arm of the MUHC, a university health center affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. The institute supports over 500 researchers, nearly 1000 graduate and post-doctoral students and operates more than 300 laboratories devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental and clinical research. The Research Institute operates at the forefront of knowledge, innovation and technology and is inextricably linked to the clinical programs of the MUHC, ensuring that patients benefit directly from the latest research-based knowledge. For further details visit: muhc.ca/research.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University -- the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge. htmuhc.ca/
Contact: Ian Popple
McGill University
Autism Conference Focuses On Autism Throughout The Lifespan
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism is rising, creating concern and greater interest in the disorder. Addressing this need for information, the Florida Institute of Technology School of Psychology will host the 2007 Autism Conference, Oct. 18 and 19.
The conference will feature noted autism experts speaking on a variety of related topics. They will offer comprehensive information to assist educators, health care and social service providers, and families in developing effective educational and therapeutic care.
The conference starts Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. with a lecture by Anthony Bailey, M.D., in the F.W. Olin Engineering Building auditorium on the Florida Tech campus. Bailey, who is the Cheryl and Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, UK, will discuss interventions for reversing autistic difficulties throughout the lifespan.
On Friday, Oct. 19, participants will meet from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (Upper Campus) off the Pineda Causeway in Melbourne.
Presentations this day include "The Neurobiology of Autism" by Bailey; "How a Child with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome Perceives the World" by Dr. Linda Lotspeich, a child psychiatrist and director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Center at Kaiser Permanente in California; "Autism and the Scientific Method" by Eb Blakely, a behavior analyst at Quest Inc. and a consultant at Devereux; and "The Benefits of a Language-based Approach in Programs for Children with Autism" by Vince Carbone, a board-certified behavioral analyst with extensive experience in designing learning environments for ppindividuals with autism and developmental disabilities.
The conference qualifies for professional education hours for teachers and continuing education credit for psychologists and behavior analysts.
Registrations are being accepted between Aug. 27 and Oct. 8. Click here for more information or to register online.
Registration fees are $50 for parent or student preregistration and $95 for a professional to preregister; the fees are $75 for a parent or student registering on-site and $125 for a professional who registers on-site.
Source: Karen Rhine
Florida Institute of Technology
The conference will feature noted autism experts speaking on a variety of related topics. They will offer comprehensive information to assist educators, health care and social service providers, and families in developing effective educational and therapeutic care.
The conference starts Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. with a lecture by Anthony Bailey, M.D., in the F.W. Olin Engineering Building auditorium on the Florida Tech campus. Bailey, who is the Cheryl and Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, UK, will discuss interventions for reversing autistic difficulties throughout the lifespan.
On Friday, Oct. 19, participants will meet from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (Upper Campus) off the Pineda Causeway in Melbourne.
Presentations this day include "The Neurobiology of Autism" by Bailey; "How a Child with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome Perceives the World" by Dr. Linda Lotspeich, a child psychiatrist and director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Center at Kaiser Permanente in California; "Autism and the Scientific Method" by Eb Blakely, a behavior analyst at Quest Inc. and a consultant at Devereux; and "The Benefits of a Language-based Approach in Programs for Children with Autism" by Vince Carbone, a board-certified behavioral analyst with extensive experience in designing learning environments for ppindividuals with autism and developmental disabilities.
The conference qualifies for professional education hours for teachers and continuing education credit for psychologists and behavior analysts.
Registrations are being accepted between Aug. 27 and Oct. 8. Click here for more information or to register online.
Registration fees are $50 for parent or student preregistration and $95 for a professional to preregister; the fees are $75 for a parent or student registering on-site and $125 for a professional who registers on-site.
Source: Karen Rhine
Florida Institute of Technology
The Bishop Of London Supports Autism Sunday
The Bishop of London. Rt.Reverend Richard Chartres is supporting Autism Sunday - the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Cathedrals, Churches and religious organisations are remembering over 60 million people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in Prayer. Autism Sunday is also being used as a platform for lobbying and campaigning on the serious issues connected with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. It is now an international day and many more places of worship are supporting Autism Sunday.
