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
Posted on | CategoriesCardiovascular / Internal Medicine | PI: Robin M. Shaw, MD, PhD

New Class of Therapy for Chronic Heart Failure

The lab directed by Robin Shaw (MD, PhD) and Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research & Training Institute (CVRTI) Investigators have identified an architectural protein (cBIN1) of heart muscle cells that organizes the intracellular signalizing network responsible for heart muscle contraction and relaxation. Continue reading → New Class of Therapy for Chronic Heart Failure
Posted on | CategoriesBiochemistry / Diabetes and Metabolism | PI: Jared P. Rutter, PhD

How Cells Choose to Create Energy

To supply their energy needs, cells typically choose between utilizing glucose in the cytoplasm (aerobic glycolysis and lactic acid fermentation) or “burning” pyruvate in the mitochondria (mitochondrial carbohydrate oxidation). Although this is arguably the most fundamental metabolic decision that cells make, before 2012 it was not clear how cells import pyruvate into mitochondria to fuel ATP production. Continue reading → How Cells Choose to Create Energy
Posted on | CategoriesDiabetes and Metabolism / Internal Medicine | PI: Elizabeth Leibold, PhD

How Iron Deficiency Impairs Pancreatic β-Cell Function

Research in the lab of Elizabeth Leibold, PhD, showed that in mice with iron deficiency, proinsulin processing to mature insulin was impaired, resulting in reduced levels of circulating and glucose intolerance. Mice treated with iron restored insulin to normal levels and eliminated the glucose intolerance. Continue reading → How Iron Deficiency Impairs Pancreatic β-Cell Function
Posted on | CategoriesDiabetes and Metabolism / Internal Medicine | PI: Simon J. Fisher, MD, PhD , Owen Chan, PhD & Candace M. Reno, PhD

Neural and Cardiac Responses to Hypoglycemia

The laboratories of Simon Fisher, MD, Owen Chan, PhD, and Candace Reno, PhD, demonstrated that brain glucose sensing was impaired in rats with recurrent hypoglycemia as a result of defective glucose and lactate metabolism within the neurons and astrocytes in the hypothalamus. The resultant abnormal release of neurotransmitters—such as GABA, glutamate and dopamine—led to inadequate activation of hormonal responses to hypoglycemia. Continue reading → Neural and Cardiac Responses to Hypoglycemia
Posted on | CategoriesHealth and Disease / Neurology | PI: Stefan M. Pulst, MD & Daniel R. Scoles, PhD

Therapy for ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a catastrophic degeneration of the nervous system with great need for disease-modifying treatments. Stefan Pulst, MD, and his collaborator Daniel Scoles, PhD, were studying a lesser-known but similarly dire condition (spinocerebellar ataxia 2, SCA2) when they identified a gene relevant to both diseases. Continue reading → Therapy for ALS
Posted on | CategoriesImmunology, Inflammation, Infectious Disease / Pediatrics | PI: Christian Con Yost, MD , Guy A. Zimmerman, MD & Elizabeth A. Middleton, MD

Inhibiting Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) in Immune Injury and Pathologic Clotting

Deficient or excess immune system activities cause many human diseases. To understand the mechanisms of immune injury and their links to pathologic clotting, University of Utah Health investigators Christian Yost, MD, Guy Zimmerman, MD, and colleagues defined features of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Continue reading → Inhibiting Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) in Immune Injury and Pathologic Clotting
Posted on | CategoriesHealth and Disease / Psychiatry | PI: Adrian Rothenfluh, PhD

Genetics of Alcohol Abuse – from Flies to Humans

In an unbiased screen, the lab directed by Adrian Rothenfluh, PhD, isolated flies lacking a certain gene (Rsu1) that produces a strong liking for alcohol, even before repeated exposure. Their investigations in Drosophila showed that Rsu1 and downstream signaling molecules regulate actin dynamics; genetic manipulations that increase actin filament turnover lead to accelerated development of alcohol preference, while manipulations that increase actin filament stability abolish the development of preference. Continue reading → Genetics of Alcohol Abuse – from Flies to Humans