News and Publications

2002 DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Gerald Edelman, M.D., Ph.D., was awarded La Medaille de la Ville de Paris in Paris, France.

2002 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Associate Professor Vincent P. Mauro, Ph.D., and Edelman formulated a new hypothesis regarding the control of protein translation in the cell. This so-called Ribosome Filter Hypothesis suggests that ribosomes themselves can act as regulatory elements, i.e. can actively recruit and selectively translate particular messages in the cell via interactions with messenger RNA. The idea has important consequences for understanding the control of developmental processes and aberrant protein production in disease states, as well as for use in overproduction of proteins for therapeutic uses.

Associate Professor Kathryn L. Crossin, Ph.D., together with colleagues in the department and at The Neurosciences Institute, identified conditions for culturing neural stem cells that generated neurons that formed networks and fired spontaneous action potentials. This was the first observation of stem cells from the embryonic brain forming physiologically functional neurons that assembled into appropriate networks. The work is significant for understanding the requirements for generating functional neurons from stem cells for cellular therapies.

Guest Scientist Geoffrey Owens, Ph.D., designed an improved retroviral vector that could infect embryonic neural progenitor cells and sustain expression of a transgene, even after the cells differentiated into neurons and glia. Such vectors, which promote significant protein expression in multiple phases of cellular differentiation, are essential for successful gene therapy.

Assistant Professor Peter W. Vanderklish, Ph.D., demonstrated that the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors causes spine elongation in the dendrites of hippocampal cells. Spines are the sites of synapse formation in these neurons and spine shape is important for proper neuronal functioning. His work also showed that a neurotrophic factor, BDNF, increased the expression of a cytoskeletal protein critical for synapse morphology. Together the studies help to link alterations in synapse formation and morphology with molecules known to be critical for learning and memory.