A Texas AgriLife Research scientist and fellow researchers have discovered that arginine, an amino acid, reduces fat mass in diet-induced obese rats and could help fight human obesity.

“Given the current epidemic of obesity in the U.S. and worldwide, our finding is very important,” said Dr. Guoyao Wu, an AgriLife Research animal nutritionist in College Station and Senior Faculty Fellow in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University.

The research found dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote skeletal-muscle gain, according to the researchers. The findings were published recently in the Journal of Nutrition (jn.nutrition).

In laboratory experiments, rats were fed both low-and high-fat diets. They found that arginine supplementation for a 12-week period decreased the body fat gains of low-fat and high-fat fed rats by 65 percent and 63 percent, respectively. The long-term arginine treatment did not have any adverse effects on either group.

“This finding could be directly translated into fighting human obesity,” Wu said. “At this time, arginine has not been incorporated into our food (but could in the future).”

Arginine-rich foods include seafood, watermelon juice, nuts, seeds, algae, meats, rice protein concentrate and soy protein isolate, he said.

The research suggests that arginine may increase lean tissue growth. In pigs, it was found that dietary arginine supplementation reduced fat accretion (growth) but increased muscle gain in growing/finishing pigs without affecting body weight.

Another important observation according to the research was that dietary arginine reduced serum concentrations of branched-chain amino acids.

“This metabolic change is likely beneficial because elevated concentrations of branched-chain amino acids may lead to insulin resistance in obesity. Additionally, arginine can stimulate muscle protein synthesis, a biochemical process that requires large amounts of energy,” Wu said. “Thus, dietary energy would be utilized for lean tissue rather than fat gain.”

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The research, funded by the American Heart Association, will be presented in August at the 11 th International Symposium on Amino Acids in Vienna, Austria.

Follow-up research will include clinical studies with obese children and adults, Wu said.

Members of the research team are: Wu, Wenjuan Jobgen, Scott Jobgen, Peng Li, Stephen Smith, Thomas Spencer, all with the department of animal science at Texas A&M; Cynthia Meininger of Texas A&M Health Science Center; and Mi-Jeong Lee and Susan Fried, department of medicine at University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Source: Dr. Guoyao Wu

Texas A&M AgriLife Communications Continue reading →

Capella University, an accredited online university* that has built its reputation by providing high quality online degree programs for working adults, has announced a new Addiction Psychology specialization as part of its PhD in Psychology degree program. The new specialization is one of very few non-clinical Addiction Psychology doctoral specializations available online, which offers addiction professionals more flexibility to combine advanced education pursuits with their other professional and personal goals. As of March 31, 2011, nearly 40,000 students are pursuing an online degree at Capella University, with 31 percent enrolled in Capella’s doctoral degree programs, and 47 percent enrolled in Capella’s master’s degree programs.

“There have been tremendous changes in the field of addiction psychology in recent years, including increased attention to co-occurring disorders and growing concern about behavioral disorders with addictive features, such as gambling, eating, sexual behavior, and spending. This has compounded the need for well-trained professionals in this area of work, including those versed in implementation science-research focused on translating evidence-based findings into common practice,” said Nancy A. Piotrowski, PhD, the lead faculty developer for Capella’s Addiction Psychology doctoral specialization. Dr. Piotrowski is an American Psychological Association (APA) fellow and a past president of the APA’s Division 50, the Society of Addiction Psychology. She has more than 25 years of professional research and clinical experience and more than 15 years of faculty and academic leadership experience in the field of addiction.

“Capella’s non-clinical doctoral specialization in Addiction Psychology is designed for seasoned addiction professionals who want to contribute to the field in new ways, such as developing and implementing innovative addiction programs, educating and training the next generation of addiction professionals, or conducting research to document the effectiveness of new treatments and their implementation,” said Dr. Piotrowski. “Our specialization builds on students’ current expertise in the addiction field while advancing their knowledge of the latest issues, trends, theories, and methods related to both substance use problems and behaviors with addictive features.”

