stem cells

Translating Genetic Findings Into Dementia Treatments

Tracing the Path From Bench to Bedside

brain behind DNA molecule

When IRP graduate student Pilar Alvarez Jerez looked at the results of a recent experiment, she noticed that when a particular genetic variant is present in a gene called GBA1, it causes a change in the gene's activity. The GBA1 variant, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, was discovered last year in people of African ancestry by researchers at NIH’s Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias (CARD). It appears to suppress the gene’s ability to make a functional version of an enzyme that helps brain cells recycle their proteins.

“This was an interesting finding, but it still didn’t answer how the variant was functioning to lower enzyme activity,” Pilar says.

Creating Building Blocks for Muscle Regeneration

IRP Study Points to Strategy to Speed Healing and Reduce Age-Related Atrophy

human musculature

Whether due to exercise or injury, our muscles are constantly breaking down and regenerating. Just like construction workers need a hearty lunch to fuel their hammer swings and nails to hammer, our cells need both energy and specific materials to rebuild our bodies. New IRP research has produced important insights into how cells create the energy and building blocks needed to repair our muscles, pointing to potential avenues for helping people recover from muscular injuries or retain more muscle as they age.

Bone Marrow Cells Reveal Secret Weapon to Battle Bacteria

Research Could Lead to Cell-Based Therapies for Infections and Autoimmune Reactions

bacterial colonies growing in a petri dish

One thing many scientists love about their job is that the topic they study can still surprise them even after decades of research. IRP senior investigator Eva Mezey, M.D., Ph.D., for instance, has spent the last 20 years investigating a particular set of cells in the bone marrow, yet until now she had never uncovered one of their most intriguing tricks. In a recent study, her IRP team and its collaborators discovered that those cells make a substance that can fight infections and tame hyper-active immune responses.

Crucial Protein Reins in Overzealous Bone Growth

IRP Study Answers Key Questions About Bone Development and Healing

man with fractured foot

The idea that there can be “too much of a good thing” applies just as much to the human body as it does to an overly sweet dessert or excessive holiday decorations. For instance, you might think that rapid bone growth would be helpful for fixing fractures, but it can actually make bones weaker in the long run. A recent IRP study revealed how a certain molecule manages the way bones develop in a growing fetus and heal after damage to make sure they don’t trade strength for speed.

The Boon of Blood

A Look Inside NIH’s Department of Transfusion Medicine

a patient receiving blood during a surgery

The essential role of blood in our bodies has been recognized as far back as the time of ancient Greece, when the Greek physician Hippocrates included it in his list of four ‘humors’ that influence our health and emotions. Since then, scientists have vastly expanded our understanding of the dark red liquid running through our veins and arteries. Nowadays, researchers and technicians like those in NIH’s Department of Transfusion Medicine (DTM) can not only safely remove blood from one person and transfuse it into another, but they can also transform it into incredible forms of therapy.

Treatment Corrects Consequences of Accelerated Cellular Aging

Mouse Study Demonstrates Promise of New Therapy for Rare Genetic Conditions

time warp

If you ask a scientist how old you are, you may be surprised to get a different answer depending on who you’re talking to. That’s because age can be measured both ‘chronologically’ — in terms of time — and at a cellular level. Indeed, certain genetic mutations cause cells to age faster, leading to a host of health problems. Fortunately, a recent IRP study performed in mice suggests that boosting levels of a specific molecule could help alleviate some of those patients’ symptoms.

Symposium Celebrates Award-Winning Female Scientists

Three Young Women Honored at Annual Event

Dr. Brittany Lord

There’s no doubt that science flourishes when it welcomes individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives. In pursuit of that goal, NIH has put considerable effort into closing the gender gap in the biomedical sciences, a field in which men significantly outnumber women, especially as the heads of labs and in leadership positions. Those efforts have so far yielded promising progress, with the proportion of women in IRP senior investigator positions increasing from 22 percent at the end of fiscal year 2016 to 27 percent at the end of fiscal year 2022. Over that same time period, women went from comprising 38 percent of IRP tenure-track investigators to 44 percent.

Part of what makes the IRP a welcoming place for female scientists is the NIH Women Scientists Advisors (WSA), a group of IRP scientists elected to represent the interests of women in the IRP. Once per year, the WSA selects a few female postdoctoral fellows or graduate students conducting research at NIH as WSA Scholars. At a symposium on April 13 honoring the achievements of this year’s Scholars, the awardees presented their efforts to learn more about a devastating childhood neurological condition, decrease health disparities in breast cancer, and use stem cells to investigate the roots of a nerve-destroying disorder. Read on to learn more about this year’s WSA Scholars and the important work they’re doing in their IRP labs.

Taming Unruly Stem Cells to Enhance Eye Research

Widely Available Molecule Could Aid Development of Therapies for Blinding Diseases

eye

As scientists inch closer to growing fully functioning organs outside the body, it’s easy to forget that it’s already possible to grow miniature, simplified versions of some organs in the lab. These ‘organoids’ are an extremely useful research tool, but producing them can be tricky. New IRP research could make it much easier to grow organoids that mimic the eye’s retina, thereby accelerating discoveries about a variety of vision-impairing diseases.

Pain Research Center Accelerates IRP Pain Studies

Dedicated Staff and Cutting-Edge Technology Helps Solve Pain’s Many Mysteries

collage of researchers working with volunteers

For such a common ailment, pain remains a significant mystery. Part of the challenge of studying it is that it occurs in so many conditions and can vary from a mild ache to life-altering misery. Fortunately for both pain patients and IRP researchers studying pain, the NIH Pain Research Center has the technology and expertise to power new discoveries about pain in its many, complex forms.

On March 31 and April 1, NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) hosted a two-day virtual symposium titled “Tackling Pain at the National Institutes of Health: Updates From the Bench, the Clinic, and the New NIH Pain Research Center,” which featured presentations from a number of IRP scientists exploring important questions related to pain. Read on to learn more about some of the research discussed during that event, including efforts examining pain in patients with rare diseases, early-phase clinical trials of a new pain treatment, and investigations of how psychological factors can affect the way people experience pain.

Older Cells Make for Riskier Transplants

Examining Molecular Markers of Aging Could Improve Patient Outcomes

old clock

In 2003, 92-year-old Fauja Singh ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in slightly under six hours, a feat that many people decades younger could not accomplish. Such examples reveal the problems with making assumptions about a person’s health based solely on age. Similarly, new IRP research suggests that assessing cellular characteristics associated with aging, rather than a person’s chronologic age in years, could improve outcomes for the more than 20,000 patients who receive bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants each year.