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Molecular Microbiology
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Microbial menagerie
Junk food binge alters community of microbes in the gut in less than a day
Nov. 11,
2009 -- Switching from a low-fat, plant-based diet to one high in fat and sugar alters the collection of microbes living in the gut in less than a day, with obesity-linked microbes suddenly thriving, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study was based on transplants of human intestinal microbes into germ-free mice.
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Undressing a deadly parasite
Protein "tuning" system lets scientists uncloak dangerous parasite
May 7,
2009 -- Researchers at the School of Medicine have found a way to dress and undress Leishmania, a parasite that causes death and disfigurement in developing countries. Scientists showed that they could control the parasite's ability to put on its carbohydrate coat, causing it to put on the whole coat, a lighter version or to forego the coat entirely.
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Scientists seek genes of deadly parasite
Deadly parasite's rare sexual dalliances may help scientists neutralize it
April 9,
2009 -- For years, microbiologist Stephen Beverley has tried to get the disease-causing parasite Leishmania in the mood for love. In this week's Science, he and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health report that they may have finally found the answer: Cram enough Leishmania into the gut of an insect known as the sand fly, and the parasite will have sex.
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Finding the roots of starvation
$5.5 million from Gates Foundation funds major study of childhood malnutrition
March 31,
2009 -- Scientists who first established a link between obesity and the trillions of friendly microbes that live in the intestine now are investigating whether the organisms can contribute to the converse: severe malnutrition. Researchers at the School of Medicine, led by microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon, M.D., will study whether severely malnourished infants living in Malawi and Bangladesh have a different mix of intestinal microbes than healthy infants in the same areas, and whether those microbes might account for their illness. This three-year, $5.5 million project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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New position to advance research
Lodge named associate dean for research at Washington University School of Medicine
Jan. 21,
2009 --
Jennifer Lodge has been named associate dean for research at the School of Medicine. The appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2009. In the newly created position, Lodge will coordinate efforts to advance research at the school, focusing particularly on projects that involve multiple departments, multiple disciplines and core facilities that can serve a wide variety of researchers.
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Immune cell first responders
Scans show immune cells intercepting parasites
Dec. 10,
2008 -- Researchers may have identified one of the body's earliest responses to a group of parasites that causes illness in developing nations. In a paper published online in Public Library of Science Pathogens, scientists report that they tracked immune cells as they patrolled the second-shallowest layer of the skin in an animal model. Injections of a genetically modified form of the parasite Leishmania major caused the immune cells to turn from their patrols and move to intercept the parasites.
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The root of irregular heart rhythms
Source of abnormal electrical impulses in hypertrophied hearts revealed
Oct. 8,
2008 --
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| National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute image |
| This MRI shows ventricular hypertrophy. |
Cardiac disorders such as valve problems or high blood pressure make the heart work harder to pump blood. This increased work can lead to enlargement (thickening) of the heart, or cardiac hypertrophy — a potentially life-threatening problem. But when heart problems cause the heart to enlarge, it doesn't grow more muscle cells. Instead each individual cell grows bigger. Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that this cellular enlargement leads to abnormal heart rhythms.
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Research recognition
Burroughs Wellcome Fund recognizes three for infectious diseases research
June 12,
2008 -- The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) has recognized three researchers at the School of Medicine for their studies of infectious diseases. Instructor Jeffrey Henderson will receive the BWF 2008 Career Award for Medical Scientists. Assistant professors David Wang and Dong Yu will each receive a 2008 BWF Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award.
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Mental processes
Researchers find that neurons compensate for electrical changes
June 11,
2008 -- All mental processes, including thinking, learning and memory, depend on the electrical properties of individual nerve cells in the brain and on the connections between them. In turn, the electrical responses of each nerve cell, or neuron, reflect the unique set of pores — called ion channels — that perforate its surface and allow the passage of charged particles, or ions. So researchers at the School of Medicine were a little surprised when they saw no harmful effects in mice after eliminating an important type of potassium ion channel from neurons in the brain.
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It takes two to tango
Researchers identify proteins that make up specialized ion channels
June 3,
2008 -- Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are the first to identify two proteins responsible for mechanosensitive ion channel activities in plant roots. Scientists have long known that plant cells respond to physical forces. Until now, however, the proteins controlling the ion channel response remained a mystery.
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