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Neuroscience

An Oregon nonprofit brings an actual brain, and brainpower to classrooms – KGW.com

PORTLAND, Ore. Getting the attention of middle school science students is a no-brainer for NW Noggin.

Students get a real hands-on experience, even holding a human brain, as the nonprofit teaches lessons in neuroscience.

We are all volunteers going into classrooms learning what kids are curious about. They ask so many questions, said NW Noggin founder Bill Griesar.

Since 2012, the nonprofit has reached 40,000 students.

On Tuesday, they visited Portlands Hosford Middle School bringing plastic models of brains, preserved sections of the brain and a real one to hold.

Its heavier than I thought it would be and squishy, recalled one student.

The program relies on graduate students from OHSU and PSU.

We bring these advanced students into classrooms so the kids can see the possibilities. Maybe they will want to follow a similar path someday, said Griesar.

NW Noggin has taken its program to other cities such as Chicago and Washington D.C.

This Saturday, March 7, theyll be at OMSIs Brain Fair.

Its really cool, one student said. This was a super fun day.

RELATED: KGW's Drew Carney explains the science behind Leap Year and Leap Day

RELATED: 'You have your life back': New brain surgery at OHSU controls debilitating tremor

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An Oregon nonprofit brings an actual brain, and brainpower to classrooms - KGW.com

Neuroscience

The Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation’s Movement is Medicine(TM) Program Expands to Florida and Continues to Shed Light on the Impact Exercise Has on…

NEW YORK, March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation(HNF) Movement is Medicine is expanding across the US with its latest Summit announced for March 21, 2020 in Winter Park, Florida at the Center for Health and Wellbeing, which is a collaboration between the Winter Park Health Foundationand AdventHealth. The 80,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility offers the best community health and wellness programs in Central Florida.

"The Neuromuscular Division of the AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute is overjoyed to partner with the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation as a Center of Excellence. The HNF has established itself as an organization in which individuals with hereditary neuropathies-also known as CMT-come first. Our division echoes this goal of patients coming first. We are excited to host the Movement is Medicine program here in Orlando; this program will demonstrate not only how much exercise is necessary in hereditary neuropathies, but also how much fun exercise can be by forming new friendships and creating positive energy that can be healing in every way."

-Nivedita Jerath MD, MS Medical Director of Neuromuscular Medicine, AdventHealth

Sponsored by AdventHealth, this Movement is Medicine Summit will be free to attend and feature inspirational speakers, expert instructors and informational breakout sessions specifically curated by and for CMT patients.

Over 100 attendees are expected to participate, with children, caretakers and family members also welcome.

"HNF is thrilled to bring its groundbreaking Movement is Medicine program to Winter Park," said Allison Moore, Founder and CEO of HNF. "Our patient-centered approach to the treatment of CMT disease is aligned with the terrific work that Dr. Jerathand her team are doing at the AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute, and we couldn't be more excited to be holding our event at the Center for Health and Wellbeing.

Registerfor the Movement is Medicine Summit Orlando.

HNF is grateful for all who continue to help make these impactful Summits possible and who are making a difference in the lives of our courageous attendees.

The HNF team is also planning its annual 2-day Movement is Medicine Summit in Phoenix, AZ at Ability360 for November 13-14th, 2020.

About Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation (HNF)HNF, a non-profit 501(c) 3 organizationwhose mission is to increase awareness and accurate diagnosis of CMT and related inherited neuropathies, support patients and families with critical information to improve quality of life, and fund research that will lead to treatments and cures. HNF developed the Therapeutic Research in Accelerated Discovery (TRIAD) program, a collaborative effort with academia, government and industry, to develop treatments for CMT. Currently, TRIAD involves many groups that span the drug discovery, drug development and diagnostics continuum.

About AdventHealth's Central Florida Division:Founded in 1908 by pioneering Seventh-day Adventists who believed in whole-person health healing the body, mind and spirit AdventHealth has grown into one of the largest nonprofit hospitals in the country, caring for more than two million patient visits per year in metro Orlando alone. AdventHealth operates more than 50 hospitals and hundreds of care centers in nearly a dozen states, making it one of the largest faith-based health-care systems in the United States.

AdventHealth's Central Florida Division encompasses 20 hospitals in the seven counties in and surrounding metro Orlando: Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Polk, Lake, Volusia and Flagler. The Central Florida Division's care network also includes more than 30 Centra Care urgent-care centers; dozens of sports-rehab and imaging centers; and hundreds of physicians, ranging from primary care to a full spectrum of specialties.