Enrollment now open

Capella is now accepting enrollment applications for its PhD in Psychology, Addiction Psychology specialization.

Source:

Capella University Continue reading →

It’s that time of year again ~ yep, time to gain weight! But according to Director of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity at UCSD Medical Center, Santiago Horgan, M.D., with a little planning and effort people can avoid this annual holiday tradition that destroys good eating habits and challenges well-toned physiques.

Horgan says the best way to control the holiday weight gain is to look at the holiday meal and change perspective.

“A meal is a meal but it is also a calorie machine,” Horgan says. “How can you make the meal work without taking in so many calories and have it still remain appetizing? By looking at the aspects that you don’t realize make you gain weight.”

Horgan offers the following suggestions for anyone who wants to avoid the annual holiday pounds splurge and panic dash to the gym in January.

“Follow the smart diet,” says Horgan. “Eat the calories you want but not the ones you don’t need. Avoid unhealthy snacking. Think ahead and choose where you are going to consume your calories. For example if you have a big holiday meal planned, decide ahead of time where you want to consume your calories.” Horgan suggests that if a person loves pumpkin pie, then eat it but limit consumption of potatoes, gravy and dressing or eliminate them altogether.

Horgan realizes people like to eat big holidays meals and has remedies for dealing with those scenarios.

“Eat a healthy snack before going to a holiday party,” Horgan suggests. “That way you won’t be hungry and head straight for the appetizers.”

He advises diners to think about portions. “People eat too much in an attempt to eat everything on their plate,” he says. “Control your portions by using a salad-sized plate for your entr?e and side dishes, and eat your salad on an entr?e-sized plate before the main part of the meal.”

Horgan further advises diners to be cognizant of when they’re full. “You don’t have to clean your plate” he says. “It takes a good twenty minutes before your stomach signals your brain that it’s full, so eat slowly and the second you start feeling satisfied, stop eating.”

Another way to curtail calories at the holiday meal is to cut the fat in time-honored dishes. For example, instead of whipping butter into the mashed potatoes, use fat-free chicken broth or low-fat milk. When saut?ing onions and celery for the stuffing skip the fat and use non-stick spray instead. Bake the stuffing in a separate casserole, not in the bird, so it does not absorb turkey grease in the cavity. Finally, skim the turkey drippings of the fat before using it to make the gravy.

Another calorie buster he recommends is that before eating the holiday meal, diners should drink a full glass of carbonated water and keep a bottle of the carbonated water on the holiday table to drink with the meal. Both the water and carbonation will help diners feel full and help avoid overeating. But Horgan realizes some people simply want to eat a lot.

“If you want to eat 1,000 calories at a special meal, that’s okay, just don’t consume 1,000 calories at the day’s other meals too. Think ahead of how many calories you want to consume for the day and incorporate the big meal into that amount. Preserve the bulk of the day’s calories for the holiday meal. Make the meal work for you without overeating.”

The number one mistake to avoid, Horgan cautions, is not eating all day before the holiday meal. “If you don’t eat all day you will get hungry, lose control and eat much more. Instead, eat smart throughout the day so you can eat reasonably at the holiday meal. Fill up on healthy foods like fruits and vegetables without dressing.”

Two key saboteurs, Horgan says, are bread and sauce. “We don’t tell people not to eat; we tell them to limit the bread, dressings and sauces. If you look at a salad what makes the salad heavy is not the salad ingredients but the salad dressing,” Horgan points out. “The meat by itself won’t cause you to gain weight, but the sauce on it will. What makes chicken a high calorie machine? It’s not the chicken but the sauce.”

Horgan advises that it is fine to drink alcohol with dinner; however he advises choosing an alcohol with fewer calories. For example, skip the high-calorie margarita in favor of red wine.

Ultimately the only thing that matters, says Horgan, are the calories. “What are the calories telling you? Nothing,” he says. “All that matters is how many calories you’re eating, nothing else. Fill yourself up with low-calorie foods that won’t make you gain weight.”

