Newsline — Wednesday, July 29, 2015 9:00
Epigenetic Driver of Glioblastoma Provides New Therapeutic Target
Researchers Identify Critical Genes Responsible for Brain-tumor Growth
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 13:45
In a study recently published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute identified the role of a family of genes underlying tumor growth in a wide spectrum of high-grade brain tumors. Researchers first modeled high-grade brain tumors from resident stem cells inside the brain, using a cutting edge method of rapid modeling that can create up to five distinct tumor models within 45 minutes. After effectively modeling high-grade brain tumors, researchers identified the Ets family of genes as contributors to the development of gliomas. These Ets factors function to regulate the behavior of tumor cells by controlling expression of genes necessary for tumor growth and cell fate. When expression of the Ets genes is blocked, researchers can identify and strategize novel treatment therapies. “Any given tumor can harbor a variety of different combinations of mutations,” said the study’s last author. “The ability to rapidly model unique combinations of driver mutations from a patient’s tumor enhances our quest to create patient-specific animal models of human…
Read More…
Brain-based Algorithms Make for Better Networks
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 9:00
Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Carnegie Mellon University recently determined the rate at which the developing brain eliminates unneeded connections between neurons during early childhood. The findings, published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, are the latest in a series of studies being conducted in Carnegie Mellon’s Systems Biology Group to develop computational tools for understanding complex biological systems, while applying those insights to improve computer algorithms. “By thinking computationally about how the brain develops, we questioned how rates of synapse pruning may affect network topology and function,” said the assistant professor at the Salk Institute’s Center for Integrative Biology. “We have used the resulting insights to develop new algorithms for constructing adaptive and robust networks in other domains.” Network structure is an important topic for both biologists and computer scientists. In biology, understanding how the network of neurons in the brain organizes to form its adult structure is key to understanding how the brain learns and functions. In computer science, understanding how to optimize network organization is essential to producing…
Read More…
Diagnosing Intracranial Hemorrhage with Mild Head Injury
Monday, July 27, 2015 13:00
An observational study has found that the presence of elevated S100B protein levels in the bloodstream could be a definitive indicator of intracranial bleeding and could be trusted in evaluating treatment options. Researchers from two hospitals in Vienna, the Trauma Hospital Meidling and the Donauspital, have compiled their joint findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery, following a long-term data collection period involving elderly patients tested for various forms of head trauma. If blood was drawn within three hours of the injury, initial detection was found reliable enough to guide diagnosis. The lead researcher of the study explained, “We undertook the study with the aim to reduce the workload of medical staff and costs as well as the radiation burden in the management of patients with mild head injuries. We are confident that this study will prove to be useful in achieving these aims.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Electrical Signals Could Help Repair Spinal Cord Injuries
Monday, July 27, 2015 9:00
Researchers from Wichita State University are taking a new approach to the study of spinal cord injuries through research that uses electrical signals to repair tissue damage. Specifically, the research analyzes how Schwann cells help the body’s defense mechanisms regenerate cells surrounding the damaged tissue near the injury site. Previous research has shown that Schwann cells help myelinate nerve axons where the injury occurred, which can help recover some of the spinal cord’s function. During the current study, the research team studied how electrical signals can aim those cells directly to the injury site. By using next-generation RNA sequencing to analyze the signaling pathways that regulate cell migrate, the research team hopes to open new doors for the use of electrical fields regarding the treatment of neural injuries. Early results of the study show that the precision of the cell migration toward the injury increased significantly as the strength of the electrical field increased. The electrical field did not, however, change the speed at which the cells moved. To read more about this study, click…
Read More…
New Approach to Spinal Cord, Brain Injury Research
Friday, July 24, 2015 16:15
In a paper recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience, a team of researchers has reported an innate repair mechanism in central nervous system axons that might be harnessed to regenerate nerves after brain or spinal cord injuries. The research team’s study bridges a chasm in the “recovery gap” between the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. In a challenge to dogma, the researchers and colleagues had shown recently that messenger RNA located in peripheral nerve axons is an important part of the process by which the peripheral nerves are able to regenerate after injury. They were able to do so by building on an experiment showing that grafting a peripheral nerve into the space between a severed spinal cord in an animal model brought about nerve regeneration (albeit limited). The research is an important step forward in developing new approaches to treating spinal cord and brain injuries: “Some groups have shown that these nerve grafts help in the function of the animal,” one of the researchers says. “This is the first time…
