Posted on | CategoriesNeurology / School of Medicine | PI: Stefan M. Pulst, MD

Identification of GGC Expansion as a Basis for SCA4 Movement Disorder

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 4 (SCA4) is a rare movement disorder whose symptoms begin in adolescence or adulthood, usually with difficulty walking and balancing. Affected individuals may go on to experience muscle weakness, lose sensation in their hands and feet, and lose their reflexes... Continue reading → Identification of GGC Expansion as a Basis for SCA4 Movement Disorder
Posted on | CategoriesNeurobiology / School of Medicine | PI: Jason Shepherd, PhD

PNMA2 Forms Immunogenic Non-Enveloped Virus-Like Capsids Associated with Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndrome

For people with a rare cancer-associated condition called paraneoplastic syndrome, sudden memory loss, loss of coordination, or other neurological symptoms are often the first sign that a tumor is growing somewhere in the body. The symptoms are caused by the immune system’s response to it. It turns out that some tumors produce brain proteins... Continue reading → PNMA2 Forms Immunogenic Non-Enveloped Virus-Like Capsids Associated with Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndrome
Posted on | CategoriesObstetrics & Gynecology / Population Health / Prevention / School of Medicine | PI: Robert M. Silver, MD & Torri D. Metz, MD, MS

Risks of Cannabis During Pregnancy

Cannabis use is increasing among reproductive age females. However, the effects of cannabis use on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes remains largely unknown. Torri Metz, MD, MS, vice chair of research of obstetrics and gynecology, and Robert Silver, MD, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology, examined if cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with adverse … […] Continue reading → Risks of Cannabis During Pregnancy Continue reading → Risks of Cannabis During Pregnancy

Continue reading → Risks of Cannabis During Pregnancy
Posted on | CategoriesPopulation Health / Population Health Sciences / Prevention / School of Medicine | PI: Adam Bress, PharmD

Uncovering Disparities that Impact Heart Health

About 40 million adults in the United States take statin drugs to reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke. The drugs, which lower levels of LDL cholesterol, are considered safe for most people, and for many, their potential benefits are high. Many people who might benefit from statins, however, aren’t taking them. Graduate student … […] Continue reading → Uncovering Disparities that Impact Heart Health Continue reading → Uncovering Disparities that Impact Heart Health

Continue reading → Uncovering Disparities that Impact Heart Health
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry / College of Health / Nutrition & Integrative Physiology / School of Medicine | PI: Jared P. Rutter, PhD & Kevin Hicks, PhD

Finding Inspiration for Drug Development in Metabolic Regulators

The metabolic pathways that shape how our bodies use nutrients and energy are under constant adjustment, with metabolites pay a key role in managing their function and activity. There are thousands of metabolites inside our cells, and surprisingly little is known about how most of them interact with other cellular components, even though when these interactions with proteins are disrupted, it can leave us more vulnerable to disease. Continue reading → Finding Inspiration for Drug Development in Metabolic Regulators
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry / School of Medicine | PI: Minna Roh-Johnson, PhD

Transferred Mitochondria Accumulate Reactive Oxygen Species, Promoting Proliferation

Cancer cells don’t act on their own. Their behavior is influenced by neighboring cells, which sometimes help them grow and spread. For instance, immune cells called macrophages patrol the body, engulfing and destroying potential threats. But when they interact with tumors, they can often produce signals that drive the disease. Continue reading → Transferred Mitochondria Accumulate Reactive Oxygen Species, Promoting Proliferation
Posted on | CategoriesOphthalmology & Visual Sciences / School of Medicine | PI: Frans Vinberg, PhD

Seeing the Light

Most of the world’s leading causes of blindness are conditions that damage the eye’s retina. Diabetes, genetic conditions, and aging can all cause the retina to deteriorate, leading to vision loss for millions of people. Because human eyes are so different from the eyes of mice and other animal models, these conditions have been difficult to study. But scientists at U of U Health have opened the door to studying the function of both healthy and diseased retinas in human eyes donated after death. Continue reading → Seeing the Light
Posted on | CategoriesNeurobiology | PI: Andres Villu Maricq, MD, PhD

Illuminating the Mechanisms Behind Neuronal “Learning”

The strength of each of the thousands of synapses in a given neuron can be rapidly and independently modified in response to experience. What scientists do not yet understand is how distinct synapses distributed along neuronal processes—branches of a neuron which can project far from the cell body—are supplied with the appropriate type and number of neurotransmitter receptors. Continue reading → Illuminating the Mechanisms Behind Neuronal “Learning”
Posted on | CategoriesNeurobiology | PI: Christopher T. Gregg, PhD

Opposite-Sex Parent’s Genetic Impact on Health and Behavior

Parenting is not the only way moms and dads impact the behavior of their offspring. Genes matter, too. Most of our genes are inherited in pairs—one copy from each parent. However, according to new research from the lab of University of Utah Health researcher Christopher Gregg, PhD, each parent has their own genetic impact on hormones and neurotransmitters that control mood and behavior. Continue reading → Opposite-Sex Parent’s Genetic Impact on Health and Behavior
Posted on | CategoriesBiomedical Informatics / Human Genetics / Internal Medicine | PI: Mark Yandell, PhD , Martin Tristani-Firouzi, MD & Karen Eilbeck, PhD

