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Neurons (shown here in green) fire more frequently in mice lacking Kv4.2 potassium channels.Studying mice, pain researchers at the School of Medicine have identified key components in the pain cascade that may provide targets for more effective analgesic drugs with potentially fewer side effects. Scientists have identified a potassium channel that plays a crucial role in what scientists call pain plasticity, the ability of molecules in the spinal cord to amplify or diminish the response to a painful stimulus.

Illustration of a lung volume reduction surgeryIn many cases of advanced emphysema, reducing the size of the lungs surgically has been shown to improve both survival and quality of life. But some emphysema patients can’t tolerate this bilateral operation. Now a study conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania Health System has shown that unilateral, or one-sided, lung volume reduction surgery has significant benefits, offering help to those who are not candidates for the bilateral surgery. More…

Islets isolated from a rat pancreasDiabetes researchers hoping to enlist the help of a protein targeted by cancer therapies have gained an important new insight into how the protein, known as mTOR, works in the pancreas. Ironically, diabetes researchers are hoping to promote the capability of mTOR that oncologists want to shut down: its ability to cause cells to reproduce by dividing into copies of themselves. That capacity can be deadly in tumors, but diabetes researchers want to use mTOR’s ability to make cells divide to maintain enough insulin-making beta cells in the pancreas to prevent diabetes. More…