School of Medicine

Outgrowth of nerve branchesA protein that helps the ends of growing nerve cells push forward is also involved in guidance of the nerve branches, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They had believed that the protein, myosin II, was only a motor, but the new study shows it appears to help steer the nerve cells, too. By better understanding how nerve branches grow and move, the researchers hope one day to be able to regenerate injured nerves. They reported their findings in a recent issue of Nature Neuroscience.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Daydreaming and Alzheimer’s (week of Sept. 7) • New insight into arthritis (week of Sept. 14) • Preventing wrong-site surgery (week of Sept. 21) • Intense hip fracture therapy (week of Sept. 28)

A router in the new Open Network Laboratory, funded by NSF.A novel networking service has been made available to the research community by computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, enabling researchers and students remote, free use of the latest networking technology. Ultimately, the new Open Network Laboratory (ONL )can lead to innovations that can expand the capability of the Internet and other networking environments, said its director, Jonathan S. Turner, Ph.D., Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering, and professor of computer science and engineering at WUSTL.

Anthony H. Guarino, M.D., instructor of anesthesiology, is joining scientists from around the country to test the drug called CC-5013.

The target molecule, known as IKK, regulates processes that can trigger dramatic changes in cellular physiology.

Research has shown that the compound 17AAG has the unusual ability to simultaneously affect multiple proteins implicated in human cancers.

Researchers have found that the areas of the brain that young people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people with Alzheimer’s.

The protein, Sirt1, is referred to as Sir2 in lower organisms, in which it has previously proven to be a key to aging and longevity.More medical news

Photo by Robert BostonIncoming medical students of the Class of 2009 and their guests watched the Cards beat Arizona at the dean’s annual welcoming party.

James B. Lowe III, M.D., chief of the Section of Cosmetic Surgery, admits he’s obsessed with detail. “When I’m in the operating room, every millimeter and every second counts,” he says. “It’s so important to be 100 percent focused in the OR. I go into this zone and nothing can distract me.” With every procedure […]