NEW HOPE FOR VICTIMS OF SPINAL CORD INJURY
March
6, 2008
MADISON – Victims
of spinal cord injury who’ve been forced to rely
on mechanical assistance to breathe may “breathe
easier,” so to speak, if progress continues on
development of drugs that encourage their body to compensate
and minimize the extent of paralysis.
For
years, Dr. Gordon Mitchell, a professor of comparative
biosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School
of Veterinary Medicine, has studied respiratory plasticity,
or the body’s ability to adapt breathing so that
it remains adequate despite challenges throughout life. Now,
his laboratory’s latest development holds promise
for individuals whose breathing control is impaired.
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more]
$7.2
MILLION GRANT TO AID SEARCH FOR ALS STEM CELL THERAPY
Sept.
20, 2007
MADISON - With
the help of a $7.2 million grant from the National Institutes
of Health (NIH),
a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers
will explore the potential of stem cells and natural
growth factors to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's
disease.
The grant, to be awarded over five years, will fund
research aimed at finding novel therapies for treating
a debilitating and nearly always fatal condition caused
by the withering of motor neurons, the brain cells that
control the body's muscles.
"This
is a great opportunity," says Clive Svendsen,
who will direct the project along with UW-Madison neuroscientists Su-Chun Zhang and Gordon S. Mitchell. "There
is a lot of synergy between our groups which provide
for a lot of overlap that we think will help us get at
some of the key issues of ALS." [read
more]
RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY KEY PLAYER IN
RESPIRATORY MEMORY
MADISON
- By studying the "memory" of the respiratory
system, a group of researchers from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison has identified a key player -
a protein called BDNF that's involved in learning -
responsible for the body's ability to keep breathing
properly, despite the challenges it may face.
The
findings, published Dec. 14 in the online edition
of Nature Neuroscience, could provide ideas of new
drug targets, which could lead to new treatments for
or ways to prevent a number of potentially fatal breathing
disorders, including sleep apnea, sudden infant death
syndrome and some related to spinal cord injuries,
according to the researchers.
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SVM
GARNERS CHRISTOPHER REEVE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION GRANT
MADISON
- Two researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
School of Veterinary Medicine have picked up nearly
one-half million dollars in research funding from the
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF).
David
D. Fuller and Francis John Golder are two of only
15 neuroscientists nationally to receive funding from
the CRPF for the 2003 grant cycle. They are studying
spinal cord injury in the laboratory of Gordon S.
Mitchell, professor and chair in the Department of
Comparative Biosciences.
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ADULT
BREATHING PROBLEMS MAY HAVE CHILDHOOD CAUSE
MADISON
- According to the National Institutes of Health, as
many as 18 million Americans stop breathing for 10
seconds or more during the night. Sensors in the blood,
known as carotid body chemoreceptors, react to the
lack of oxygen by rousing the body to breathe. But
what happens if the sensors stop working?
Professor
Gordon Mitchell and Postdoctoral Fellow Ryan Bavis
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary
Medicine believe defective carotid body chemoreceptors
may help to unravel the mysteries of Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome (SIDS) and sleep apnea.
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