‘Leash’ protein may help keep B cells from attacking body tissue

B cellsScientists at the School of Medicine have identified a protein that can reduce the chances immune B cells will erroneously attack the body’s own tissues, causing autoimmune disorders like lupus, allergies, arthritis and diabetes. The protein is the first of its kind to be identified in B cells and could provide scientists with a new target for treating such conditions.

Disrupting the ‘heart’s tornado’ in arrhythmia

A biomedical engineer at WUSTL has determined love taps are better than love jolts in addressing defibrillation.When it comes to affairs of the heart, love taps are preferred over love jolts. That is the result of a team of heart researchers including Igor Efimov, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, trying to effect a better implantable heart defibrillator. Efimov and his colleagues have modeled a system where an implantable heart defibrillator focuses in on rogue electrical waves created during heart arrhythmia and busts up the disturbance, dissipating it and preventing cardiac arrest.

AIDS drug may reduce bone loss in young men with HIV

Ritonavir may slow bone loss in AIDS patients.In a collaborative study initiated by their clinical colleagues, scientists at the School of Medicine have shown that the AIDS drug ritonavir suppresses the creation and activity of cells that dismantle bone, potentially slowing bone loss and lowering the risk of osteoporosis in AIDS patients. The findings may encourage clinicians to consider permanently keeping ritonavir or a similar bone-sparing drug in the changing mixture of treatments for AIDS patients.

Washington University scientists and recipients of this yearÂ’s Faculty Achievement Awards to give presentations for the Assembly Series

Philip Stahl, prominent cell biologist and physiologist and Jonathan Turner, internationally recognized for his accomplishments in computer networks and telecommunications, will receive Washington University’s 2004 Faculty Achievement Awards and summarize their scholarly work at an awards ceremony, as part of the Assembly Series on Sept. 23.
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