Writing Science News – Page 9 – Breaking Science News

New Treatment Plan for Mantle Cell Lymphoma

By Nina Jean-Jacques

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that affects approximately 3000 people in the United States every year. The disease is characterized by a translocation between two genes which results in over-expression of the cell cycle, creating enlarged lymph nodes and is found in inner mantle cell B-cells. MCL readily spreads to bone marrow and therefore, can be irresponsive to chemotherapy treatment.

Studies show the addition of rituximab to the current regimen of treatment for MCL greatly increases response rates. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody which protects against a protein found on B-cell surfaces.

The current routine for treating the disease is cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP). Combining these drugs with rituximab (R-CHOP), forms an alternative chemotherapy option for sufferers of MCL. Because chemotherapy is toxic to cells, good and bad, developing a mixture of treatments that show the best results in the least amount of time keeps the patient in the finest physical condition. A study showed 16 out of 26 patients treated with R-CHOP achieved remission. Five of these 16 patients needed repeated doses. The other ten patients did relapse, but did show a response to the treatment. The study also gave 38 patients high dose CHOP treatments. Of these, 33 patients went remained in remission. From this study, it can be determined that R-CHOP is effective in treating MCL. However, many patients do not need the rituximab and would be given the antibodies unnecessarily (full article).

Chemotherapy is known to have devastating side effects. People of all ages are subjected to this treatment. It is sometimes the only option for those suffering from various illnesses, as of now. Researchers should start from scratch when trying to find the treatment of a disease, rather than seeing the effect of a medication for a different disease. Giving a person, who is already suffering from a deathly disease, a needless drug is almost cruel. Finding drugs that directly and specifically target a disease would minimize the unnecessary side effects of medication. Using drugs that are already known is a good starting point. This method of research has aided in the development of uncountable drugs. It is also important to get drugs to the public that do fabricate a response in patients so that there is some hope for recovery. Hopefully in the near future, drugs will be made highly specific to a disease and create fewer side effects.

Early Use of Morphine in Combat Injuries Helps Prevent Later Development of Post–traumatic Stress Disorder

A study published in January in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was demonstrated that soldiers who received morphine following a battle-field injury were less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those who did not.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common result of severe injury or trauma on the battle-field and can have a serious long-term impact on general health and quality of life. As the implications of this disorder have become clearer, the secondary prevention of PTSDwith pharmacotherapy in the aftermath of major trauma has received more focus.

In this study, the medical files of nearly 700 soldiers wounded between 2004 and 2006 were reviewed for initial injury and later diagnosis of PTSD. Those who received morphine during early trauma care were significantly less likely to develop PTSD than those who did not. The study adjusted for factors such as injury severity, age of patient,mechanism of injury, amputation status, and otherselected injury-related clinical factors, and still found a statistically significant correlation between early morphine treatment and lower risk of PTSD.

This study supports an earlier study in which morphine administration, in a small sample of child burn victims, was shown to decrease the incidence of PTSD. Other studies have shown that the severity of pain within the first 48 hours of a serious injury has a significant impact on later development of PTSD. The idea is that the administration of morphine and reduction of pain decreases memory consolidation and the associated conditioned responseto fear after a person goes through a traumatic event.

While early treatments on the battlefield have inherent limitations, studies such as this may intensify the urgency with which pain-killers are administered to wounded soldiers. These findings are also applicable civilians who undergo severe traumatic injury putting them at risk for PTSD. With the recognition of the far-reaching health implications of PTSD, the development of preventative measures is crucial.

Nicole Myers

To read the full text of this study follow: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/2/110

Paleontologists discover dinosaurs with surprising colors

By Marci Wills

As a student of both geology and biology, it’s exciting when I hear about research integrating these two very diverse fields. So I’ll report a bit of paleontology news for this first week. And there’s not a topic in paleontology much more exciting than dinosaurs right?

Dinosaurs were a great subject to draw when I was in elementary school in the 90s because, as my art teacher cheerfully pointed out, “nobody knows what color they are, so you can color them however you’d like!” But the future of interpretive dinosaur drawing is looking a little less optimistic for children today, thanks to a study published online in Nature this week.