Read More…
Geometry of Brain’s Outer Surface Correlates to Genetic Heritage
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 13:00
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine recently found in a study published in the journal Current Biology, that the three-dimensional shape of the cerebral cortex strongly correlates with ancestral background. The study offers news possibilities for precise studies of brain anatomy and could lead to more personalized medicine approaches for diagnosing and treating a variety of brain diseases. “If we can account for a large percentage of brain structure based on an individual’s genes, we’re in a better position to detect smaller variations in the brain that might be important in understanding disease or developmental issues,” said the study’s senior author. Even in the modern contemporary U.S. population, with its melting pot of different cultures, it was still possible to correlate brain cortex structure to ancestral background.” Four continental populations were used as ancestral references: European, West African, East Asian and Native American. The metrics for summarizing genetic ancestry in each ancestral component were standardized as proportions ranging from 0 to 100 percent. The researchers reported that the cortical patterns…
Read More…
Electrical Nerve Stimulation Can Reverse Nerve Damage from SCI
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 9:00
A new study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology reported that peripheral nerve stimulation can reverse spinal cord injury (SCI)-associated nerve deterioration, potentially improving the benefits of current and emerging rehab treatments. During the study, patients with SCI underwent 30 minutes of electrical nerve-stimulation therapy for five days a week, for six weeks, on one limb, with the other limb remaining untreated. Results of the study showed that the patients with SCI had less excitable nerves with altered responses to electrical stimulation, indicating nerve dysfunction, and after six weeks of therapy, the nerves in the treated limb responded to electrical stimulation more like the nerves in the healthy subjects. Nerve function in the untreated limb did not change over the six-week period. “The present study has clearly demonstrated that an intensive six-week peripheral nerve stimulation program was beneficial in improving nerve excitability parameters toward the normal range,” the researchers wrote. Moreover, the research team noted that the improvements stayed if the patient continued with the stimulation therapy. According to the researchers, short-term peripheral nerve stimulation…
Read More…
Improved Survival in Adult Patients with Low-grade Brain Tumors
Monday, July 20, 2015 13:00
Using clinical data collected over the past decade through a U.S. cancer registry, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine demonstrated that significant improvements have been made in increasing the survival of adult patients with low-grade gliomas. The study suggests that the survival improvement is due to the development of more effective chemotherapies. Interestingly, the improved survival occurred despite a decreased use of radiation therapy at the time when low-grade glioma was first diagnosed. While many previous studies suggest that complete excision of low-grade gliomas are associated with longer patient survival, the latest study found that only about a third of U.S. patients underwent complete surgical resection. Notably, this number remained unchanged throughout the past decade. “The lack of improvement in surgical resection is likely limited by the availability of technologies, such as intra-operative MRI, to allow surgeons to perform maximal surgical resection,” said the chief of neurosurgery at UC San Diego Health. “The completion of an advanced surgical suite with an intra-operative MRI at Jacobs Medical Center in 2016 at…
Read More…
Human Brain Study Sheds Light on How New Memories are Formed
Monday, July 20, 2015 9:00
In a study recently published in the journal Neuron, researchers from UCLA and the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior found that neurons in a specific brain region play a key role in rapidly forming memories about everyday events — a finding that may result in a better understanding of memory loss. The research team analyzed neurons in the medial temporal lobe associated with episodic memory — which houses the brain’s ability to consciously recall situations like running into an old friend at a specific event, for example. During the study, the team was able to record individual neurons in the medial temporal lobe and found that the cells changed their firing to encode new associations (such as meeting an old friend) at the exact moment of the experience. “This study goes into the heart of the neural code underlying one of the most fundamental aspects of human cognition and memory, namely the formation of associations. The astonishing finding was that this basic code is so explicit at the level of individual neurons in…
Read More…