AdventHealth Orlando, the division's flagship campus, serves both as a community hospital and as a major tertiary referral hospital for the region, much of the Southeast, the Caribbean and Latin America.

AdventHealth Orlando is a designated statutory teaching hospital and trains physicians from around the world on the newest technology and procedures. The system provides a wide range of health services, including many nationally and internationally recognized programs in cardiology, cancer, women's medicine, neuroscience, diabetes, orthopedics, pediatrics, transplant and advanced surgical programs.

The AdventHealth Research Institute has more than 250 investigators and more than 500 clinical trials in progress. AdventHealth Orlando is also home to the Translational Research Institute for Metabolism & Diabetes and the Nicholson Center for Surgical Advancement.

Contact: Allison MooreT: 1-855-HELPCMT (435-7268)E: allison@hnf-cure.org

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SOURCE Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation

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The Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation's Movement is Medicine(TM) Program Expands to Florida and Continues to Shed Light on the Impact Exercise Has on...

Neuroscience

Alumnus builds coffee business from the ground up – The Rider News

Mark Maslanka 18 started brewing up his own coffee business while studying neuroscience at Rider. He eventually moved to Colorado where his business took off.

by Cassandra Stathis

Early in the day, it is common to hear someone say Dont talk to me till Ive had my morning coffee. It is the best part of the day for many hardworking students and employees. But what exactly is the science behind coffee?

Rider alumnus Mark Maslanka 18 is very familiar with the process behind the caffeinated beverage, as he is the proud owner of his own coffee company, named Science of Coffee.

Maslanka had a long history with coffee, even before college.

Coffee was always something that brought me relaxation, he said. And made me feel like one of the adults.

Maslankas allure to the drink was the root of inspiration behind his company.

The quality of coffee I produce today just blows me away, Maslanka said. It brings me right back to those first couple sips when I was a kid in the car with my dad.

Maslanka planned to just experiment with his favorite drink in order to perfect his recipe.

I mastered different methods from around the world in trying to produce the best tasting cup of coffee, he said.

Todd Weber, a professor of biology at Rider, had Maslanka in a past neuroscience class, and admired his work ethic when he was a student.

Mark [Maslanka] had a pragmatic approach to getting work done when it needed to be done, said Weber.

Before Maslanka left Rider, he decided to leave one last gift with his professors. It was something from the heart that he believed they would appreciate.

Mark [Maslanka] graced me with some of his coffee before he graduated. [It was] very fragrant, so much better than much of the coffee we get around here, Weber said.

Neuroscience and coffee may not seem like they have a lot in common, but Weber disagreed.

I think its very cool that Mark was able to meld his behavioral neuroscience background with a spirit of entrepreneurship to start a company around the most widely used neuroactive substance on the planet, caffeine, Weber said. Hes an ultimate scientific entrepreneur.

Maslanka had never expected his business to take off so quickly, so the success of his business came as a surprise to him.

I didnt think Id be selling coffee to people across the country, I only started this as an excuse to roast more coffee than I could drink, he said. Im just along for the ride, waiting to see where itll take me next. Everything up until this point has been purely from word of mouth besides the occasional stranger that stumbles upon my website. Thats how you know its good coffee.

Maslankas company also sells photographs of nature and wildlife that he has taken.

Its my way of showing others what untouched nature looks like deep in the wilderness. I love being able to remind people why its worth trying so hard to conserve these creatures, he said.

The Rider alumnus credits his business website with helping him get off the ground.

My site has given me a large boost in credibility in life, with a very physical example of how hard I work on things I am interested in, he said. It also got me into my current position where I am today.

Maslanka went on to discuss how coffee fits in with his work, describing the effects that different coffee beans have on the body.

One of the side projects I inherited is a coffee-omics study, investigating metabolomic differences between different coffees grown around the world, he said.

During the hours he works strictly with coffee, he is sourcing new beans in small batches from farms around the world and optimizing a roasting profile to enhance the development of the natural flavors unique to that origin.

Science of Coffee is the perfect blend of Maslankas passions, balancing neuroscience and the environment in one successful business.

Published in the 3/4/20 edition

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Alumnus builds coffee business from the ground up - The Rider News

Cell Biology

MSU researcher aids discovery of new cellular mechanism related to aging, chronic illnesses – Valleyjournal

Issue Date: 3/4/2020Last Updated: 3/3/2020 10:33:03 PM |By Reagan Colyer, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN A Montana State University biotechnology researcher was part of an international team that recently discovered an internal mechanism, which may protect human cells from oxidative damage.