Sinosauropteryx fossil (The Nanjing Institute)

An international team of paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Beijing), the University of Bristol (UK), University College Dublin and the Open University (UK) revealed the first ever evidence for the color of dinosaur feathers. Yes that’s right, feathers. The feathers were those of early Cretaceous Therapod dinosaurs, a group thought to be the evolutionary stem group of modern birds. The suborder Therapoda contains those famous carnivores Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus rex, but some of the group’s genera were rather less daunting. For instance, Sinosauropteryx measured only ~27 inches in length. It had simple feather-like bristles, precursors to flight feathers of modern birds, running down the length of its back and tail.

It was in fossilized remnants of these bristles from the Liaoning province of northeast China that the paleontologists found clues to their color. Pigmented organelles called melanosomes give color to the feathers and hair of modern birds and mammals, and because they are imbedded within a protein structure, they are highly resistant to deterioration. Although the pigments themselves had long since decayed, the team used powerful scanning electron microscopy to recognize surviving melanosomes by their shape in early Cretaceous bird and Therapod fossils over 100 million years old.

The fossils contained two types of melanosomes; sausage-shaped eumelanosomes, which contain black pigment found in the stripes of zebras, and spherical phaeomelanosomes, which contain the red pigment of red tailed hawks and some human hair. The distribution of these melanosomes led the paleontologists to believe Sinosauropteryx had alternating bands of orange and white feathers down the length of its tail! The study also reports that individuals of another small Therapod genus, Sinornithosaurus, varied in color from orange to black.

fossil feather — Early Cretaceous fossilized feather in which melanosomes were found. (Zhang et al, 2010)

More importantly, such findings further strengthen the argument for the evolution of birds from Therapod dinosaurs. The identical morphology of melanosomes from Therapods to very early birds and modern birds confirms that these bristles are related to modern flight feathers and not, as some skeptics believe, partially decayed collagen fibers.

Such evolutionary progression also suggests that feathers evolved before wings and therefore must have served some purpose other than flight. Sinosauropteryx only had feathers running down the crest of its back and tail, so they would have had limited function in insulation. Mike Benton of the University of Bristol believes these dinosaurs were making a visual statement, noting that, “you don’t have an orange-and-white striped tail for nothing”.

The study found no evidence of other colors such as purples, yellows and blues. The proteins producing these colors degrade more easily than the black and orange pigments protected in organelles. So it seems that the dinosaur coloring books will remain largely open to interpretation, at least for now.

Artist rendition of a living Sinosauropteryx, by Jim Robbins

Sources:

The Paper: Fucheng Zhang, Stuart L. Kearns, Patrick J. Orr, Michael J. Benton, Zhonghe Zhou, Diane Johnson, Xing Xu, and Xiaolin Wang. Fossilized melanosomes and the colour of Cretaceous dinosaurs and birds. Nature advanced online publication, 27 January 2010.

http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2010/6806.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100127/full/news.2010.39.html

Scientists map the soybean genome and discover implications for the future of agriculture

Pods of soybean developing on plants in the field — Credit: Photo by Stephen Ausmus (USDA Agricultural Research Service). From "Mapping and Sequencing of Soybean Genome Paves the Way for Improved Soybean Crops".

by Allison Younkins

Soybeans: An insignificant plant, or the key to the future of agriculture?
What do a $30 billion dollar US industry and 1.1 million base pairs of DNA have in common? They are both attributes of the soybean plant. A tremendous group of researchers, including those at the University of Missouri, have completed a study that identified over 1 million base pairs of DNA in the soybean genome. Funded by multiple organizations for over 15 years, this project may seem like an extensive amount of research for just one plant. But the soybean is the second most profitable crop and it is used as a component of:

Human food
Livestock feed
Plastics
Some forms of biodiesel

Scientists at the University of Missouri and The U.S. Department of Agriculture predict that the soybean genome will allow researchers to increase soybean yield, resistance to drought, and resistance to disease. And if you think soybeans don’t apply to you, just ask Henry Nguyen, director of the National Center for Soybean Biotechnology at the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. He is currently working on an animal science project using the soybean genome to increase both protein and antioxidants in meat.

