Medicine & Health

Eliminating a molecular signal can help protect a neuron (show here) from destructive immune system cells.It may sound like a case of blame the victim, but researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that cells in the central nervous system can sometimes send out signals that invite hostile immune system attacks. In mice the researchers studied, this invitation resulted in damage to the protective covering of nerves, causing a disease resembling multiple sclerosis. The researchers found that they could prevent destructive immune cells from entering nervous system tissue by eliminating a molecular switch that sends “come here” messages to immune cells.

Susan Dutcher, Ph.D., professor of genetics and of cell biology and physiology, has been named interim head of the James S. McDonnell Department of Genetics at the School of Medicine effective July 1.

Invasive surgery — and anesthesia — has come a long way.While searching for answers to what it means to be Jewish — and at the same time completing a neuroscience course requirement — a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis came across what may be one of the earliest documented cases of brain surgery. And he found it in, of all places, the ancient texts of the Talmud. “Although this account raises several questions about the ailment itself, it provides us with a rare look at invasive cranial surgery dating nearly 2,000 years,” writes Adam Weinberg, a doctoral student in psychology in Arts & Sciences and author of an article on the surgery in the current issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. More…

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoKaren L. Wooley and lab members examine polymer samples.A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a remarkable nanostructured material that can repel pests, sweeten the air, and some day might even be used as a timed drug delivery system — as a nasal spray, for instance. Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, has taken the same materials that she developed more than four years ago as marine “antifouling” coatings that inhibit marine organisms such as barnacles from attaching to the hull of ships to now capture fragrance molecules and release them at room temperature. More…

With commonly available treatment strategies, 90 percent of women with recurrent cervical cancer die within five years. So physicians are understandably eager to uncover more effective drug therapies, and researchers at the School of Medicine have now obtained encouraging results by combining a traditional cell-killing agent with Avastin, a recently developed inhibitor of blood-vessel growth.

These brain images point out the areas most consistently active during a variety of cognitive tasks.Scientists have used data from scans of 183 subjects to identify brain areas that consistently become active in a variety of cognitive tasks, such as reading, learning a rhythm or analyzing a picture. If the brain in action can be compared to a symphony, with specialized sections required to pitch in at the right time to produce the desired melody, then the regions highlighted by the new study may be likened to conductors, researchers at the School of Medicine assert.

Photo by Robert BostonGov. Matt Blunt addressed a group of several hundred local science, business and academic leaders at WUSTL’s 21st Century Science: Foundation for Innovation symposium May 31 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the School of Medicine campus. Hear the Governor’s speech in its entirety, as well as Chancellor Mark Wrighton’s closing remarks.

Investigators at the School of Medicine have found that eating a low-calorie yet nutritionally balanced diet lowers concentrations of a thyroid hormone called triiodothyronine (T3), which controls the body’s energy balance and cellular metabolism.

After preliminary success using artificial bone to replace degenerative spinal disks in the neck and lower back, neurosurgeons at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are preparing a study to formally compare the performance of the synthetic material against that of real bone.

Despite lack of a key component of the immune system, a line of genetically engineered mice can control chronic herpes virus infections, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. Scientists suspect the missing component has a previously unrecognized backup that fills the void left by its absence. If so, that backup may become a new focus for efforts to design antiviral vaccines.