Rt.Reverend Richard Chartres has issued a special message to mark Autism Sunday 2009. The Bishop of London said: 'Autism Sunday is a way of raising awareness of the impact of the relational and communication difficulties with this condition. It is also an opportunity to consider what we can do to support families and ease the isolation of those who experience Autism and Asperger's Syndrome every day of their lives.'
The Bishop of London joins many key leaders supporting Autism Sunday. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has invoked God's blessings of strength and peace on parents, carers,children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome.The Pope will be praying for families and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome on Autism Sunday. The pastor of one of the largest churches in the United States, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California hopes this year's International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome is a huge success. The Archibishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu has also sent his blessings.
Places of worship are using the song for autism, 'Open Every Door,' sung by the Asian superstar Gresha Schuilling and written by UK singer/songwriter Nimal Mendis as a point of reflection in services - the song is also being used in worldwide awareness raising events. 'Open Every Door' is about a child or young person with autism or Asperger's Syndrome and has been released on iTunes.
Ivan Corea, Co-Founder of Autism Sunday said: 'I am delighted that key leaders are supporting Autism Sunday. I urge World Leaders to speak out on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome on Autism Sunday on 8th February. We are delighted to hear that many parents, carers, organisations and faith communities are using Autism Sunday to lobby and campaign hard on the key issues. We appeal to Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling to help and support families with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in the 2009 budget. We have been campaigning for a real increase in tax credits, the disability living allowance and the carer's allowance. 87 MPs in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster backed a motion on Autism and Poverty tabled by John Battle MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty.50 MPs have signed a motion tabled by Rudi Vis MP on Autism and Winter Fuel Poverty. We have called for a special social tariff for families with disabilities who are struggling to cope with rising energy bills. The credit crunch and the deepening recession is affecting us all and families and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome need urgent help and support from Her Majesty's Government.'
Autism campaigners have called on the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to stop the re-possessions of homes belonging to families with autism.
Parliamentarians and dignitaries are joining parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome at an Autism Sunday Service at All Saint's Church in Woodford Wells in the London Borough of Redbridge.
Autism Sunday - the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome was launched by parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea, they have a 13 year old son, Charin who has autism. He has been the inspiration behind their campaign - in 2000 they initiated the Autism Awareness Campaign UK and launched the UK Autism Foundation in 2008. Autism Sunday was launched in 2002 Autism Awareness Year with a historic service at St.Paul's Cathedral in London in the United Kingdom. Since then many more Cathedrals, churches and religious organisations have been observing this international day. Organisations are also planning awareness raising events across many nations marking Autism Sunday.
Autism Sunday
Rt.Reverend Richard Chartres has issued a special message to mark Autism Sunday 2009. The Bishop of London said: 'Autism Sunday is a way of raising awareness of the impact of the relational and communication difficulties with this condition. It is also an opportunity to consider what we can do to support families and ease the isolation of those who experience Autism and Asperger's Syndrome every day of their lives.'
The Bishop of London joins many key leaders supporting Autism Sunday. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has invoked God's blessings of strength and peace on parents, carers,children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome.The Pope will be praying for families and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome on Autism Sunday. The pastor of one of the largest churches in the United States, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California hopes this year's International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome is a huge success. The Archibishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu has also sent his blessings.
Places of worship are using the song for autism, 'Open Every Door,' sung by the Asian superstar Gresha Schuilling and written by UK singer/songwriter Nimal Mendis as a point of reflection in services - the song is also being used in worldwide awareness raising events. 'Open Every Door' is about a child or young person with autism or Asperger's Syndrome and has been released on iTunes.
Ivan Corea, Co-Founder of Autism Sunday said: 'I am delighted that key leaders are supporting Autism Sunday. I urge World Leaders to speak out on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome on Autism Sunday on 8th February. We are delighted to hear that many parents, carers, organisations and faith communities are using Autism Sunday to lobby and campaign hard on the key issues. We appeal to Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling to help and support families with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in the 2009 budget. We have been campaigning for a real increase in tax credits, the disability living allowance and the carer's allowance. 87 MPs in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster backed a motion on Autism and Poverty tabled by John Battle MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty.50 MPs have signed a motion tabled by Rudi Vis MP on Autism and Winter Fuel Poverty. We have called for a special social tariff for families with disabilities who are struggling to cope with rising energy bills. The credit crunch and the deepening recession is affecting us all and families and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome need urgent help and support from Her Majesty's Government.'
