Medicine & Health

Normal lung air passage (left) and asthmatic lung air passage after viral infectionBabies who get severe respiratory viral infections are much more likely to suffer from asthma as they get older. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have pinpointed a key step in the development of asthma in mice after a severe respiratory infection. They suggest that medications designed to interfere with this mechanism could potentially prevent many cases of childhood asthma.

ImaiThe body’s fat cells help the pancreas do its job of secreting insulin, according to research at the School of Medicine led by senior author Shin-Ichiro Imai. This previously unrecognized process ultimately could lead to new methods to improve glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic or insulin-resistant people.

Scientists at the School of Medicine, working as part of an international team of researchers, have completed a massive effort to map the genetic changes underlying the most commonly diagnosed form of lung cancer. Their results are published in the Nov. 4 advance online issue of the journal Nature.

“An Impending Influenza Pandemic? What Has Been Learned From 1918?” is the focus of a St. Louis community forum from 7:45-11:45 a.m. Nov. 9 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The program features discussions by city, county and national health directors and explores how St. Louis can use lessons from past flu outbreaks to prepare for a global bird flu pandemic that some experts see lurking on the horizon.

ApteStudying a mouse model of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans, scientists at the School of Medicine have found age is key in determining whether damaging blood vessels will form beneath the retina and contribute to vision loss. The scientists, led by principal investigator Rajendra Apte, discovered that specific immune cells called macrophages play a role in the disease process in older mice by failing to block the development of abnormal, leaky blood vessels behind the retina.

Mouse embryos stained to show MOF (green) and its histone tag (red) demonstrate that MOF is essential for cell proliferation.To make tumors more sensitive to the killing power of radiation is a key aspiration for many radiation oncologists. Researchers at the School of Medicine have uncovered new information that leads them closer to that goal. In an upcoming issue of the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology, they report the first extensive study of an enzyme called MOF that helps control how DNA is packaged in cells. The researchers show that MOF is an essential factor for tumor development, and they say it may be possible to manipulate the enzyme to make tumors more sensitive to radiation therapy.

Artist’s rendering of a rooftop view of the new buildingA $30 million gift from BJC HealthCare will help construct a new 11-story research building on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This is the largest donation ever received for construction of a building at the School of Medicine. To be named the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University, the building will house the laboratories and support facilities for BioMed 21, the University’s research initiative to rapidly translate basic research findings into advances in medical treatment.

Artist’s rendering of the new buildingThe largest building ever constructed on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will be the home base for BioMed 21 — the University’s innovative research initiative designed to speed scientific discovery and apply breakthroughs to patient care rapidly. The building is supported by a $30 million gift to Washington University’s medical school from BJC HealthCare and will be named the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University.

An important component of BioMed 21, the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University in St. Louis is a gene-sequencing powerhouse and one of the four such centers in the world. It specializes in large-scale, high-throughput genome sequencing, supplying data that helps researchers at the School of Medicine identify the genetic factors that contribute to disease.

Images of brain cells taken before (above) and after seizures in live mice reveal loss of spines, small bumps on the surfaces of brain cell branches.For some epilepsy patients, the side effects of epilepsy can be as troubling as the seizures. One pressing concern is the cognitive impairment seizures often inflict, which potentially includes memory loss, slowed reactions and reduced attention spans. Now scientists at the School of Medicine have directly observed seizure-induced structural changes in brain cells in laboratory animals. They report in The Journal of Neuroscience that the insights they gained allowed them to use a drug to block those changes in the brain.