What about exercise? “We know people rarely have time to exercise during the holidays,” Horgan admits. “But there are many ways a person can fit in exercise during this busy time of year.”

He suggests people add to the exercise they already do, and streamline it. For example when shopping park the car at the far end of the mall and walk as much as you can. To get in some extra steps, walk the outside perimeter of the mall before you ever step foot in the stores. When you go somewhere on foot take the longest route, not the shortest one. Don’t ride elevators, always take the stairs. It may only be one floor, but it all adds up.

Horgan says the basic rule for maintaining weight anytime of year is calories in equals calories out. “The calories from food should balance those burned during daily activities,” he advises. He knows most people eat more during the holidays, so he suggests finding ways to burn the extra calories such as extra housecleaning, raking up leaves, weeding and other physical chores.

University of California, San Diego
University Communications, 0938 9500 Gilman Dr.
LaJolla, CA 92093
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ucsd.edu/ Continue reading →

When it comes to some of today’s health issues, 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices do help reduce risk factors related to certain diseases.

This conclusion is the result of a European study designed to question traditional thinking that 100 percent juices play a less significant role in reducing risk for both cancer and cardiovascular disease than whole fruits and vegetables.

Juices are comparable in their ability to reduce risk compared to their whole fruit/vegetable counterparts say several researchers in the United Kingdom who conducted the literature review. The researchers analyzed a variety of studies that looked at risk reduction attributed to the effects of both fiber and antioxidants. As a result, they determined that the positive impact fruits and vegetables offer come not from just the fiber but also from antioxidants which are present in both juice and the whole fruit and vegetables.

This 2006 review of the literature states, “When considering cancer and coronary heart disease prevention, there is no evidence that pure fruit and vegetable juices are less beneficial than whole fruit and vegetables.” The researchers add that the positioning of juices as being nutritionally inferior to whole fruits and vegetables in relationship to chronic disease development is “unjustified” and that policies which suggest otherwise about fruit and vegetable juices should be re-examined.

The researchers who authored the paper “Can pure fruit and vegetable juices protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease, too? A review of the evidence” suggest that more studies in certain area are needed to bolster their findings. The study was published in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition (2006).

“Although this independent review of the literature is not designed to focus on any particular 100 percent juice, it does go a long way in demonstrating that fruit and vegetable juices do play an important role in reducing the risk of various diseases, especially cancer and cardiovascular heart disease,” says Sue Taylor, RD, with the Juice Products Association, a non-profit organization not associated with this research. She adds that appropriate amounts of juices should be included in the diet of both children and adults, following guidelines established by leading health authorities.

Taylor also points to a large epidemiological study, published in the September 2006 issue of the Journal of Medicine, which found that consumption of a variety of 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices was associated with a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, that study found that individuals who drank three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week had a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who drank juice less than once per week.

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Contact: Keith Keeney

Kellen Communications Continue reading →

The introduction of Physician Assistants (PAs) into Queensland hospitals will compromise the quality of medical student training for very little gain, the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) said.

The Queensland government recently announced their intention to roll out a Physician Assistant Pilot Program at five sites across the state. A similar pilot program is being planned for South Australia. These programs must be properly evaluated to assess their impact on health outcomes.

AMSA President Michael Bonning warned that substituting medical practitioners with PAs for workforce reasons or cost savings could not be supported because the latter will compete for finite clinical training resources currently utilised by medical students.

“The number of medical graduates in Australia is projected to increase from 1,200 in 2002 to 3,000 by 2012,” Mr Bonning said.

“Already we are feeling the pinch of increased medical student numbers, with students being forced to deal with reduced hours of teaching, fewer resources and difficulties accessing infrastructure. The introduction of a new model of practitioner into the fold will further limit the clinical training resources for medical students,” he said.

