Posted on | CategoriesMolecular Pharmaceutics | PI: Makoto Kondo, PhD

Engineered Human Juvenile Chondrocyte Sheets Safely Repair Damaged Cartilage

The body cannot heal damage to cartilage, and such defects eventually progress to joint osteoarthritis, impacting more than 5.6 million Americans. Current approaches to repairing cartilage have issues in the quality of the repaired tissue, potential treatment variability, costs, and long wait times for patients. Continue reading → Engineered Human Juvenile Chondrocyte Sheets Safely Repair Damaged Cartilage
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry / Human Genetics | PI: Wesley I. Sundquist, PhD & Nels C. Elde, PhD

A Protein that Blocks Virus Budding

A collaboration between the labs of University of Utah Health researchers Nels Elde, PhD, and Wesley Sundquist, PhD, showed that some mammals contain duplicated and shortened genes for a key ESCRT protein. The resulting “retroCHMP3” proteins block the release of HIV and other enveloped viruses. Continue reading → A Protein that Blocks Virus Budding
Posted on | CategoriesNutrition & Integrative Physiology | PI: J. David Symons, PhD & Sihem Boudina, PhD

Late-in-life Exercise Training Increases Intracellular Protein Recycling in the Heart

Heart cells (known as myocytes) work hard. Over a human lifetime, the heart beats approximately 2.5 billion times. As myocytes age, and especially in the presence of disease, they accumulate damaged intracellular components such as misfolded proteins. This build-up of damaged cellular material can cause cardiac dysfunction, diminish quality of life, and lead to premature death. Continue reading → Late-in-life Exercise Training Increases Intracellular Protein Recycling in the Heart
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry | PI: Adam Hughes, PhD

A Cellular Structure that Protects Against Amino Acid Stress

Amino acids form the basic building blocks of all life, used by cells both as fuel and in building proteins and other complex molecules. Cellular amino acid levels must be tightly controlled. Amino acid surplus is problematic and is a characteristic of many age-related diseases, including cancer and diabetes. Scientists do not yet fully understand how cells detect and respond to amino acid excess, and how this excess causes cellular damage. Continue reading → A Cellular Structure that Protects Against Amino Acid Stress
Posted on | CategoriesCancer / Radiology & Imaging Sciences | PI: Allison H. Payne, PhD

Focused Ultrasound as a Non-invasive Treatment for Breast Cancer

As physicians discover breast cancers at earlier stages, many women seek therapies that are effective yet non-invasive and non-scarring. Allison Payne, PhD, and her colleagues have developed a magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound system specifically designed for breast tumor therapy. Steered by the physician, this system delivers high-intensity ultrasound waves to a precise area inside the breast, where non-invasively destroy malignant tissues are non-invasively destroyed with heat. Continue reading → Focused Ultrasound as a Non-invasive Treatment for Breast Cancer
Posted on | CategoriesNutrition & Integrative Physiology | PI: William Holland, PhD

Glucagon Be-Gone: A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes?

University of Utah Health investigator William Holland, PhD, and colleagues found that blocking glucagon action in mice restored levels of both insulin and glucose, effectively curing type 1 diabetes. Their groundbreaking work, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that suppressing glucagon production or action may be a viable means of treating type 1 diabetes. Continue reading → Glucagon Be-Gone: A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes?
Posted on | CategoriesInternal Medicine / Prevention | PI: Michael A. Rubin, MD, PhD & Matthew H. Samore, MD

Controlling the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

Healthcare-associated infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria are costly and deadly. Michael Rubin, MD, and Matthew Samore, MD, generated new evidence on the effect of infection-prevention practices on the transmission of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Continue reading → Controlling the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
Posted on | CategoriesObstetrics & Gynecology / Prevention | PI: David Turok, MD

The Levonorgestrel Intrauterine Device is Effective as Emergency Contraception

The U.S. Healthy People 2020 initiative aims to improve pregnancy planning and increase access to the full range of contraceptive methods. Utah presents unique barriers to contraceptive services, including limited public funding and geographical regions with limited family planning services. Continue reading → The Levonorgestrel Intrauterine Device is Effective as Emergency Contraception
Posted on | CategoriesPhysical Therapy and Athletic Training / Prevention | PI: Julie M. Fritz, PhD

Effectiveness of Physical Therapy for Back Pain

Julie Fritz, PhD, and colleagues have conducted a series of rigorous randomized clinical trials examining patients with acute back pain, back pain accompanied by sciatica, and back pain due to spinal stenosis. Their recent study found that patients with back pain and sciatica who were referred to physical therapy for treatment with exercise and manual therapy were more likely to rate their treatment as successful and reported significantly greater reductions in pain and disability than patients who were not referred. Continue reading → Effectiveness of Physical Therapy for Back Pain