From the bench to the farm: How will the soybean genome impact agriculture?
Without experience mapping genomes, it might be difficult to see the implications of the soybean genome on our crops. But the researchers have made it clear that it will have a direct impact. The soybean genome is a key component to a researcher’s ability to link the plant’s physical traits to genes and to alleles, which are different versions of the same gene. These genes could control any aspect of the soybean, but researchers are most excited about genes that control seed yield and disease resistance. In the future, researchers will manipulate these genes to produce a desired physical trait.

What you need to know: How soybean research affects all of us
This example of soybean research is one of numerous projects in the field of agricultural science. Agricultural science is one of the few fields that affects people from every socioeconomic status and people from every country. Fresh fruits and vegetables are often too expensive for families with low income. This affects the health of our nation’s children as well as their families. By increasing yield and lowering losses to disease, the price of vegetables would decrease. In a global perspective, agricultural science is an invaluable tool for the fight against world hunger. If scientists can develop drought resistance plants by finding the appropriate genes, food production in developing nations would be increased tremendously. It just goes to show that big things do come in small soybean shaped packages.

Looking for more information? Check out the resources I used for this blog:

MU Researchers Fight World Hunger by Mapping the Soybean Genome

Soybean Genome Sequenced: Foundational Research Will Help Improve Soybeans And Other Legumes

Mapping and Sequencing of Soybean Genome Paves the Way for Improved Soybean Crops

Newly discovered antiviral fights HIV, Ebola and other deadly viruses

By Nick Gubitosi February 4, 2010

A picture of the HIV virus attacking a lymphocyte

A group of researchers lead by scientists from UCLA have identified a “broad spectrum” antiviral small molecule which targets the many envelope encased deadly viruses that exist today. This antiviral would fight enveloped viruses such as HIV, Ebola, and influenza, as well as viruses that haven’t even been discovered yet.

Dr. Benhur Lee, an associate professor at UCLA, was working with colleagues on 23 various pathogens when they discovered that this antiviral molecule, known as LJ001, only interfered with enveloped viruses through a mechanism which is still not fully understood.

This LJ001 molecule binds to both healthy and viral cells within the body, but only causes harm to the viral cells. Unlike the healthy cells in your body, viral cells lack the ability to repair themselves because they are not metabolically active. Therefore the damage done to the viral cells is permanent, while it is completely harmless to the healthy body cells.

Broad spectrum antivirals are hard to find, and usually accompanied with many shortcomings. One such antiviral, Ribavirin, targets RNA replication and is only effective against a few viruses, is too expensive for widespread use, and produces unwanted side effects. LJ001 targets viral structure, does not appear to be toxic, and can attack a large group of viruses, making LJ001 the first antiviral of its kind.

Viruses can differ from one another and even mutate as seen with HIV, making them extremely hard to fight off. Using an antiviral such as LJ001, which safely targets a feature common to an entire class of viruses, may be the potential answer to this problem.

See here for Press Release

Using Biodiesel Improves Miner’s Health

By Amy Woolf

Using biodiesel in underground mines has been proven to improve the underground air quality within a few days of switching from conventional fuel to biodiesel. Air quality is the main factor relating to poor health of miners. Mining companies reported claims to the air improvement after the switch to biodiesel, which caused the Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) to publish a report confirming these claims. The MSHA tested the biofuel and found that it not only reduced emissions, but they also found that there was no loss of performance in machines running biodiesel, even when they run for 20 hours at times.