“Trainee Physician Assistants will reduce the access of medical students and junior doctors to patients and clinicians, to the detriment of their medical education and therefore future patient care,” he said.

Physician Assistants are frequently cited as the solution to Australia’s rural medical workforce crisis. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case.

“Once these Physician Assistants are trained, there will be nothing to stop them taking up posts in metropolitan hospitals. There are absolutely no guarantees that Physician Assistants will practice in rural and remote areas,” Mr Bonning said.

“Instead of spending millions of dollars on creating a new model of healthcare practitioner for which there is no evidence of cost-effectiveness, we must focus on improving and expanding programs that promote rural retention,” he said.

“There is evidence that recruiting students of rural origin and fostering early positive experiences for medical, nursing and allied health students in rural areas is promoting recruitment of rural practitioners,” Mr Bonning said.

Australian Medical Students’ Association Continue reading →

A coalition representing 30 health care organizations on Monday asked lawmakers in the House and Senate to suspend pay-as-you-go rules when drafting and passing health care overhaul legislation, saying much of the savings introduced by such a plan would be realized beyond the rules’ 10-year budget window, CongressDaily reports.

In a letter, the coalition wrote, “Requiring spending or revenue offsets for the entire cost of the health reform within a 10-year budget window … will significantly reduce the likelihood of enacting legislation to achieve essential reforms for long-term savings” (Edney, CongressDaily, 3/10) The letter was signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, AARP, AFL-CIO and organizations representing hospitals, doctors and patients (Armstrong, CQ Today, 3/9). According to CongressDaily, some lawmakers, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), a major player in the reform debate, have expressed similar concerns.

Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said major changes can produce trillions of dollars in savings beyond 10 years, but that many of the changes would require an upfront investment. He noted that private industry changes would not immediately produce federal savings but would contribute to the economic stability of the nation. “If we are stymied from doing health reform due to rigid short-term pay-go rules, which don’t take into account the private sector, then we may be hamstrung from getting the long-term relief that is necessary” (CongressDaily, 3/10).

According to CQ Today, suspending pay-as-you-go rules would be “mostly symbolic” because lawmakers can waive the rules once a bill reaches the floor. However, choosing to disregard the rules from the start of the overhaul process would “avoid tough choices that could splinter” the coalition of industry and patient advocacy groups whose support is needed to pass legislation, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 3/9).

Reform Effort
After “months” of closed-door meetings where senior lawmakers and their committees have been working on overhaul legislation and trying to “assemble a winning coalition of outside interest groups” to ensure the passage of a comprehensive health care bill, the debate “shifts into its public phase,” The Hill reports. Hearings are scheduled this week for the Senate Finance Committee, Senate Budget Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. Many congressional leaders have said they hope to have final bills to the floor in June.

Meanwhile, the debate is getting more specific. A Democratic health care lobbyist said, “So far, we’ve been dealing in broad themes and concepts and platitudes,” but as “the details get shaped and vetted, people are going to move from that broad reform perspective” in favor of their own more focused interests. A Republican lobbyist said, “It’s getting much more high-intensity, much more specific. We’re moving way beyond principles” (Young/Snyder, The Hill, 3/9).

According to U.S. News & World Report, although Democrats and Republicans both want overhaul legislation to pass this year, “there are so many special interests involved, and so many Americans aren’t sure what system makes the most sense, that the battle over health care reform will be intense, and it’s only just the beginning” (Walsh, U.S. News & World Report, 3/9).

Dean Says Obama’s Plan Right for Some Republicans
Former Democratic National Committee Chair and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in an interview with the Washington Times said Obama’s health care reform plan should appeal to some Republicans, and that those who oppose it will hurt their 2010 re-election efforts. He said the plan is “perfect” and emphasizes choice, allowing people to keep their current coverage or join a new plan, which is “right up the Republican’s alley.” He added that expanding Medicare to all U.S. residents would be a good solution because “people like it” and “it works.” According to Dean, a physician, “It’s ridiculous to say care would be inferior. It’s perfectly good for the millions and millions of people over 65 years old in the county.” He said, “Not every Republican is a right-wing ideologue … If they want to filibuster this to death, be my guest and let’s see how they do in 2010″ (Bellantoni, Washington Times, 3/10).

