ScienceCache
Vol. 176
June 30, 2004
GENE FIND AIDS CAVITY FIGHT
Forcing the bacteria in our mouths to choke on their own acids may offer
one way to stop cavities, say microbiologists who have discovered a chink
in the armor that bacteria use to survive the hostile environment of
the human mouth. Streptococcus mutans or S. mutans latches onto teeth,
eats sugar, and then secretes acid, making the bacteria the number-one
cause of tooth decay around the world. The secret of its success? The
bacterium rearranges its cell membranes to make itself impervious to
the acid assault that it lets loose. “Right now there are millions
of bacteria in your mouth, eating sugars and excreting acid which is
eating your teeth,” says microbiologist Robert Quivey Jr. of the
Center for Oral Biology. In a paper in the July 1 issue of the Journal
of Bacteriology, Quivey and graduate student Elizabeth Fozo discuss a
vulnerability of S. mutans, a bug that infects almost everyone. Scientists
have known that the microbe specially modifies itself once it starts
producing acid in the mouth. The Quivey group has shown that the changes
include shuffling fatty acids in its membrane – much like a bricklayer
might move bricks to fortify a fence – so it can withstand the
wash of acids that it sends pouring into the mouth. The Rochester team
found the gene responsible for changing the membrane’s composition;
when Fozo and Quivey knocked out the gene in S. mutans, the bacteria’s
defenses fell.
Full story
HERPES HELPS RESEARCHERS CUSTOMIZE ALZHEIMER’S
VACCINE
Scientists have taken an important step toward creating a vaccine against
Alzheimer’s disease, customizing the response of the immune system
with unprecedented precision. Using a harmless form of the herpes virus,
Bill Bowers and Howard Federoff at the Center for Aging and Developmental
Biology put into mice a payload of genetic information that created a
carefully crafted immune response, one that muted the type of toxic side
effects seen in a previous study in people of a vaccine against Alzheimer’s.
The work demonstrates a level of control over an Alzheimer’s vaccine
that was previously unattainable. “This work provides a platform
to shuffle the immune response, a flexibility to modify the approach
to create a vaccine that is safe and efficacious,” says Federoff,
who has pioneered the use of herpes to treat diseases like cancer, stroke,
and Alzheimer’s. “This points the way toward shaping and
modulating the exact immune response needed to fight or prevent Alzheimer’s
disease.” The work was published on-line last week in Neurobiology
of Aging.
Full story
SCHOOL OF NURSING JUMPS TO 13TH IN THE NATION IN NIH FUNDING
The School of Nursing has made a dramatic rise in the total value of
grants and fellowships it received from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). Based on rankings released by NIH for its fiscal year 2003, the
School of Nursing has risen from 23rd in the nation last year to 13th.
The annual rankings combine research grants, training grants and fellowships. “That
combination is especially important for students because it creates opportunities
to take part in the latest scientific advances and apply those advances
to nursing care,” says Patricia Chiverton, dean of the school. “Ultimately,
that means nurses can apply the most up-to-date, innovative methods of
care to patients in our community.” The school embarked on an aggressive
research strategic plan in 1999, bolstering its research infrastructure
and resources and emphasizing strong mentoring from its senior faculty.
Since the start of that plan, funding received for research and training
has increased 500%. In October, the school will break ground on a new,
19,500-square-foot education wing and the new Center for Nursing Entrepreneurship,
which will help researchers develop their inventions and market them.
Full story
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