• Study shows adult stem cell grafts increased mobility in paralyzed patients
A new study by a School of Medicine researcher details the outcome of adult stem cell grafts in spinal cord injuries and how the procedure led to increased mobility and quality of life for patients. The process involves the use of adult stem-like progenitor cells in the patient's own nasal tissue. According to Associate Professor Jean Peduzzi-Nelson of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology who conducted the study, "Olfactory Mucosal Autografts and Rehabilitation for Chronic Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury," the use of a person's own stem cells lessens the problems of rejection, tumor formation and disease transmission.• University to launch child-focused obesity center funded by $5.7 million NIH grant
While obesity is a growing problem with Americans, it is significantly higher among African Americans, particularly in children and adolescents. Wayne State will use a $5.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study child obesity, particularly to answer the question of why it is higher among African Americans. The study will be led by Sylvie Naar-King, associate professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine and Kai-Lin Catherine Jen, professor and chair of nutrition and food science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. According to Naar-King, this intervention project has three components: strategies to increase extrinsic motivation; strategies to increase intrinsic motivation; and skills development. Primary skills of parental monitoring of the adolescent's eating and exercise will be key, as will self-monitoring of eating and exercising, managing hunger and cravings, and portion control.• WSU partners with Duke, University of Washington and Group Health Research Institute to develop ResearchToolkit.org
Provides one-stop resource for health researchers
Wayne State University, in partnership with the Duke University Translational Medicine Institute, the University of Washington's Institute for Translational Health Sciences and Group Health Research Institute, has developed a new Web site to help researchers create and sustain successful multisite research collaborations.
The team created www.researchtoolkit.org to enhance the efficiency of research, including developing research networks, launching and managing projects, and sharing study results or other products such as data sets, tools and training resources.
Researchers are increasingly finding strength in unity. By collaborating with investigators at multiple sites, they can pool data and study larger and more diverse groups of people in various settings. Collaboration helps studies achieve more "generalizability" and greater statistical power. This makes it easier to definitively answer questions about which kinds of health care work best to improve the health of Americans.
• New study discovers biomarker to identify pregnant women developing preeclampsia
Findings will help clinicians identify and monitor this life-threatening condition
Estimates indicate that preeclampsia is responsible for 76,000 maternal deaths and more than 500,000 infant deaths every year, according to the Preeclampsia Foundation. Preeclampsia, which occurs only during pregnancy and sometimes after delivery, is characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in maternal urine. It can affect the liver, kidney and brain, and sometimes mothers develop seizures (eclampsia) and suffer intracranial hemorrhage, the main cause of death in those who develop the disorder. Some women develop blindness.
A new study conducted by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Perinatology Research Branch at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and published in the November issue of The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, has taken a major leap toward determining the risk of a pregnant woman developing preeclampsia. The study's findings will help clinicians around the world in identifying and monitoring patients who are at risk for developing this life-threatening condition.
• Professor discovers dynamic nature of gene editing enzyme
Research may lead to the prevention and treatment of incurable diseases
The heart of one of nature's gene editing enzymes has at least three different forms, according to a paper published by a Wayne State researcher. The discovery is essential for understanding how protein production works - and why it sometimes fails.
The research, which uncovered and characterized dynamics of two key molecules in the spliceosome, a critical enzyme for the body's gene editing process, was published in the November edition of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
"In over 30 years of research on the spliceosome, this is the first time all three structural conformations and their dynamics have been characterized," David Rueda, assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences said. "Just like mechanics need to understand how an engine works normally before they can repair a damaged one, this discovery provides important details about the function of this critical biological step in cellular protein formation. Greater understanding of the spliceosome could lead to new ways to prevent and treat devastating diseases for which there are currently no cures."
Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students.