Autism campaigners have called on the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to stop the re-possessions of homes belonging to families with autism.
Parliamentarians and dignitaries are joining parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome at an Autism Sunday Service at All Saint's Church in Woodford Wells in the London Borough of Redbridge.
Autism Sunday - the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome was launched by parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea, they have a 13 year old son, Charin who has autism. He has been the inspiration behind their campaign - in 2000 they initiated the Autism Awareness Campaign UK and launched the UK Autism Foundation in 2008. Autism Sunday was launched in 2002 Autism Awareness Year with a historic service at St.Paul's Cathedral in London in the United Kingdom. Since then many more Cathedrals, churches and religious organisations have been observing this international day. Organisations are also planning awareness raising events across many nations marking Autism Sunday.
Autism Sunday
LENA Foundation Announces The Development Of An Automatic Autism Screen
The LENA Foundation announced that its researchers have developed an automatic autism screen based on detectable acoustic patterns in the recorded vocalizations of children with autism. Based on a study of 1,227 day-long recordings of 76 typically developing children, 30 language-delayed children, and 34 children diagnosed with autism, the screen can distinguish between non-autistic and autistic children with better than 85 percent accuracy for children ages 24 to 48 months.
"We're excited about the results and confident that our accuracy will increase as we collect more recordings and work with other researchers to optimize the technology," said Dongxin Xu, Ph.D., the foundation's manager of software and language engineering.
The automatic screen is a revolutionary new tool based on LENA System technology. The LENA System comprises advanced processing software and children's clothing fitted with a lightweight LENA Digital Language Processor (DLP) - essentially a small, unobtrusive digital recorder. Designed for use in the natural home environment, the DLP can save up to 16 hours of high-quality audio, capturing all of a child's vocalizations as well as adult speech and other sounds.
The LENA software partitions the audio recording into segments based on pre-defined acoustic features and categorizes each segment by the recognized sound source, such as the child wearing the DLP, adult males and adult females interacting with the child, and TV and electronic media. The child vocalization segments are processed again to produce a set of more than 40 acoustic feature categories. The screen uses this feature set to estimate the probability that the child's vocalization patterns are consistent with ASD.
The foundation is in the process of submitting the automatic autism screen for peer review and recruiting research organizations to conduct an independent and blind validity and reliability study. It hopes to complete the study within the next three months to facilitate the release of the automatic screen this fall. Meanwhile, the LENA System has already demonstrated its usefulness in monitoring the fidelity of treatment for autism and is in use at over 20 research institutions and children's hospitals.
"Based on what I have seen so far, I am confident that we can both improve the accuracy of the autism screen and perhaps detect the acoustic markers for autism in children as young as 18 months, maybe even younger," Xu added. "Of course, the biggest impact of the LENA System will likely be its use to improve the treatment of autism and other language disorders and delays when used by parents to monitor their own interactions with their child."
About LENA Foundation
Established in 2009, the LENA Foundation develops advanced technology for the early screening, diagnosis, research, and treatment of language delays and disorders in children and adults. Philanthropists Terry and Judi Paul formed the not-for-profit organization through a multimillion-dollar gift and the donation of assets from Infoture Inc. Over a five-year period, Infoture created the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) System, the world's first automatic language collection and analysis tool and the foundation's principal product. The foundation employs a team of scientists and engineers who are skilled in computerized speech and speaker recognition, microelectronics, statistical research, and children's language acquisition and development; they are passionately devoted to helping the foundation enhance language development worldwide.
LENA Foundation
lenafoundation
"We're excited about the results and confident that our accuracy will increase as we collect more recordings and work with other researchers to optimize the technology," said Dongxin Xu, Ph.D., the foundation's manager of software and language engineering.
The automatic screen is a revolutionary new tool based on LENA System technology. The LENA System comprises advanced processing software and children's clothing fitted with a lightweight LENA Digital Language Processor (DLP) - essentially a small, unobtrusive digital recorder. Designed for use in the natural home environment, the DLP can save up to 16 hours of high-quality audio, capturing all of a child's vocalizations as well as adult speech and other sounds.