Boston Globe Profiles Baucus
The Boston Globe on Tuesday examined how Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has “stepped into an unexpected leadership void” in the effort to enact comprehensive health care legislation. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has been diagnosed and treated for brain cancer, and former HHS Secretary nominee and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who withdrew his nomination, were both expected to lead the push for “legislation that liberal Democrats have longed to pass for the last half-century,” according to the Globe.

The Globe reports that Baucus’s “tendency to hew to the political middle” previously caused many health care reform advocates to express concerns that he could potentially “decide that a health bill was too expensive amid an economic crisis.” However, Baucus has “chosen a starkly different course, arguing with evangelical zeal that the economy’s free fall is not an excuse to put off changes in health care but rather a compelling reason for a comprehensive fix,” according to the Globe. The Globe reports that Baucus has argued that health care costs are “bankrupting individuals, businesses, and government.”

According to the Globe, “That Baucus himself isn’t passing the buck on health care reform has been the most encouraging sign in a tumultuous year for advocates of universal health care” (Wangsness, Boston Globe, 3/10).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →

Criminals are having a harder time hiding their faces, thanks to new software that helps witnesses recreate and recognize suspects using principles borrowed from the fields of optics and genetics.

Next week, Christopher Solomon of the University of Kent in Canterbury, England will present the software, called the EFIT-V system, at the Optical Society’s (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO), which will take place Oct. 11-15 in San Jose, Calif.

The software is being used by approximately 15 police departments in the United Kingdom and by a half dozen European countries, including France and Switzerland. In field trials conducted by the Derbyshire police force, it led to twice as many identifications of suspects as traditional methods.

Law enforcement agencies around the world traditionally employ sketch artists, who piece together faces in a process similar to assembling a Mr. Potato Head toy. The witness describes key features — such as hair length, nose size or sharpness of the chin — and the artist combines them to create a likeness. Some departments now have computer programs that follow the same approach as these artists, creating facial composites using databases of pre-drawn features.

The problem with this approach, says Solomon, is that it doesn’t take into account how the memory actually works. “There’s quite a bit of research in the psychology field suggesting that we’re not so good at this, at recalling and describing a face,” says Solomon.

His software generates its own faces that progressively evolve to match the witness’ memories. The witness starts with a general description such as “I remember a young white male with dark hair.” Nine different computer-generated faces that roughly fit the description are generated, and the witness identifies the best and worst matches. The software uses the best fit as a template to automatically generate nine new faces with slightly tweaked features, based on what it learned from the rejected faces.

“Over a number of generations, the computer can learn what face you’re looking for,” says Solomon.

The mathematics underlying the software is borrowed from Solomon’s experience using optics to image turbulence in the atmosphere in the 1990s. “I then realized that the same technique could be applied to human faces, which in many respects are mathematically similar to turbulent wavefronts,” said Solomon.

The software integrates this approach with an interactive genetic algorithm that progressively changes the features based on principles borrowed from evolution. Characteristics such as nose size and chin sharpness are represented as mathematical genes that mutate. As the features change, the witness’ selections guide the evolution of the face.

Other researchers have used similar interactive genetic algorithms to train computers to compose music, says Solomon, by selecting pleasing combinations. Genetic algorithms have also been used in the automobile industry to customize the look of body work.

One advantage of this technique, says Solomon, is that it can be used on witnesses who can’t recall details about a suspect — but say that they would remember the face if they saw it again. Traditionally, police sketch artists cannot work with these people. By tapping into recognition instead of recall, “the EFIT-V system proved to be quite effective even when witnesses say they can’t describe a person,” says Solomon.

The software has now started to make its way to the United States, where it being used by researchers in university settings. In the future, Solomon hopes to partner with a suitable U.S. company and market the technology to police departments.

