Neuroscientists Win Sloan Fellowships
Each year the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awards fellowships to exceptional young researchers early in their careers. Two recently recruited neuroscientists to NYU School of Medicine received the coveted awards this year. One uses the fruit fly to understand the intricacies of the central nervous system; the other probes Hox genes.
A duet of proteins called Rag1 and Rag2 orchestrate the gene segment-shuffling that leads to an amazingly diverse array of antigen receptors. Recent research reveals that rejoining of the gene segments can occur through different DNA repair pathways—including one whose existence had only been suspected until now.
School of Medicine researchers discovered a new tumor suppressor gene that negatively controls the overall production of most cellular proteins, and therefore cell growth. This suppressor may play a role in brain cancer, and it joins the ranks of p53 and pRB, which also negatively regulate gene expression.
Trial Evaluates Brain Cancer Vaccine
A clinical trial evaluating a brain cancer vaccine in patients with newly diagnosed brain cancer has begun at NYU Langone Medical Center. The study will evaluate the addition of the vaccine following standard therapy with surgery and chemotherapy in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a deadly form of brain cancer.
A small molecule engages in a little “cross-talk” to activateneurotrophin receptors (antennae on the surface of cells) on motor neurons in the brain. The chatter opens the door to devising therapies that may promote survival of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Altering Children’s Stress Responses
Highly aggressive children and delinquent teens have abnormal stress responses, especially in social situations. Family interventions that alter stress response in at-risk children may reduce the risk of delinquency and psychiatric illness later in life.