The LENA software partitions the audio recording into segments based on pre-defined acoustic features and categorizes each segment by the recognized sound source, such as the child wearing the DLP, adult males and adult females interacting with the child, and TV and electronic media. The child vocalization segments are processed again to produce a set of more than 40 acoustic feature categories. The screen uses this feature set to estimate the probability that the child's vocalization patterns are consistent with ASD.
The foundation is in the process of submitting the automatic autism screen for peer review and recruiting research organizations to conduct an independent and blind validity and reliability study. It hopes to complete the study within the next three months to facilitate the release of the automatic screen this fall. Meanwhile, the LENA System has already demonstrated its usefulness in monitoring the fidelity of treatment for autism and is in use at over 20 research institutions and children's hospitals.
"Based on what I have seen so far, I am confident that we can both improve the accuracy of the autism screen and perhaps detect the acoustic markers for autism in children as young as 18 months, maybe even younger," Xu added. "Of course, the biggest impact of the LENA System will likely be its use to improve the treatment of autism and other language disorders and delays when used by parents to monitor their own interactions with their child."
About LENA Foundation
Established in 2009, the LENA Foundation develops advanced technology for the early screening, diagnosis, research, and treatment of language delays and disorders in children and adults. Philanthropists Terry and Judi Paul formed the not-for-profit organization through a multimillion-dollar gift and the donation of assets from Infoture Inc. Over a five-year period, Infoture created the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) System, the world's first automatic language collection and analysis tool and the foundation's principal product. The foundation employs a team of scientists and engineers who are skilled in computerized speech and speaker recognition, microelectronics, statistical research, and children's language acquisition and development; they are passionately devoted to helping the foundation enhance language development worldwide.
LENA Foundation
lenafoundation
Gene Mutated In Cancer Found in Some With Autism
A gene that is changed in many forms of cancer has also been found to show similar changes in some forms of autism,
according to preliminary research.
The gene, known as PTEN, was found to be changed, or mutated,
in three of 18 people with larger than normal heads and autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder includes classical
autism, Rett syndrome and other conditions.
The study was led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital
(OSU CCC-James) and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Mo.
Inherited gene mutations in the PTEN gene are seen in Cowden syndrome, a poorly recognized disorder that increases a person's
risk of developing cancers of the breast, thyroid and uterus. PTEN mutations are also found in several non-inherited (i.e.,
spontaneous) cancers, including thyroid and endometrial cancers and some brain tumors.
The findings, published in the April Journal of Medical Genetics, raise the possibility that some people with autism and
large heads may have an increased risk of cancer.
"If our findings are verified, I think that patients with classical autism or autism spectrum disorders and who have large
heads should be offered genetic counseling and testing for PTEN mutations," says principal investigator Charis Eng, professor
of internal medicine and director of the clinical cancer genetics program at the OSU CCC-James.
"Those with PTEN mutations should be offered cancer surveillance like anyone with Cowden syndrome or other syndromes
involving PTEN mutations and an elevated risk of cancer."
PTEN is a tumor-suppressor gene, and normally helps prevent cells from becoming cancerous. When a mutation silences
tumor-suppressor genes, it can place a person at higher-than-usual risk of developing cancer during his or her lifetime.
Autism is a developmental disorder that typically appears by age 3. It has a prevalence of four to 10 cases per 10,000
people. It is three to four times more common in males than females. People with autism typically show impaired social
interactions; impaired verbal and nonverbal communications; repeated body movements, such as hand flapping or rocking;
attachment to objects; and resistance to changes in routine.
This study involved 18 children 3 to 18 years of age and diagnosed with ASD and having an enlarged head, a condition known as
macrocephaly. The patients' head circumference placed them in the 97th to 99th percentile for head size for their age and
sex.
Twelve of the 18 patients were identified during clinic visits; six, who had classic autism and macrocephaly, were selected
from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, a gene bank for autism.
Of the 18 patients, three males (17 percent) age 2 to 4 years showed mutations in the PTEN gene. The locations of the
mutations in the PTEN gene are different from those seen in people with cancer, Eng notes, but that may not matter.
