[universal flu vaccine]
Saint Louis University’s Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit has been selected as the only site to test a universal flu vaccine in human trials. Funded by a $1.1 million federal contract, the study will focus on providing protection against all strains of influenza A viruses for multiple years without the need for annual vaccine strain changes. Influenza A is the type of flu that can develop into a pandemic because it affects both birds and humans and can quickly mutate as it jumps from one species to the next. People have no built-in immunity against the disease, and preparing a targeted vaccine could take months, allowing the virus to spread quickly. The SLU unit is one of nine elite institutions selected in 2013 by the NIH to study vaccines of the future; Dr. Daniel Hoft is the principal investigator.
[alzheimer’s & blood sugar]
Elevated glucose in the blood can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, a key component of brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients. “ Our results suggest that diabetes, or other conditions that make it hard to control blood sugar levels, can have harmful effects on brain function and exacerbate neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease,” says lead author Shannon Macauley, Ph.D., of Washington University. The research, done in the lab of Dr. David M. Holtzman, head of the Department of Neurology, was published May 4 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Conducted on mice, glucose was infused into the bloodstream to induce Alzheimer’s-like conditions. In young mice without amyloid plaques, doubling the glucose levels in the blood increased amyloid beta levels by 20 percent; in older mice that already had brain plaques, amyloid beta levels rose by 40 percent.
[carrot or stick?]
In a Washington University study to determine whether positive incentives or negative consequences are more effective in influencing behavior, researchers found the latter to be more effective. The study, performed in collaboration with Richard A. Abrams, Ph.D., professor of psychology, may help answer the question, Would students learn better if their teachers rewarded correct answers or pointed out incorrect ones? The research, published online in the journal Cognition, indicated that it might be more effective to deduct points for incorrect answers than to proffer rewards for correct ones. “From an evolutionary perspective, people tend to avoid punishments or dangerous situations. Rewards, on the other hand, have less of a life-threatening impact,” says lead author Jan Kubanek, Ph.D. “The question of how rewards and punishments influence behavior has occupied psychologists for over 100 years,” adds Abrams.
[blood-brain barrier]
Researchers at Washington University have found that interferon-lambda tightens the blood-brain barrier, making it harder for the West Nile virus to invade the brain. The ramifications of being able to affect the opening and closing of the barrier could be far-reaching. The blood-brain barrier is a natural defense system meant to keep pathogens out of the brain, and interferon-lambda is produced naturally in the body in response to infection. But the new research suggests that larger amounts of the antiviral compound may provide better protection against pathogens and even faulty immune cells that can attack the brain and cause conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Conversely, by blocking interferon-lambda receptors in the brain, it might also be possible to open the barrier to chemotherapies for treating specific diseases like tumors. Such tumors are currently difficult to treat because drugs cannot cross the bood-brain barrier. “This suggests the possibility of multiple new applications,” says co-senior author Dr. Robyn Klein, professor of medicine. The other senior author is Dr. Michael Diamond, and the findings are available online in Science Translational Medicine.