The discovery could lead to strides in understanding many problems associated with aging and some chronic illnesses. Ed Schmidt, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in MSUs colleges of Agriculture and Letters and Science, worked with research teams from Hungary, Sweden and Japan on the project, published earlier this month in the journal Science Advances. The mechanism, Schmidt said, is a previously unknown tool that cells can use to protect their proteins from being irreversibly damaged by cellular processes called redox reactions, which are common and necessary but which, in excess, can cause extensive damage.

Redox reactions are any reaction where youre moving electrons from one molecule to another, said Schmidt. Almost everything that goes on in our cells, chemically and energetically, involves the transfer of electrons. But its critical that these be kept in balance. Our cells invest an enormous amount of effort and machinery into maintaining the right redox balance.

The discovery made by Schmidts team focuses on sulfur atoms as part of protein molecules inside cells. When cells are exposed to external stressors from things humans eat, chemicals the cells are exposed to or any number of other sources that oxidative stress can damage parts of the proteins. It was previously thought that cells had no way to reverse that oxidation, instead relying upon making new proteins to replace the damaged ones. However, said Schmidt, it appears that our cells are sometimes able to protect themselves by adding an extra sulfur atom onto existing sulfurs in certain protein molecules. Then when the cell is exposed to stress, only that extra sulfur is damaged and can then be cleaved off by the cell, leaving behind a whole and undamaged protein.

We suspect that once exposure begins, its too late for the cell to do this, said Schmidt. We think that cells have a subset of proteins already in this state with extra sulfur atoms, which makes them probably inactive, but kind of on reserve. These proteins on reserve get damaged but can be repaired and allow the cell to begin recovery to make new proteins.

Extreme oxidative damage can cause DNA mutations, said Schmidt. When those mutations accumulate, there is some evidence that points to an increased risk for cancers, inflammatory diseases and illnesses such as Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease and diabetes. This new discovery may help lead to future strides in medicine by helping to predict or even mitigate those health problems, if human cells can utilize this mechanism more efficiently, Schmidt said, adding that there are even potential applications for medical procedures such as organ transplants.

During transplants, the organ goes through a period where it doesnt have any oxygen or blood flow, but once it is transplanted, it gets a rush of oxygenated blood that causes a burst of oxidative stress, said Schmidt. Now that were starting to understand these mechanisms, maybe we can do something more sophisticated to allow the cells in a transplanted organ to prepare and protect themselves.

Schmidts research team, which is also a part of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, worked with four other teams that brought expertise in biological sulfur chemistry, redox biology, cell biology and cell signaling from around the world. Next steps in this research, Schmidt said, include investigating exactly how cells manage to add those extra sulfur molecules and how that process is regulated.

Its possible that by understanding this system more, we could make progress, said Schmidt. Understanding some of these mechanisms allows us to come up with new ideas.

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MSU researcher aids discovery of new cellular mechanism related to aging, chronic illnesses - Valleyjournal

Cell Biology

Generation of muscle cells in 3 easy steps – News-Medical.net

Mar 4 2020

AMSBIO offers a Skeletal Muscle Differentiation kit that enables you to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells to skeletal muscle myotubes with high yields, without cell sorting or genetic manipulation. Myotubes are contractile, express typical muscle markers that show striated sarcomeres.

Skeletal muscle precursor cells (stage II and III) produced with the Skeletal Muscle Differentiation Kit. Image Credit: Douglas Smith - Doles Lab

Until recently methods of studying muscular disease and potential therapies were dependent on invasive muscle biopsies to produce limited batches of primary cells. Use of primary cells presents challenges, not only in the collection process but also related to inconsistencies in cell growth, behavior and life span, making it difficult to generate reliable experimental models.

Using AMSBIO's revolutionary Skeletal Muscle Differentiation kit allows researchers to generate muscle from human pluripotent stem cells in 3 easy steps, via satellite-like or progenitor cells and myoblasts that then fuse to multinucleated myotubes in the third step.

The myotube differentiation kit from AMSBIO is simple to use and it has produced consistent results every time.

Jason D Doles, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Head of Doles Lab in Rochester, Minnesota

Dr Doles and the research team in his Skeletal Muscle Wasting and Progenitor Cell Biology group are currently studying muscle regeneration, wasting disorders and stem cell activation using diverse experimental model systems and cutting-edge cell and molecular biology tools and technologies.