About the Meeting:


FiO 2009 is OSA’s 93rd Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science XXV, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, fascinating invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in physics, biology and chemistry. The FiO 2009 conference will also offer a number of Short Courses designed to increase participants’ knowledge of a specific subject while offering the experience of insightful teachers. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting.

Useful Links:


Meeting home page: frontiersinoptics/


Conference program: frontiersinoptics/ConferenceProgram/default.aspx

Source:
Angela Stark

Optical Society of America Continue reading →

Children with Angelman syndrome are often seen laughing and smiling, but this cheerful demeanor masks serious neurological problems – mental retardation, movement problems and seizures.

New research in mice, however, suggests that many of these deficits could be alleviated.

Edwin Weeber, Ph.D., and colleagues reversed the neurological deficits in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome by preventing the inhibition of CaMKII, an enzyme highly expressed in brain regions affected by Angelman syndrome.

The results, which appear in the March issue of Nature Neuroscience (currently available online), reveal an important part of the mechanism underlying the condition and point to potential therapeutic targets for treating these symptoms.

Angelman syndrome, which affects approximately one in 15,000 children, is a debilitating neurological disorder characterized by mental retardation, severely limited speech, and movement and balance problems.

In 1997, researchers determined that Angelman syndrome was caused by a mutation in a single gene, called UBE3A. They subsequently developed a mouse model of Angelman syndrome by mutating this gene.

But the finding was baffling, said Weeber, because UBE3A is a “housekeeping” gene, meaning that it broadly regulates cellular processes not particularly specific for any of the neurological deficits seen in these children. Specifically, the protein encoded by UBE3A “tags” other proteins for degradation by the cellular “garbage disposal,” the proteasome.

“The most difficult thing to rationalize was that this housekeeping gene – which nobody thought did anything – caused severe mental retardation,” said Weeber, an assistant professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Pharmacology and senior author on the study.

“So we started trying to identify some of the protein’s molecular targets.”

In the process, Weeber and colleagues identified an abnormality in the Angelman syndrome mouse model – changes in an enzyme called calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), which is important in the cellular processes that underlie learning and memory.

They found that, in Angelman syndrome, CaMKII activity was reduced due to an inhibitory chemical modification (phosphorylation). Because of CaMKII’s prominent role in neuronal function, Weeber suspected that this might account for many of the neurological deficits seen in Angelman syndrome children.

Fortuitously, one of Weeber’s colleagues – Ype Elgersma, Ph.D., at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands – had created a mouse with a mutation that prevented this inhibition of CaMKII.

The researchers decided to breed the Angelman mice with the CaMKII mutant mice to see if counteracting the CaMKII inhibition would alleviate the neurological problems.

The researchers then ran the resulting “double mutants” through a battery of neurological and cognitive tests.

Angelman mice performed poorly on learning and memory tasks and displayed impaired motor coordination.

The double mutants, however, showed normal learning and memory and motor coordination. And while the Angelman mice were also prone to seizures, the double mutants showed very low seizure susceptibility.

Weeber was surprised by the robust results. “We thought we might rescue some of the deficits that we saw in the mouse model,” he said. “We had no idea that we were going to rescue basically everything.”

Although impossible to apply the genetic engineering used in the current study to correct these deficits in mice to humans, Weeber thinks that the findings may point to new therapeutic targets for the disorder.

“It’s very conceivable that if we can figure out what lies between UBE3A and CaMKII – and if it’s a specific path – then that could be a therapeutic target.”

But the results may apply more broadly, Weeber said, to other types of mental retardation syndromes that remained unexplained and untreatable.

“There are a lot of mental retardation syndromes that we still don’t understand. Maybe the changes in CaMKII associated with Angelman syndrome could be implicated in other mental retardation syndromes as well.”

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Weeber is also an investigator in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.

