Researchers at Guze Symposium to explore links between alcohol and suicide

Experts in alcoholism and suicide from around the United States will present their research Feb. 21 at the 8th Annual Samuel B. Guze Symposium on Alcoholism at the School of Medicine. This year’s event focuses on “Alcohol, Suicide and Suicidality.” The program is intended for physicians, psychologists, social workers, teachers, policy makers, other health professionals and members of the community.

Gene chips used to distinguish ventilator-associated pneumonia from underlying critical illness

Critically ill patients who need a ventilator to breathe face a high risk of pneumonia. The lung infection, however, is exceedingly difficult to diagnose because a patient’s underlying condition often skews laboratory test results and masks pneumonia’s symptoms – a reality that can delay appropriate antibiotic treatment. Using gene chip technology, scientists at the School of Medicine demonstrate for the first time they can distinguish pneumonia associated with ventilator use from other serious illnesses.

Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer’s disease

Preventing Alzheimer’s disease is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine. The moss plant Physcomitrella patens, studied in the laboratory of Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the biology department on WUSTL’s Danforth Campus, might inch Kopan toward that goal.

Chemical chaperone could open door to treatment of neurological disorder

“Chemical chaperones” might be able to help a mutant protein (green) do its job of removing excess cholesterol (blue) from cells.An unexpected finding turned out to be a clue leading researchers at the School of Medicine to propose a new treatment approach for Niemann-Pick disease, a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder. To overcome the genetic defect in Niemann-Pick disease, the researchers suggest that chemical compounds could potentially “chaperone” mutant protein molecules through the cell’s quality control machinery.

Breakdown of kidney’s ability to clean its own filters likely causes disease

With a key protein disabled, a pair of kidney filtering units can’t keep antibodies (shown in red) from building up in the filter.The kidney actively cleans its most selective filter to keep it from clogging with blood proteins, scientists from the School of Medicine reveal in a new study. Researchers showed that breakdown of this self-cleaning feature can make kidneys more vulnerable to dysfunction and disease.
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