Tested on a wide range of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell lines the new kit follows a simple 3-step process of media changes and cell passaging. Eliminating the need for cell sorting or transfection of myogenic transcription factors, the Skeletal Muscle Differentiation kit protocol generates a highly pure population of approximately 70 per cent skeletal muscle myotubes in a reproducible fashion.

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Generation of muscle cells in 3 easy steps - News-Medical.net

Cell Biology

Study Provides Insights Into How Cells Defend Themselves From Viruses – Technology Networks

A protein known to help cells defend against infection also regulates the form and function of mitochondria, according to a new paper in Nature Communications.

The protein, one of a group called myxovirus-resistance (Mx) proteins, help cells fight infections without the use of systemic antibodies or white blood cells. The authors report that MxB, which is associated with immune response to HIV and herpes virus, is key to mitochondrial support.

"Our work provides new insights into how this dynamin MxB protein assists in fighting viral infections, which could have substantial health implications in the future," says Mark McNiven, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cell biologist and senior author.

Viral infection

In response to infection, a cell releases interferon and neighboring cells ramp up Mx protein production. The authors replicated previous findings that MxB blocks nuclear pores and MxB increases markedly when cells are treated with interferon. But they also show that some MxB is present in most immune tissues, such as tonsil, prior to a "red alert" and that it has another role.

"We were surprised to see MxB present on, and in, mitochondria," says Hong Cao, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic research scientist and first author. "That it is both induced in response to infection and vital to mitochondrial integrity is exciting, considering that HIV and herpes alter mitochondria during infection."

Protecting the generator

The authors report that during infection, MxB dynamically condenses, dissolves and reforms over time, and traced MxB's travels to the nuclear pores, as well as to the tips and along mitochondria. They also show, via a cell line that can't make MxB in response to interferon, that mitochondrial cristae are affected by MxB, as well.

"Without active MxB protein, mitochondria become nonfunctional, no longer produce energy, and kick out their DNA genome into the cytoplasm," says Dr. Cao. "These cells are not happy, but may have the capacity to survive a viral infection."

History of mitochondrial investigationThe work of Dr. Cao and team builds on the findings of mitochondrial investigators at Mayo.

"Over two decades ago, our lab discovered a set of proteins that perform mechanical work to shape and pinch mitochondria," says Dr. McNiven. That discovery led to a variety of research initiatives across the international mitochondria field into not only basic research questions, but also into clinical areas. This work shows that mitochondrial dynamics, such as fission and fusion, are vital functions. They regulate cell death needed to retard cancer cell growth and the turnover of damaged mitochondria needed to prevent neurodegenerative disorders, and contribute to antiviral cell immunity, to name a few.

The next steps, Dr. McNiven says, are to continue to investigate how MxB is targeted to and internalized by mitochondria, and how its association induces such drastic changes to biology of this organelle.

Reference:Cao, H., Krueger, E. W., Chen, J., Drizyte-Miller, K., Schulz, M. E., & McNiven, M. A. (2020). The anti-viral dynamin family member MxB participates in mitochondrial integrity. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14727-w

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Study Provides Insights Into How Cells Defend Themselves From Viruses - Technology Networks

Cell Biology

The Role of Inhaled Anesthetics in Tumorigenesis and Tumor Immunity | CMAR – Dove Medical Press

Yichi Xu, Wenxiao Jiang, Shangdan Xie, Fang Xue, Xueqiong Zhu

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Peoples Republic of China

Correspondence: Xueqiong ZhuDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, No. 109 Xueyuan Xi Road, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, Peoples Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86 577 88002796Email zjwzzxq@163.com

Abstract: Inhaled anesthetics are widely used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia during surgery, including isoflurane, sevoflurane, desflurane, haloflurane, nitrous oxide (N2O), enflurane and xenon. Nowadays, it is controversial whether inhaled anesthetics may influence the tumor progression, which urges us to describe the roles of different inhaled anesthetics in human cancers. In the review, the relationships among the diverse inhaled anesthetics and patient outcomes, immune response and cancer cell biology were discussed. Moreover, the mechanisms of various inhaled anesthetics in the promotion or inhibition of carcinogenesis were also reviewed. In summary, we concluded that several inhaled anesthetics have different immune functions, clinical outcomes and cancer cell biology, which could contribute to opening new avenues for selecting suitable inhaled anesthetics in cancer surgery.