Contact: Melissa Marino

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Continue reading →

The research group of Dr. Fr?©d?©ric Charron, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montr?©al (IRCM), has made a discovery which could help treat spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. This new finding has been published in the current issue of the prestigious scientific journal Neuron. Patricia T. Yam, S?©bastien D. Langlois and Steves Morin, all at the IRCM, are listed as co-authors.

The brain is composed of billions of interconnected neurons. To correctly form neuronal circuits, the developing axons (a long extension of a neuron) require attractive and repulsive molecules to lead them to their appropriate targets. One such molecule is Sonic Hedgehog (Shh). Five years ago, as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne at Stanford University, Fr?©d?©ric Charron discovered that Shh acted as an axonal attractant for brain and spinal cord neurons. “How exactly Shh elicited this effect has remained unknown so far,” pointed out Dr. Charron. “The molecular pathway my team discovered provides part of an answer.”

Their recent work showed that Shh exerts its attractive effect through a group of molecules called Src family kinases (SFKs) that, until now, were not known to be linked to Shh function. Remarkably, these novel Shh effector molecules are absolutely required for the ability of Shh to guide axons. Connecting axons with an appropriate set of targets is very complex. Inappropriate wiring or damage to these neuronal connections leads to severe abnormalities of the nervous system. “Knowing the effectors of axon guidance molecules such as Shh”, adds Dr. Charron, “helps us to understand the molecular mechanisms by which axons reach their target. It paves the way to new therapies to treat spinal cord injuries, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases.”

This new discovery was made possible through the invention of a novel technique to control and observe the behavior of axons in response to guidance molecules. A patent application for this technique has been filed recently. This invention is expected to speed up the discovery of drugs that control axon pathfinding.

“Dr. Charron is one of the country’s leading newly arrived neuroscientists. This research has important long-term implications for the repair of spinal cord injury: if we knew all of the molecules required to guide axons correctly during spinal cord healing, we would probably know how to heal spinal cord injuries,” says Dr. Rod McInnes, Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Genetics. “This is beautiful research that adds another major brick to our building a complete understanding of how the spinal cord is made, and how injury of it can be treated.”

This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the McGill Program in Neuroengineering, the Fonds de recherche en sant?© du Qu?©bec (FRSQ) and the Peter Lougheed Medical Research Foundation.

Source:
Olivier Lagueux

Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal Continue reading →

Almac Diagnostics had a preliminary Investigation Device Exemptoin (pre-IDE) meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the proposed regulatory pathway for the company’s prognostic gene signature for relapse in colorectal cancer (CRC). Senior company officials met with representatives of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH) on April 13, 2007.

Based on the meeting, Almac Diagnostics plans to accelerate the development and clearance of its In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) utilizing the 510(k) approach to regulatory submission. The company will now finalize the design of the analytical and clinical studies required for US marketing clearance. While there can be no assurance that FDA will ultimately clear the product through the 510(k) premarket notification process, the company has decided to pursue that route of market clearance based on the preliminary discussions with the agency.

The prognostic gene signature was developed entirely from FFPE samples. Designed to help clinicians determine the risk of cancer recurrence in patients diagnosed with stage II CRC, the proposed IDV will be run on a customized microarray. CRC is the second most frequent malignancy in Western societies (1).

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Almac Diagnostics, aims to be a global leader in the provision of genomic based solutions for the advancement of patient care. In addition to its own DSA (TM) technology, the company provides an all-inclusive accredited micro-array-based profiling service along with bioinformatics support to academia, biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

The Almac Group comprises five closely integrated divisions offering a broad range of services from R&D, diagnostic/genomic services, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply and technology (IVRS/EDC), to commercial-scale manufacture. Almac provides services to more than 600 companies, including world leaders in pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. The company is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. US operations are based in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California.

1) World Health Organisation, WORLD CANCER REPORT 2003, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Edited by Bernard W. Stweart and Paul Kleihues.

Contact: Claire Eldred

Edelman Public Relations Continue reading →