BRI Briefs
BWH Medical Staff News brings you BRI Briefs to share some of the latest research news coming out of the Biomedical Research Institute (BRI).
Aster Awarded LLS Grant to Further Research on Role of Notch1 in T-ALLs
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society awarded Jon C. Aster, MD, PhD, of the Department of Pathology, a Marshall A. Lichtman Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grant, one of four such grants given this year. Aster, supported by a team of researchers from BWH, Dana-Farber, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, will receive $6.25 million over five years to further research that seeks to identify new ways of targeting the Notch1 receptor signaling pathway in cancer. This work builds on prior studies conducted over the last decade by Aster and his co-investigators, which have shown that Notch1 hyperactivity is the most frequent molecular lesion in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias and lymphomas (T-ALLs), an important tumor of children and adolescents.
Aster’s SCOR consists of four integrated projects. Two will use complementary approaches to identify and test antibodies and small molecules that selectively inhibit Notch1 activity. A third project will identify drugs or drug-like compounds that cooperate with known Notch pathway inhibitors to prevent the growth of T-ALL cells. A fourth project will determine the cell origin (the leukemia stem cell) that gives rise to Notch1-associated T-ALL, and develop improved mouse models of T-ALL, which will be used to test antibodies and drugs identified within the other SCOR projects.
Self-Administered Psoriatic Arthritis Screening Tool for Patients
Up to one third of psoriasis patients may have psoriatic arthritis, or PsA, yet may never bring it to their physician’s attention. Abrar A. Qureshi, MD, MPH, and colleagues from the Department of Dermatology and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation developed and validated a patient self-administered tool to screen psoriasis patients for signs and symptoms of PsA, a type of inflammatory arthritis. This report appears in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The questionnaire, called PASE (Psoriatic Arthritis Screening and Evaluation tool), was able to distinguish between symptoms of PsA and osteoarthritis in the 65 participants part of the pilot study. A larger study is ongoing to validate PASE in dermatology clinics in the community.
Lack of Mast Cells Prevents Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in Mice
In the Oct. 11 Journal of Clinical Investigation, Guo-Ping Shi, DSc, of Cardiovascular Medicine, defined the critical role of mast cells in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), previously thought to be irrelevant. Shi and colleagues found that mice that lacked mast cells were prevented from developing AAA. Stabilization of mast cells with the anti-allergic medicine disodium cromoglycate also completely prevented AAA formation in mice. This finding reveals a novel therapeutic strategy for this disease, which currently is treated primarily through invasive surgical interventions.
Shenton Ranked as Top Authors of Schizophrenia Research
Martha Shenton, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry ranked eighth on a list of top authors of schizophrenia research by Essential Science Indicators, an analytical tool that offers data for ranking scientists, institutions, countries and journals. Her paper, “MRI findings in schizophrenia,” published in Schizophrenia Research in 2001, is listed as a top paper on the disorder in the last decade. Additionally, her 1992 paper in NEJM, “Abnormalities of the left temporal-lobe and thought-disorder in schizophrenia: A quantitative magnetic-resonance-imaging study,” is the fourth most-cited paper in schizophrenia research in the previous decade.