School of Medicine

Historically, scientists have regarded itching as a less intense version of the body’s response to pain, but researchers at the School of Medicine have determined that pain and itch actually are regulated by different molecular mechanisms. Researchers report they have separated itch and pain sensations in mice, a finding that could have important implications for treating both pain and chronic itching.

New research from the School of Medicine suggests cooling the brain may prevent the death of nerve cells that has been observed in infant mice exposed to anesthesia. The effects of anesthesia on human infants and young children have been debated among neuroscientists, but growing evidence suggests exposure to anesthetic drugs during brain development may contribute to behavioral and developmental delays.

A class of drugs that are used in premature infants to treat chronic lung damage can cause damage in the brain. New research at the School of Medicine suggests the drugs may cause cognitive and motor-control problems even when they are given before birth.

Even seasoned doctors have a difficult time diagnosing pneumonia in hospitalized patients breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. That’s because a patient’s underlying illness often skews laboratory test results and masks pneumonia’s symptoms. Now, researchers at the School of Medicine report they have validated the use of gene chip technology to rapidly and accurately detect pneumonia associated with ventilator use in hospitalized patients.

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes. A team led by Craig Pikaard, Ph.D., WUSTL professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has published a paper this month in Cell, that explains how RNA polymerases work together to use the non-coding region of DNA to prevent destructive, virus-derived genes from being activated.

Photo by Ray MarklinThe Third Annual Research Training Symposium and Poster Session featured summer research projects performed by more than 100 junior faculty, fellows, residents and students.

School of Medicine researchers are studying a protein, TREM-2, that may be an important contributor to the disease.

For the first time, WUSTL scientists have decoded the complete DNA of a cancer patient and traced her disease to its genetic roots. The pioneering work sets the stage for using a more comprehensive, genome-wide approach to unravel the genetic basis of cancer.

School of Medicine scientists have determined that the same factors play key roles in three different diseases that can lead to blindness.

Multiple sclerosis results when the body’s own defense system attacks nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Now scientists led by John Russell, Ph.D., at the School of Medicine have shown that interferon-gamma plays a deciding role in whether immune cells attack and injure the central nervous system in mice.