Massive new research effort will map inner workings of cells - San Francisco VA Medical Center chosen to host core ...( ill culture the cells and stimulate the...)

ill culture the cells and stimulate them with various molecules that are known to activate cells. They will then observe which among the thousands of signaling molecules are turned on or off over time, and how these molecules interact. They will compare these to more general responses of the cells, such as the beating of heart muscle cells, and migration of B lymphocytes towards a chemical signal. Researchers will then attempt to shut off, or knockout, certain key signaling genes, and observe the effect on signaling patterns, and on the cellular responses.

The first major challenge for the VAMC lab, said Simpson, will be to figure out how to make newly harvested cells grow in a culture dish. Heart muscle cells are especially problematic, he said, since it is difficult to keep them alive and healthy in culture for longer than 24 hours. "We need to learn how to make these cells happy long enough so that we can study their cell signaling properties," he said.

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Contact: Kevin Boyd
kboyd@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-8429
University of California - San Francisco
17-Sep-2000

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