An article published by 九游娱乐官网 researchers in a high-impact journal may help to develop more effective drug treatments for one type of invasive breast cancer.
Breast cancer affects nearly 250,000 Americans every year, killing more than 41,000, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some cancer cells are more aggressive and prone to metastasize. A type of cancer called HER2-positive breast cancer is one of them.
HER2-positive breast cancer represents approximately 20 percent of cases. For this type of breast cancer, the gold standard treatment is an anti-HER2 therapy, which includes the use of a drug such as Lapatinib (Tykerb) and Trastuzumab (Herceptin). While anti-HER2 therapy remains popular, one of the biggest concerns is development of drug resistance. Indeed, many of the patients eventually develop resistance to anti-HER2 therapy.
Dr. Manabu Kurokawa, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences in 九游娱乐官网鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, and his research team recently published a paper in Cell Reports, "," which shows how cancer cells develop this resistance and how researchers and oncologists might combat it.
鈥淲e found that when breast cancer cells acquire resistance to HER2 inhibitors, they switch their lipid metabolism and prefer eating fat (lipids) rather than making it,鈥 he said. Compared to normal healthy cells, cancer cells need an excessive amount of lipids, presumably to support fast proliferation, Kurokawa says. It is known that, in general, cancer cells like to produce lipids internally for their own use. 鈥淭here is a channel called CD36 whereby cells can acquire external fat, and during anti-HER2 treatment, breast cancer cells start expressing a lot of CD36, which allows cells to take up more external fat. Interestingly, if you break that mechanism, then they die.鈥
While studying how breast cancer cells develop that resistance, Kurokawa鈥檚 team discovered the cells鈥 increased appetite for external fat. By exposing na茂ve drug-sensitive breast cancer cells to low, but steadily increasing, doses of Lapatinib, the team showed they built a resistance. 鈥淭his method mimics clinical setting where patients take lapatinib daily and develop resistance,鈥 Kurokawa explained.
鈥淭hen when we analyzed any difference in gene expression patterns between drug-sensitive and resistant cells, we saw the genes that regulate lipid metabolism were highly upregulated in the resistant cells,鈥 he said. Up-regulation of CD36 was further validated in breast cancer patients鈥 cohorts as well as in mouse studies.
鈥淭he next question is where does the fat go? In other words, why do cancer cells need exogenous lipids to overcome anti-HER2 therapy? We don鈥檛 know,鈥 he said. 鈥淩esistant cells may be using the fat as an energy source, for example. If that is the case, the next question would be: can we come up with a diet-based strategy to prevent drug resistance?鈥
Ohio, like many states, suffers from a teacher shortage, especially in early childhood education and special education. The Buckeye State also is in need of more school psychologists, analysts say.
It鈥檚 fortunate, then, that the Office of Special Education Programs just awarded a million-dollar grant to two 九游娱乐官网 researchers to train teachers and school psychologists in those fields.
Dr. Ching-I Chen and Dr. Kizzy Albritton, assistant professors in the School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences in 九游娱乐官网鈥檚 College of Education, Health and Human Services, received a five-year, $1.13 million grant for their project, 鈥淚nterdisciplinary Preparation in Early Education Professions (Project INPREP), to train education professionals who can not only fill those gaps, but also collaborate in a way that bridges the gaps between those fields in the schools.鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
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鈥淭his personnel preparation grant is for the Special Education and School Psychology programs to collaborate with each other so we can train our master鈥檚 level students together,鈥 Chen said. 鈥淭he project scholars enrolled under the Special Education program will be individuals who have an existing teaching license in early childhood education or in K-12 special education, and they鈥檙e interested in working in preschool inclusive settings.鈥
After two years, Chen鈥檚 students will receive a master鈥檚 degree in special education as well as an endorsement in preschool special education.
鈥淔or the School Psychology program, we have a three-year master鈥檚/specialist-level program,鈥 Albritton said. 鈥淔or the ensuing years, they鈥檒l be part of the training grant, and in the third year, students in our program go to a full-year paid internship.鈥 That internship is funded through the State of Ohio Department of Education.
Chen and Albritton said many preschool special education teachers often only have a general understanding of school psychologists鈥 roles.
Many preschool special education teachers only know you can use the school psychologist when conducting assessments, and when evaluating whether children are eligible for preschool special education services,鈥 Chen said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know school psychologists are also great resources for providing developmental, academic, and social emotional supports as well. So, when they are in their training period, why not teach them how to work with school psychologists, then when they鈥檙e in the field they鈥檝e had the experience of teaming up, and it鈥檒l be easier transitioning to the real world.
鈥ˋlbritton said both of them have been waiting on an opportunity like this one.
鈥淎 lot of our coursework in the field of school psychology focuses on K-12 populations,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o, as a faculty member and researcher, my goal has been to move the field to focus more on early childhood, because if we鈥檙e going to do early intervention, it doesn鈥檛 get much earlier than preschool.
Chen said the project scholars will work in the classroom at least one day each week with general educators in early childhood education, learning to support all children while also providing individual support for children who need it. They will also work closely with a school psychologist at the preschool level.
Project scholars will take shared courses in consultation models and theories, typical and atypical childhood development, and also interventions for culturally diverse students. They will also complete action research projects with a collaborating field professional and a focus child, which will enhance their practicum experiences.
Kent state will work with the on the project.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been great partners,鈥 Albritton said. 鈥淥ur students have completed internships and practicum with them before. We chose them for that reason, and because they also provide preschool services for about 10 school districts. So, with that, hopefully the project scholars will be able to see a wide range of different settings.鈥濃嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
Traumatic injuries are the third leading cause of death nationally and the first in Americans age 44 and younger, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Level I trauma rooms are intended to stabilize and save the lives of patients with the most severe traumatic injuries. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has awarded a $2.47 million grant to Sara Bayramzadeh, a 九游娱乐官网 researcher, to help create trauma rooms that support staff in saving patients鈥 lives.
A new federal grant will help 九游娱乐官网 expand an international relationship and provide invaluable opportunities for some graduate students.
The (NSF) recently awarded 九游娱乐官网 a three-year $298,000 International Research Experience for Students (IRES) grant that will allow graduate students to travel to in Japan to study primates and human evolution at the world-renowned .
The IRES grant is under the direction of Dr. Anthony Tosi, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, along with his colleagues in the department, Dr. Richard Meindl, professor and graduate coordinator; Dr. Owen Lovejoy, distinguished professor; and Dr. Mary Ann Raghanti, professor and chair.
鈥淭he theme here is that we鈥檙e using non-human primates as models for human evolutionary history,鈥 Tosi said. 鈥淯nder this umbrella, we鈥檝e allowed for several smaller projects, yet to be created, to be done by 18 graduate students 鈥 six students each summer for the next three years.鈥濃嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌嬧赌
Tosi said the students will come from anthropology and biological sciences, and they will conduct studies focused on morphology, genetics, neuroscience, and primate behavior.鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
鈥淚deally, these might be master's and doctoral students, who would plug this in as a chapter in their final project, as one component that will somehow dovetail with what they already do,鈥 Raghanti said.鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧
There are two cycles most people can鈥檛 avoid 鈥 sleep and the news. And If you鈥檙e awake, you can鈥檛 help hearing the news reporting about cannabinoids. A 九游娱乐官网 researcher may soon have news about how these substances affect our body鈥檚 natural clock.
