News Releases

Researchers led by Phong Tran were able to force normally rod-shaped yeast cells to grow within tiny curved channels. Using the channels, they made rod-shaped cells deform into curved-shaped mutant cells and conversely, curved-shaped cells straighten out into a rod. The surprising finding: as the cells bend, they reorganize their cytoskeleton, and as they reorganize their internal skeletons, the cells further adjust their shape.

Michael P. Nusbaum, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will receive over $2.7 million over the next seven years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to understand how a fundamental aspect of molecular signaling in the nervous system, called neuromodulation, modifies sensory-motor integration to enable a single neural network to generate the appropriate coordinated movement in different contexts.

Blending the comforts of home with first-class end-of-life care, Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse, a division of Wissahickon Hospice and part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, will open its doors for terminally ill patients this week in Center City Philadelphia. The first inpatient hospice of its kind in the area, the facility offers 12 large, private rooms, a spa center, meditation area and panoramic views of the city. Patients will receive exemplary care from a specialized team of physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors and chaplains to manage pain symptoms and other physical, emotional and spiritual needs unique to patients in their final days. Families will be able to spend time with their loved ones 24 hours a day, and will have access to a family lounge with wireless internet, a dining room with full kitchen as well as respite and bereavement support.

Results of a new study call into question recent clinical guidelines issued by leading cardiovascular groups, including the American Heart Association, which recommend patients with cardiovascular disease be screened for signs of depression and treated accordingly. The study, published in the November 12 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association and conducted by an international team of researchers including James Coyne, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, determined that there is no clear evidence that depression screening plays a conclusive role in improving cardiovascular patients' health.

A novel protein marker has been found that identifies rare adult liver stem cells, whose ability to regenerate injured liver tissue has the potential for cell-replacement therapy. For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine led by Linda Greenbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, have demonstrated that cells expressing the marker can differentiate into both liver cells and cells that line the bile duct.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues in the United Kingdom have engineered T cells able to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system. The findings of the study, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications for developing new treatments for HIV, especially for patients with chronic infection who fail to respond to antiretroviral regimens.

A research team led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has used state-of-the-art genetic technology to map thousands of positions where a molecular "master regulator" of fat-cell biology is nestled in DNA to control genes in these cells. The findings appear online this week in Genes & Development.

For the growing number of teens addicted to opiates (i.e. heroin or prescription pain-relief drugs), short-term detoxification and/or psychosocial treatment programs are commonly recommended, despite high relapse rates and limited success. Researchers have found a more effective treatment method that targets the physiological aspects of opioid addiction, which may reduce the toll drug abuse takes on individuals, families, and communities.

New research reveals a complicated interplay between two receptors on the surface of B cells that allows them to integrate their signals, which are at odds with one another. 'One receptor sends signals to the cell nucleus that says, 'yes stay alive, the body needs more B cells,' while the other says 'wait a minute, be careful which B cells are allowed to live.''

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the expression of the Sonic hedgehog gene is regulated during brain development and how mutations that alter this process cause brain malformations. The results appear online this month in Nature Genetics.