U. Iowa muscular dystrophy discovery may lead to new treatment approaches
Expressing high levels of a sugar-adding protein known as LARGE in mice that lack the protein can prevent muscular dystrophy in these animals, according to studies by researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Furthermore, the research suggests that LARGE protein also can restore normal function to a critical muscle protein that is disrupted by glycos...U Iowa study identifies damaging mechanism in transplants and heart attacks
A University of Iowa study suggests that inhibiting a certain protein involved in inflammation might be of therapeutic benefit in organ transplantation, heart attacks and possibly stroke. The study, led by John Engelhardt, Ph.D., UI professor and interim head of anatomy and cell biology, found that blocking the action of this protein can prevent the tissue damage caused by ischemia/reperfusion in...Researchers develop system to detect biowarfare agents on navy ships
NEW YORK An Ohio State University professor is part of a team that developed a new protocol that the U.S. Navy now uses to detect biowarfare (BW) agents, such as anthrax, aboard its ships. ......"Until mid-2002, the only equipment to detect biological agents that warships had were the sailors themselves," said Michael Boehm, an associate professor of plant pathology at Ohio State and a lieutenan...U. Iowa study adds to understanding of salt-taste
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Saltiness often enhances our enjoyment of certain foods -- think French fries or a Margarita. But salt is an essential nutrient for humans and other animals, and far from being a trivial matter of taste, the ability to detect salt is critical for survival. A University of Iowa study provides insight on how humans and other animals are able to detect salt. The study appears in t...U-Iowa physician suggests possible enzyme deficiency in cystic fibrosis
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Mucus that excessively accumulates in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) may be linked to the deficiency of an enzyme called arylsulfatase B. The deficiency may in turn be linked to the known genetic mutation in CF -- a defect in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene....... The possible connection is proposed by Joanne Tobacman, M.D.,...Patent issued to U-Iowa for mutant chicken pox virus
The University of Iowa Research Foundation has been issued a patent for the first-known mutant chicken pox virus. The initial discovery was made in 1998 by Charles Grose, M.D., UI professor of pediatrics and director of the UI Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and Richard Santos, M.D., Ph.D., a graduate of the UI Medical Scientist Training Program and now a resident in internal medicine...First step towards detecting exposure to biowarfare agents
BALTIMORE March 11, 2003 Army researchers are laying the groundwork for what one day could be a test to identify individuals who have been exposed to biological agents. They present their findings today at the American Society for Microbiology's Biodefense Research Meeting.... ..."Recent events have demonstrated that assessing exposure to a biological threat agent well in advance of onset of i...Iowa City chemist wins national award for drug research
Robert J. Linhardt of Iowa City, Iowa, will be honored March 25 by the world's largest scientific society for his achievements in understanding and improving pharmaceuticals based on carbohydrates, in particular the clot inhibitor heparin. He will receive the 2003 Claude S. Hudson Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry from the American Chemical Society at its national meeting in New Orleans.... ..."Car...U-Iowa scientists gain insight on how enzyme uses oxygen to produce useful chemicals
When it comes to visual entertainment, three-dimensional viewing can be quite eye-opening. So, too, in science where a recent finding involving University of Iowa researchers used three-dimensional imaging to understand how a bacterial enzyme can take oxygen from air and use it to convert certain molecules into useful chemicals....... Specifically, the scientists saw that naphthalene dioxygenase,...NIH funds botanical center in Iowa to study health effects of Echinacea and St. John's wort
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced a 5-year, $6 million grant for the establishment of a research center based in Ames, Iowa to study two botanical dietary supplement ingredients, Echinacea and Hypericum (St. John's wort). Echinacea is reputed to ward of....A SMALL radio-controlled aircraft could soon be monitoring the air for signs of.biological weapons. Fitted with a sensor developed at the Naval Research.Laboratory (NRL) in Washington DC, the craft will venture into possible danger.zones and send back data on any biowar bacteria it detects. . The biosensor was conceived by a team led by Frances Ligler of the NRL..Its development was fun...