Risks related to the exposure to Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) can be mild such as eye and nose irritation to more serious lung conditions. Miners are exposed to over 100 times the typical environmental concentration of diesel exhaust when working in mines that run machines on diesel fuel. The MSHA tested several blends of biodiesel and found that it did “result in a cleaner and healthier working environment.” The Rogers Group, a mining company in Kentucky, has been using biodiesel for three years in their mines, B99 (which is a 99% blend of biodiesel) in below sea level mines and B50 (50% blend of biodiesel) in mines with more natural airflow. Biodiesel in a traditional diesel engine has been proven and endorsed by the MSHA to reduce the DPM in the mining environments by reducing the quantity of harmful emissions like carbon in the particulate matter (biodiesel contains oxygen which allows for a more complete combustion of CO2).

Biodiesel is a growing sector of the renewable fuel movement. It burns cleaner than conventional fuel and can be made from vegetable oils, fats, and recycled cooking oil. It is relatively simple to manufacture, making it possible to successfully “home-brew”.

Image from: Dieselnews Australia

Press Release

2/4/10

Diabetic Blindness, a Light at the End of the Tunnel?

5f4b37ed-48d4-4d0b-9fbc-3d1e372dd6a6 — Susanne Mohr

Many of you, like me, may know some one close to you that has diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is very prevalent, not only in the diabetic community but in the population as a whole. Roughly forty-five percent of diabetics are affected by diabetic retinopathy and it is among the leading causes of blindness among American adults. In this particular disease, existing blood vessels may swell, or new ones may form, both of which result in the obstruction of the retina. It is this obstruction of the retina, which is vital for human sight, that causes the blindness associated with diabetic retinopathy.

Until now, this disease has gone untreated for the most part. That is until Susanne Mohr, a researcher at Michigan State University, made a major breakthrough in identifying the primary cause of diabetic retinopathy. In her research, she has found that a protein, siah-1, is produced in the body when blood sugar levels are correspondingly high, as you would find in a diabetic. She found that the siah-1 protein could be used to indicate the levels of a different protein, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).

This second protein, GAPDH, is the real culprit in diabetic retinopathy. When the levels of this protein are high in the blood, they accumulate in special cells in the eyes called Müller cells. Müller cells live on the blood vessels in the retina and when these cells die, it causes the blood vessel damage in the eyes that is associated with diabetic retinopathy.

GAPDH is necessary throughout the body for energy among other things, so regulating the production of that is not possible. However, siah-1 is only produced when the blood sugar levels are high, so the regulation of that protein may be possible. Although this is one of the first studies with these results, and subsequent research is not yet known concerning the regulation of siah-1, the news is promising. This may have enormous impact in the scientific community and American society as a whole.

Justin Williams ’13

Sources:

http://news.msu.edu/story/7390/

http://www.physorg.com/news184247845.html

http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy.asp

Not Your Average Fairytale

By Kristen Kocher February 4, 2010

Numerous genetic diseases, especially hereditary brain diseases, are untreatable therefore subjecting many individuals to a life of endless pain and suffering. However, in recent years with the development of the technique of gene therapy, new hope has been brought to life in those diagnosed as “terminally ill” with the promise of the “happily ever after” ending that everyone deserves.

Gene therapy is still not used as a mainstream medical technique because much of the process is still in the developmental stages. Recently, geneticists have been desperately working to perfect the successful transport of therapy genes into brain cells. In many cases, the diseases are caused by a single gene or protein mutation but can cause devastating affects, which normally result in the loss of brain cells and fatality.

A recent scientific breakthrough has finally made it possible for therapy genes to be inserted into brain cells and cure certain genetic diseases. Before this discovery, therapy genes were only administered through the use of viruses, predominantly the herpes virus, HSV-1. While HSV-1 has the ability to effectively transport large genes into the nucleus of the targeted cells, once the genetic information enters the nucleus it is unable to be integrated into the mammalian, host genome. This proves to be unhelpful as the therapeutic information is quickly silenced and within a few days the effects of gene therapy are no longer visible.

Another molecule used for gene therapy transport is known as “Sleeping Beauty”. The aforementioned molecule is named as such because it is innately a silent gene that was activated, or “awakened”, by scientists. The discovery of this molecule is beneficial because it has the ability to take the target gene intended for therapy into the nucleus and integrate it directly into the mammalian genome. The genes transported by Sleeping Beauty, however, must be relatively small, roughly 15 to 30 times less than the amount of DNA carried by HSV-1. This is unfortunate because the genes that are used for treatment of diseased brain cells are predominately large and cannot be carried by Sleeping Beauty.