"Tumor suppressor genes can be silenced in many ways," she says, "and if the gene does not function, it can raise the
lifetime risk of cancer."
The paper's first author is Merlin G. Butler, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Other OSU researchers involved in this
study were Xiao-Ping Zhou, research scientist, and Robert Pilarski, genetic counselor.
Funding from the Children's Mercy Hospitals Special Gift Funds, the Children's Mercy Hospitals Physician Scientist Award, the
Hall Foundation and the American Cancer Society
supported this research.
Contact: Darrell E. Ward
Ward-15medctr.osu
614-293-3737
Ohio State University
researchnews.osu
according to preliminary research.
The gene, known as PTEN, was found to be changed, or mutated,
in three of 18 people with larger than normal heads and autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder includes classical
autism, Rett syndrome and other conditions.
The study was led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital
(OSU CCC-James) and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Mo.
Inherited gene mutations in the PTEN gene are seen in Cowden syndrome, a poorly recognized disorder that increases a person's
risk of developing cancers of the breast, thyroid and uterus. PTEN mutations are also found in several non-inherited (i.e.,
spontaneous) cancers, including thyroid and endometrial cancers and some brain tumors.
The findings, published in the April Journal of Medical Genetics, raise the possibility that some people with autism and
large heads may have an increased risk of cancer.
"If our findings are verified, I think that patients with classical autism or autism spectrum disorders and who have large
heads should be offered genetic counseling and testing for PTEN mutations," says principal investigator Charis Eng, professor
of internal medicine and director of the clinical cancer genetics program at the OSU CCC-James.
"Those with PTEN mutations should be offered cancer surveillance like anyone with Cowden syndrome or other syndromes
involving PTEN mutations and an elevated risk of cancer."
PTEN is a tumor-suppressor gene, and normally helps prevent cells from becoming cancerous. When a mutation silences
tumor-suppressor genes, it can place a person at higher-than-usual risk of developing cancer during his or her lifetime.
Autism is a developmental disorder that typically appears by age 3. It has a prevalence of four to 10 cases per 10,000
people. It is three to four times more common in males than females. People with autism typically show impaired social
interactions; impaired verbal and nonverbal communications; repeated body movements, such as hand flapping or rocking;
attachment to objects; and resistance to changes in routine.
This study involved 18 children 3 to 18 years of age and diagnosed with ASD and having an enlarged head, a condition known as
macrocephaly. The patients' head circumference placed them in the 97th to 99th percentile for head size for their age and
sex.
Twelve of the 18 patients were identified during clinic visits; six, who had classic autism and macrocephaly, were selected
from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, a gene bank for autism.
Of the 18 patients, three males (17 percent) age 2 to 4 years showed mutations in the PTEN gene. The locations of the
mutations in the PTEN gene are different from those seen in people with cancer, Eng notes, but that may not matter.
"Tumor suppressor genes can be silenced in many ways," she says, "and if the gene does not function, it can raise the
lifetime risk of cancer."
The paper's first author is Merlin G. Butler, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Other OSU researchers involved in this
study were Xiao-Ping Zhou, research scientist, and Robert Pilarski, genetic counselor.
Funding from the Children's Mercy Hospitals Special Gift Funds, the Children's Mercy Hospitals Physician Scientist Award, the
Hall Foundation and the American Cancer Society
supported this research.
Contact: Darrell E. Ward
Ward-15medctr.osu
614-293-3737
Ohio State University
researchnews.osu
Monkeys' Ability To Reflect On Their Thoughts May Have Implications For Infants, Autistic Children
New research from Columbia's Primate Cognition Laboratory has demonstrated for the first time that monkeys could acquire meta-cognitive skills: the ability to reflect about their thoughts and to assess their performance.
The study was a collaborative effort between Herbert Terrace, Columbia professor of psychology & psychiatry, and director of its Primate Cognition Laboratory, and two graduate students, Lisa Son - now professor of psychology at Barnard College - and UCLA postdoctoral researcher Nate Kornell.
