A.
Protein Fragments Provide Clues to Alzheimer's Disease
Narrator:
This
is Science Today. It's been known for some time
that abnormal proteins are responsible for Alzheimer's
disease, but scientists didn't quite know how. Now,
a University of California, San Francisco study
may provide some clues as to how abnormal proteins
are generated. According Yadong Huang, who led the
study, the key is the cleavage, or spitting, of
a specific protein known as apoE4 into toxic fragments
that accumulate in the brain.
Huang:
ApoE4 may not be a problem for the patient,
however when apoE4 gets cleaved in neurons, some
fragments of apoE may be toxic.
Narrator:
Huang believes that the enzyme responsible for
cutting apoE may be the culprit, so finding a way
to control the activity of this enzyme may be the
key to future Alzheimer's treatments.
Huang:
If we can design an inhibitor that can block or
inhibit this enzyme activity, we may protect E4
from cleavage, which may protect E4's detrimental
effect in neurodegeneration.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A New Generation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Narrator:
This
is Science Today. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or
MRI, is a powerful imaging tool that allows doctors
to see inside the human body, but the size of what
can be seen is limited. Now researchers at the University
of California have developed a new generation of
MRI, called remote detection, which improves the
sensitivity of traditional MRI. Alexander Pines,
a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, says the process works because it uses
xenon gas to encode or "remember" the
molecules it comes into contact with - even after
the gas is removed.
Pines:
We use a noble gas, typically xenon in our case
that goes into the object or subject and acts as
a kind of spy of the surroundings. You can pull
out that noble gas, detect is subsequently with
very sensitive detectors and reconstruct the image.
Because of the enhanced sensitivity afforded by
this remote detection, one can imagine going down
to very small objects or subjects or very dilute
concentrations.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
An Analysis Tool Gives Researchers New Insight into
Ozone
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new way to measure the
amount of stratospheric ozone present in the upper
troposphere has been developed by scientists at
the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Physicist
Cyndi Atherton of the Atmospheric Sciences Division
explains that the stratosphere is where the ozone
hole is and the troposphere is the lowest layer
of Earth's atmosphere, where ozone is a pollutant
and greenhouse gas.
Atherton:
So the two layers are very different in terms
of how ozone is formed and what the role in the
ozone is. Our group has a global model, so it's
three-dimensional and it goes all the way up to
the troposphere and the stratosphere, which is very
important. In the past, people only modeled either
the troposphere or the stratosphere and the other
one was just pretty boundary condition, the computers
just couldn't support it, but now we can.
Narrator:
This gives researchers a way to realistically
look at how much ozone is being formed from pollution
in the troposphere versus how much is coming from
the stratosphere.
Atherton:
So it gives us an idea of how effective controls
of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides can be in controlling
ozone.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Statins and Aspirin May Protect Against Severe Vision
Loss in the Elderly
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Aspirin and a group of
cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins may
help prevent age related macular degeneration, or
AMD, a common disease in the elderly that can lead
to blindness. Ophthalmologist Jacque Duncan of the
University of California, San Francisco says the
benefits of both medications may be due to their
anti-inflammatory effects.
Duncan:
They actually have a large number of anti-inflammatory
properties as well as anti-oxidant properties. As
more is being found out about age related macular
degeneration people are recognizing it also probably
has a significant inflammatory component and one
of the only treatments that has been shown to be
effective has been supplementation with anti-oxidants.
Narrator:
Duncan found that drugs with anti-inflammatory properties
seem to be an effective therapy for a severe form
of the disease called wet AMD, which is caused by
abnormal blood vessel growth.
Duncan:
We found that patients who had been treated
with statins or aspirin had a lower rate of developing
new blood vessels than those who had not been treated
with either of those medications.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
An Increased Interest in Animal Shelter Medicine
Programs
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A groundbreaking shelter
medicine program at the University of California,
Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine strives to
improve the care of cats and dogs in animal shelters.
Kate Hurley, who directs Maddie's Shelter Medicine
Program, which was established in the year 2000,
says before this program, veterinary medicine didn't
have a field that specifically focused on or taught
how to care for animals in shelters.
Hurley:
In terms of shelter medicine, that field includes
obviously infectious disease, control, with an emphasis
on prevention. So, how do you use vaccination? How
do you clean? What's the best nutritional program
to prevent disease? We and other researchers at
UC Davis are investigating a lot of those areas
right now.
Narrator:
This is the first program of its kind and it
was the first to offer residency training for graduate
veterinarians and to have a shelter-focused research
program.
Hurley:
So there's been an enormous increase and interest
in shelter medicine in the last, probably five years,
but especially I think since this program started.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