So, where does the happy ending come in? These two molecules individually have characteristics that make them useful in therapy gene transport but separately cannot aid in the treatment of brain disease. However, thanks to the research of William Bowers, Ph.D. and graduate student Suresh de Silva, this blockade has been removed. With the creation of a hybrid molecule made up of both HSV-1 and Sleeping Beauty, geneticists have been able to successfully integrate large therapy genes into the mammalian genome, which, though current experiments, have resulted in long-term therapeutic gene expression. The creation of this hybrid therapy gene transport molecule promises a bright future and “happy ending” for those suffering from terminal, genetic disease.

Original Press Release

Find out more about the projects going on in Bowers Laboratory

New Drug Shown to Heal Back Pain in 3 Days

By Johnathan Nieves

Lower back pain is the fifth leading cause for doctor visits in the U.S. and over 85 percent of people suffer at least one bout of lower back pain in their lifetime. SOMA®, a new drug under development by, Meda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Somerset, N.J. based company, has been shown to improve functionality and reduce disability associated with lower back pain in as few as three days as confirmed by patient outcomes data.

The “outcomes data differentiates SOMA® 250 mg among the diverse treatment choices for patients with acute low back pain,” said Steven M. Simon, MD, RPh, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and Biosciences.

“Almost all acute low back pain is mechanical in origin and one in five patients with this condition suffers from significant limitations in activity. Treatment of acute low back pain with SOMA® 250 mg has been shown to improve functionality, as measured by an internationally validated tool.”

Meda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. claims that SOMA® is the only skeletal muscle relaxant proven to significantly improve functionality in patients with acute low back pain as measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), an internationally validated standard for measuring the degree of disability and functionality in patients with lower back pain.

The Company’s approach to assessing patient symptom progression during SOMA® treatment via the RMDQ is unique in that it is a form of outcomes-based healthcare. Outcomes-based health care has become an increasingly popular and comprehensive approach to healthcare with goals of providing high quality care and reducing treatment costs.

“Overall, the greatest cost savings from a societal perspective may be obtained from interventions that promote early return to work and minimize lost productivity,” said Al Moorad, MD, Medical Director, Integris Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation, Oklahoma City. “This may be accomplished by appropriate drug utilization to allow patients to actively participate in rehabilitation therapy and return to daily activities.”

Meda Pharmaceuticals’ will present its findings this week at the 26th annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in San Antonio, TX.

To learn more about SOMA®, you may visit www.SOMA250.com. The original press release pertaining to this article may be viewed at www.prnewswire.com.

Structure of key HIV protein solved, offers hope to millions of HIV/AIDS patients

Views of the integrase enzyme bound to viral DNA and to the integrase inhibitors MK0518 and GS9137 (b and c).

By Liz H.

After nearly 4 years and 40,000 trials, a team of researchers from Harvard University and Imperial College London has reported the structure of the HIV enzyme integrase in a landmark study published in the January 31st issue of Nature (full article). Integrase is a key retroviral enzyme that allows the virus to insert its DNA into the chromosomes of host cells and replicate. This discovery sheds light on how current integrase inhibitors target the enzyme and may lead to the development of more effective therapeutics.

Scientists grew a crystal of the enzyme obtained from the Prototype Foamy Virus, a model for HIV, and used a synchotron machine at the Diamond Light Source in South Oxfordshire to take a picture of the enzyme’s structure using a method known as x-ray diffraction. These crystals were then soaked in integrase inhibitors and the drugs’ actions were also studied using x-ray diffraction. Scientists hope that their findings will allow them to develop improved next-generation integrase inhibitors.

Over 33 million people are infected by HIV and combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) is used to slow the progression of disease (source). However, the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistance, high cost, and side effects of therapeutics undermines the efficacy of current treatments.