Teasing Apart Effects of Comorbid Conditions on Cardiovascular Health

Understanding the complex clinical variables that drive cardiovascular health outcomes in patients with multiple conditions poses a major challenge for personalized medicine. Continue reading → Teasing Apart Effects of Comorbid Conditions on Cardiovascular Health
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 | 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 | 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 | CategoriesCardiovascular / Internal Medicine | PI: Stavros G. Drakos, MD, PhD

Myocardial Recovery in Chronic Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure is a disease with poor prognosis and currently is a global epidemic. University of Utah Health investigator Stavros George Drakos, MD, and colleagues analyzed human heart tissue and produced evidence refuting the widely held notion that prolonged off-loading of the failing heart induced by cardiac assist devices results in disuse atrophy that further deteriorates heart function. Continue reading → Myocardial Recovery in Chronic Heart Failure
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry | PI: Wesley I. Sundquist, PhD

Reconstituting HIV Replication in a Test Tube

Reverse transcription and integration are key events in retrovirus replication and are also targets of successful anti-HIV therapies. Reverse transcription creates a double-stranded DNA copy of the viral RNA genome, and integration archives that copy within the genome of the infected cell. However, studies of the mechanisms underlying these steps of the viral life cycle remain challenging because these processes are performed by viral core particles located deep within the infected cell cytoplasm and nucleus. Continue reading → Reconstituting HIV Replication in a Test Tube
Posted on | CategoriesImmunology, Inflammation, Infectious Disease / Internal Medicine | PI: Robert A. Campbell, PhD & Matthew T. Rondina, MD

Megakaryocytes and Platelets in Immune and Inflammatory Responses and in COVID-19

Platelets—small cells which circulate in abundance in the bloodstream—are traditionally known for their ability to form clots and stop bleeding. Recent studies, however, have shown that platelets and their parent cells, megakaryocytes, also play a role in inflammation and infection. University of Utah Health investigators Robert Campbell, PhD, and Matthew Rondina, MD, and colleagues discovered that platelets and megakaryocytes respond robustly to infection, including COVID-19. These infection-driven changes in platelets activate clotting mechanisms and thus may contribute to the blood clots that complicate COVID-19 infection. Continue reading → Megakaryocytes and Platelets in Immune and Inflammatory Responses and in COVID-19
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry | PI: Janet Iwasa, PhD

Visualizing the SARS-CoV-2 Life Cycle

SARS-CoV-2 is defining disease of the current era. Many biological researchers have redirected their focus to understanding and defeating the virus, rapidly leading to new insights into how the virus gains access to and hijacks human cells. University of Utah Health investigator Janet Iwasa, PhD, and colleagues have used this information to create detailed molecular animations of different stages of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle. Continue reading → Visualizing the SARS-CoV-2 Life Cycle
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry | PI: Wesley I. Sundquist, PhD

A Potent, Long-lasting HIV Capsid Inhibitor

Reverse transcription and integration are key events in retrovirus replication and are also targets of successful anti-HIV therapies. Reverse transcription creates a double-stranded DNA copy of the viral RNA genome, and integration archives that copy within the genome of the infected cell. However, studies of the mechanisms underlying these steps of the viral life cycle remain challenging because these processes are performed by viral core particles located deep within the infected cell cytoplasm and nucleus. Continue reading → A Potent, Long-lasting HIV Capsid Inhibitor
Posted on | CategoriesCollege of Nursing / Population Health / Population Health Sciences | PI: Andrea S. Wallace, PhD, RN, FAAN

Supporting Health by Screening for Social Needs

When patients struggle to get enough food, lack stable housing, or have limited access to transportation, their health can suffer. One analysis estimated that as much as 50 percent of the variation in health outcomes between counties in the U.S. can be attributed to social determinants of health like these. Such factors can limit the … […] Continue reading → Supporting Health by Screening for Social Needs Continue reading → Supporting Health by Screening for Social Needs

Continue reading → Supporting Health by Screening for Social Needs
Posted on | CategoriesNeuroscience / Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences | PI: Bryan W. Jones, PhD

Neuronal Connections in the Retina

Bryan Jones, PhD, and colleagues used electron microscopes to visualize the chemical and electrical synaptic connections that makes up the neural network. They further observed, in a transgenic rabbit model of early retinal degeneration, abnormal connectivity in the rod-photoreceptor network and novel synaptic connections derived from sprouting. Continue reading → Neuronal Connections in the Retina
Posted on | CategoriesImmunology, Inflammation, Infectious Disease / Internal Medicine | PI: Sankar Swaminathan, MD & Dinesh Verma, PhD

Unexpected Antiviral Activity of Spironolactone

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus associated with clinical infections and several types of malignancies. Sankar Swaminathan, MD, and colleagues showed that a hypertension/heart failure drug, spironolactone, also has anti-EBV effects. Continue reading → Unexpected Antiviral Activity of Spironolactone