Keywords: inhaled anesthetics, cancer, tumorigenesis, surgery, immune

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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The Role of Inhaled Anesthetics in Tumorigenesis and Tumor Immunity | CMAR - Dove Medical Press

Immunology

Mitochondria-boosting compound promotes immunotherapy in mice – Drug Target Review

Researchers have discovered that a small molecule can help some T cells combat tumours during PD-1 blockade immunotherapy in mice.

A small molecule that inhibits energy production in T cells allows some tumours in mice to escape treatment with an immunotherapy called PD-1 blockade therapy, says a new study from Kyoto University, Japan.

One kind of cancer immunotherapy blocks PD-1, a receptor on the surface of T cells. Cancer cells express a protein that binds to this receptor and interferes with T-cell ability to kill tumour cells. But while drugs that block this receptor can reactivate the T cells, they are not always effective.

Despite the great success of PD-1 blockade therapy, we need to improve its efficacy because more than half of patients tumours dont respond to it, said lead author Alok Kumar, a PhD student in the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University.

To learn why so many tumours fail to respond to PD-1 blockade therapy, Kumar and his colleagues studied mice with two types of tumour cells: some that were sensitive to PD-1 blockade therapy and others that were not. This allowed the team to identify two different types of tumours that do not respond to PD-1. One type suppressed the immune system and caused even the PD-1-sensitive tumour cells to grow, while the other had no effect on PD-1-sensitive tumour cells.

We found that some human cancer cells release immunosuppressive molecules that inhibit the activity of energy-producing mitochondria in T cells, Kumar explained. Treating the mice with a mitochondria-boosting compound reversed this effect in the immunesuppressing tumour.

However, the immunotherapy treatment had no effect on the other type of tumour. Instead of impairing energy production in T cells, the other tumour made itself invisible to the immune system by failing to produce a protein that helps immune cells recognise tumour cells.

The identity of the molecule that helped the first type of tumour suppress mitochondria is currently unknown. The researchers hope that if they can find it, they can create drugs that hinder its activity. If we could identify these unknown factors and develop drugs that block them, we could save patients lives by using the drugs alongside PD-1 blockade therapy to prevent tumours from defending themselves, says senior author Tasuku Honjo, Professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University.

The study was published in eLife.

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Mitochondria-boosting compound promotes immunotherapy in mice - Drug Target Review

Immunology

Immunology in coccidiosis in chickens: The role of cytokines IL-2 and IFN-gamma – The Poultry Site

Innate immunity is mediated by subpopulations of immune cells that recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Adaptive immunity, which is important in conferring protection against secondary infections, involves subtypes of T and B lymphocytes that mediate antigen specific immune response. Experimental studies in coccidiosis in chickens now support the role of lymphocytes and their secreted products (Lillehoj et al. 2011)

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Immunology in coccidiosis in chickens: The role of cytokines IL-2 and IFN-gamma - The Poultry Site

Immunology

Tulane scientist named Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology – News from Tulane

Chad Steele, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine, has been named a 2020 Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). Steeles current research focuses on better understanding lung immune responses during acute versus chronic exposure to the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)

Chad Steele, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine, has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). This prestigious honor recognizes scientists for outstanding contributions in a wide variety of microbiology sectors, including research, education, public health, industry and government service. Steele is one of only 68 scientists worldwide to be elected as new fellows to the Class of 2020.

Steeles current research focuses on better understanding lung immune responses during acute versus chronic exposure to the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. The fungus is found in soil, plant matter and household dust, and produces airborne spores which can cause some people to get a range of illnesses, from asthma to pneumonia. In the Steele Laboratory at Tulane School of Medicine, Steele and his research team have developed experimental animal models that mimic the pathology observed in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (fungal pneumonia) and fungal-associated allergic airway inflammation (fungal asthma).

Steele says being elected as fellow is exciting and humbling. It means your peers have recognized your contribution to the field of microbiology over many years in terms of contributing to researching, supporting advancement of the field and training the next generation of scientists in microbiology, Steele said.

Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. The Class of 2020 represents fellows from 11 different countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Professor Steele is an outstanding scientist, and also brings dynamic, inspirational, and collaborative leadership to Tulane, says Dr. Lee Hamm, dean of Tulane University School of Medicine. He is not only performing outstanding scientific work himself but raising the level of achievement among those around him and in his area of work.

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Tulane scientist named Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology - News from Tulane