The study, which appears in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, was designed to show that a monkey could express its confidence in its answers to multiple-choice questions about its memory based on the amount of imaginary currency it was willing to wager. Their experiment was derived from the observation that children often make pretend bets to assert that they know the answer to some question. According to Son, "the ability to reflect on one's knowledge has always been thought of as exclusively human. We designed a task to determine if a non-human primate could similarly learn to express its confidence about its knowledge by making large or small wagers."
In the experiment, two monkeys were trained to play a video game that would test their ability to remember a particular photograph while also allowing them to make a large or a small bet. Ultimately, this wager would reflect the monkey's perception of their memory accuracy.
The test used touch-screen technology and a multiple-choice format. Six novel photographs were presented at the beginning of each trial, one at a time. One photograph was selected at random and then displayed simultaneously with 8 novel photographs. The monkey's task was to select the photograph that appeared at the beginning of the trial. The monkey then evaluated the accuracy of its choice by selecting a high and a low-risk icon presented on the screen. It earned a large reward if it selected the high-risk icon after a correct response (3 tokens dropped into a bank displayed on the video monitor).
Choosing the high-risk icon following an incorrect response resulted in the loss of 3 tokens. Low risk bets were always followed by a small reward (a gain of 1 token). When the monkey accumulated enough tokens, it was rewarded with food. The results demonstrated that with the monkeys, there was a strong correlation between high-risk bets and correct responses and between low-risk bets and incorrect responses.
Terrace argues that, "the pattern of the monkeys' bets provided clear evidence of their ability to engage in meta-cognition, an ability that is all the more remarkable because monkeys lack language." But the results may have further reaching implications as well. Terrace notes "our results are of general interest because non-verbal tests of the type used in this and other experiments on animal cognition can be adapted to study cognitive abilities of infants and autistic children."
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information.
The Primate Cognition Laboratory at Columbia focuses on complex sequential learning that can be explained by the principles of conditioning theory and that which requires language. For more information, go to columbia/cu/psychology/primatecognitionlab/.
Contact: Herb Terrace
Association for Psychological Science
The study was a collaborative effort between Herbert Terrace, Columbia professor of psychology & psychiatry, and director of its Primate Cognition Laboratory, and two graduate students, Lisa Son - now professor of psychology at Barnard College - and UCLA postdoctoral researcher Nate Kornell.
The study, which appears in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, was designed to show that a monkey could express its confidence in its answers to multiple-choice questions about its memory based on the amount of imaginary currency it was willing to wager. Their experiment was derived from the observation that children often make pretend bets to assert that they know the answer to some question. According to Son, "the ability to reflect on one's knowledge has always been thought of as exclusively human. We designed a task to determine if a non-human primate could similarly learn to express its confidence about its knowledge by making large or small wagers."
In the experiment, two monkeys were trained to play a video game that would test their ability to remember a particular photograph while also allowing them to make a large or a small bet. Ultimately, this wager would reflect the monkey's perception of their memory accuracy.
The test used touch-screen technology and a multiple-choice format. Six novel photographs were presented at the beginning of each trial, one at a time. One photograph was selected at random and then displayed simultaneously with 8 novel photographs. The monkey's task was to select the photograph that appeared at the beginning of the trial. The monkey then evaluated the accuracy of its choice by selecting a high and a low-risk icon presented on the screen. It earned a large reward if it selected the high-risk icon after a correct response (3 tokens dropped into a bank displayed on the video monitor).
Choosing the high-risk icon following an incorrect response resulted in the loss of 3 tokens. Low risk bets were always followed by a small reward (a gain of 1 token). When the monkey accumulated enough tokens, it was rewarded with food. The results demonstrated that with the monkeys, there was a strong correlation between high-risk bets and correct responses and between low-risk bets and incorrect responses.
Terrace argues that, "the pattern of the monkeys' bets provided clear evidence of their ability to engage in meta-cognition, an ability that is all the more remarkable because monkeys lack language." But the results may have further reaching implications as well. Terrace notes "our results are of general interest because non-verbal tests of the type used in this and other experiments on animal cognition can be adapted to study cognitive abilities of infants and autistic children."
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information.
The Primate Cognition Laboratory at Columbia focuses on complex sequential learning that can be explained by the principles of conditioning theory and that which requires language. For more information, go to columbia/cu/psychology/primatecognitionlab/.
Contact: Herb Terrace
Association for Psychological Science
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