Dear Colleagues,
As our clocks sprang forward last weekend we might have briefly lamented a lost hour of sleep, but what we have gained is more daylight illuminating our waking hours. The invigorating force of light inspires creative ideas and leads to new paths forward. This issue of Spotlight features recent discoveries from our community that capture the energy and anticipation that this time of year brings.
Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD
Vice Dean for Science and Chief Scientific Officer
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Building the Yeast Genome
Jef Boeke, PhD, and an international team of collaborators constructed five complete chromosomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the organism more commonly known as baker’s yeast ( Science, Mar 2017). Along with the chromosome that the group reported constructing in 2014, the team has now synthesized 6 out of 16 chromosomes of the yeast genome, putting them more than a third of the way towards their goal of building a completely synthetic version of a complex organism. In the new work, published as seven separate papers in a dedicated issue of Science, the researchers used specially designed software to remove repetitive regions or even switch the location of certain stretches of the chromosomes. This and other techniques revealed clues about what parts of the genome are required for life. Ultimately, the project will provide a ground-up understanding of how to manipulate genomes for therapeutic or industrial ends.
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Drug May Protect Fertility During Chemotherapy
Kara Goldman, MD, David Keefe, MD, Robert Schneider, PhD, and colleagues have found that an approved drug called everolimus prevents loss of ovarian function by chemotherapy and strongly preserves fertility in a mouse model ( PNAS, Mar 2017). Everolimus, already approved for some cancers, blocks the mTOR signaling pathway, which promotes cancer growth. Most chemotherapy agents produce DNA damage, which ramps up mTOR signaling in the ovaries, causing ovarian follicles to mature and be destroyed. Loss of ovarian function results in osteoporosis, heart disease and infertility in premenopausal women undergoing chemotherapy. An ovary-protecting drug is much needed. After establishing proper dose, the authors are planning an interventional human clinical trial to test the efficacy of this approach.
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“Switchboard” Brain Cells Combine Signals into Behavior
Bernardo Rudy, MD, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that one specialized type of neurons, called somatostatin-expressing (Sst) interneurons, are major players in the crucial job of integrating incoming information in the brain ( Science, Mar 2017). The researchers observed how these cells turn on and off in the somatosensory area of the brain, which receives signals from the whiskers of mice. Sst interneurons reach into different layers of the cerebral cortex — the region responsible for complex thought — and selectively block or promote the flow of signals between other neurons, essentially acting like mini-switchboards.
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At-Home Brain Stimulation Improves Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
Leigh Charvet, PhD, and colleagues report that using brain stimulation between doctors’ visits may alleviate day-to-day symptoms of multiple sclerosis ( Neuomodulation, Feb 2017). Multiple sclerosis, the most common progressive neurological disorder in working-age adults, often causes slowed thinking as well as memory and problem solving difficulties. The researchers used videoconferencing to guide study participants to self-administer transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which passes low levels of current through electrodes placed on the skull. Twenty-five people with multiple sclerosis who completed 10 at-home tDCS sessions combined with cognitive training games did better on certain cognitive tests than 20 trial participants who only completed the cognitive training, they found.
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Kathryn Moore, PhD, recently received an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award (R35) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for $6,700,000 over seven years for her research project, "Non-coding RNA regulation of cholesterol homeostasis and atherosclerosis."
Ann Marie Schmidt, MD, Ira Goldberg, MD, Mary Ann Sevick, ScD, and Jose Aleman, MD, PhD were recently awarded $4 million over four years to establish one of four centers that together create the American Heart Association (AHA) Obesity Research Network. The NYU Langone center, named IGNITION (InvestiGating Novel obesIty soluTIONs), will evaluate the anti-obesity effects of blocking RAGE (Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products), a cell-surface component that promotes inflammation and has been implicated in heart disease, diabetes, and diet-induced obesity. Read more >>
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