Also check out our latest Beaker post on our CDG research.
Sanford-Burnham researchers identified a potential drug target to prevent the hardening of arteries...
The scientists of our NCI-designated Cancer Center
As you probably know by now – May is National Cancer Research Month, and this is the second post in our blog series to profile cancer research programs underway at Sanford-Burnham. This week, we review a few of the programs that focus on a malfunctioning signaling process in cells called “signal transduction.” Signal transduction occurs when a molecule outside of a cell activates a receptor on the cell, triggering a response inside. This vital process drives a variety of functions, including how a cell senses and responds to environmental change and communicates with other cells. When signal transduction pathways malfunction, a variety of diseases can arise, including cancer.
May is National Cancer Research Month
May is National Cancer Research Month, so we thought we’d highlight exciting cancer research underway at Sanford-Burnham. Today, we focus on a few of the strategies our researchers are pursuing to better understand the pathologies of cancer tumors—and stop them in their tracks.
Drs. Perera (left) and Patel during the "A Celebration of Collaboration" ceremony on May 10
During a ceremony at Sanford-Burnham at Lake Nona on May 10, the International Prostate Cancer Foundation (IPCF) awarded Ranjan Perera, Ph.D., scientific director of analytical genomics and bioinformatics at our Lake Nona campus, $60,000 to fund a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Perera’s lab.
“Sanford-Burnham can really make an impact in the field,” said Vipul Patel, M.D., FACS, founder of the IPCF and internationally renowned prostate cancer surgeon at Florida Hospital’s Global Robotics Institute, as he acknowledged Dr. Perera’s work to identify molecular markers for prostate cancer. Given IPCF and Sanford-Burnham’s shared goal to develop better diagnoses and treatments, this postdoc grant will hopefully only be a first step in a long and mutually beneficial partnership.
Dr. Towler (left) with his team of scientists at his Lake Nona lab.
The hardening of arteries is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, an often deadly disease in which plaques, excessive connective tissue, and other changes build up inside vessel walls and squeeze off the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Now, researchers at our Diabetes and Obesity Research Center have described the molecular and cellular pathway that leads to this hardening of the arteries—and zeroed in on a particularly destructive protein called Dkk1.
Their study was published online today by Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. The findings suggest that the development of drug therapies to selectively inhibit endothelial Dkk1 signaling may help limit arteriosclerotic disease.
Dr. Nagy will join Sanford-Burnham at Lake Nona in October.
Please join us in welcoming the internationally renowned genomic scientist László Nagy, M.D., Ph.D., to Sanford-Burnham’s Lake Nona campus. Nagy will serve as professor and program director in our Diabetes and Obesity Research Center. He will join us in October to lead a new cross-platform research program that will help accelerate discoveries at our Orlando campus. Nagy is currently professor and head of the Center for Clinical Genomics and Personalized Medicine at the University of Debrecen Medical and Health Science Center in Hungary.
These nanoparticles of porous silicon, each 100 times smaller than a human hair, contain microscopic reservoirs that can hold and protect sensitive drugs. The surface of the particles can be covered with targeting molecules. (Photo by Chia-Chen Wu, UC San Diego)
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded $6 million to a team of researchers to develop nanotechnology therapies for the treatment of traumatic brain injury and associated infections. The award brings together a multi-disciplinary team of renowned experts in laboratory research, translational investigation, and clinical medicine. The team includes Sanford-Burnham’s Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., and is led by Professor Michael J. Sailor, Ph.D., from the University of California San Diego. Also on the team are Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D., of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Clark C. Chen, M.D., Ph.D., of UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The three children in this study, from left to right: Oliver, Edward, and Amira-Zoe.
Children born with rare, inherited conditions known as Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation, or CDG, have mutations in one of the many enzymes the body uses to decorate its proteins and cells with sugars. Properly diagnosing a child with CDG and pinpointing the exact sugar gene that’s mutated can be a huge relief for parents—they better understand what they’re dealing with and doctors can sometimes use that information to develop a therapeutic approach. Whole-exome sequencing, an abbreviated form of whole-genome sequencing, is increasingly used as a diagnostic for CDG.
Muscle from normal mice (left) and a mouse model lacking ERRgamma and ERRbeta (right) differ in muscle fiber-type, as indicated by immunofluorescence staining (green = myosin heavey chain 1, blue = myosin heavy chain 2a)
Sanford-Burnham researchers identify microRNAs as the missing link between the two defining features of muscle fitness—fuel-burning and fiber-type switching—providing a potential new target for interventions that boost fitness in people with chronic illness or injury.
Researchers discovered that small pieces of genetic material called microRNAs link the two defining characteristics of fit muscles: the ability to burn sugar and fat and the ability to switch between slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers. The team used two complementary mouse models—the “marathon mouse” and the “couch potato mouse”—to make this discovery. But what’s more, they also found that active people have higher levels of one of these microRNAs than sedentary people. These findings, published May 8 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest microRNAs could be targeted for the development of new medical interventions aimed at improving muscle fitness in people with chronic illness or injury.
Watch scientists in our Stem Cell Research Center during an Institute tour on June 5
Check out the world of medical research! Sanford-Burnham invites you to a behind-the-scenes tour of our La Jolla campus on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Tours are free of charge and include an overview of the Institute’s history, followed by a visit to our Stem Cell Research Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics. Another highlight of the tour is a look at our ultra-high-throughput/high-content screening facility’s robotic system. Learn how the robotic platform screens chemical compounds by the millions to find the few that could potentially be developed into the medicines of tomorrow.
Sanford-Burnham co-founder Lillian Fishman turned 98 last weekend
Sanford-Burnham’s co-founder Lillian Fishman celebrated her 98th birthday this past weekend. In an interview conducted by Patty Fuller for U-T San Diego, Mrs. Fishman recounts the Institute’s beginnings in 1976 as the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation, and explains the development of San Diego’s scientific communities over the past four decades.
The winning team, from left to right: Brandon Heess, Kim Renna, Michele Bart, Christina McCabe, Nicole Lomitola, Ryan Hiller and Paul Jacobson in front.
On April 25, Sanford-Burnham hosted its fifth annual Bring It! event, the Institute’s spring fundraiser to benefit stem cell research. More than 200 guests attended the camp-themed affair which took place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Congratulations to these Sanford-Burnham golfers (pictured above left to right): Peter Teriete (staff scientist), Jochen Maurer (postdoctoral researcher), Eric Tabanico (safety technician), and Robert Oshima (professor).
Quebec (Photo by Martin St-Amant, Wikimedia Commons)
Calling all cytokine scientists…
What: 14th International Tumor Necrosis Factor Conference
When: July 7-10, 2013
Where: Loews Le Concorde, Quebec City, Canada
Who: Hosted by the International Cytokine Society; attended by more than 300 academic and biopharma industry scientists from around the world
Registration: Visit www.tnf2013.com
Sanford-Burnham will co-host the 9th annual World Stem Cell Summit December 4-6, 2013, in San Diego, together with The Scripps Research Institute, Genetics Policy Institute, Mayo Clinic, and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Sanford-Burnham will co-host the 9th annual World Stem Cell Summit December 4-6, 2013, in San Diego, together with The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), Mayo Clinic, Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The large, multi-disciplinary conference features more than 170 experts, who will discuss the latest scientific discoveries, business models, translational issues, legal and regulatory solutions, and best practices.