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Winter 2011 | 1
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2 | Wellcome NEWS
24 The neuron
CoNTENTS
Wellcome NEWS
Telling the stories of the Wellcome Trusts work Editor Chrissie Giles Assistant Editor Tom Freeman Writers Chrissie Giles, Lydia Harriss Design Marianne Dear Photography David Sayer Publisher Hugh Blackbourn Contributor: Neuron illustration and Prof. Clare Williams illustration Bret Syfert Ideas, comments, suggestions? Get in touch: Wellcome News Wellcome Trust Gibbs Building 215 Euston Road London NW1 2BE E wellcome.news@wellcome.ac.uk www.wellcome.ac.uk/wellcomenews To subscribe: T +44 (0)20 7611 8651 E publishing@wellcome.ac.uk www.wellcome.ac.uk/subscribe All images, unless otherwise stated, are from the Wellcome Library. You can get copies through Wellcome Images (images.wellcome.ac.uk). Wellcome Trust We are a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests. www.wellcome.ac.uk This is an open access publication and, with the exception of images and illustrations, the content may, unless otherwise stated, be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium, subject to the following constraints: content must be reproduced accurately; content must not be used in a misleading context; the Wellcome Trust must be attributed as the original author and the title of the document specified in the attribution. The views and opinions expressed by writers within Wellcome News do not necessarily reflect those of the Wellcome Trust or Editor. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. ISSN 1356-9112. First published by the Wellcome Trust, 2011. Wellcome News is the Wellcome Trust and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK. The Wellcome Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales, no. 210183. Its sole trustee is The Wellcome Trust Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, no. 2711000 (whose registered office is at 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK).
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Good communication underpins good science. From informal chats over coffee to presentations at conferences, from email exchanges to long-term collaborations, scientists are constantly sharing ideas and information. At the heart of scientific communication are the formal peerreviewed articles published in academic journals. There is no doubting their fundamental importance but there are questions over how the publication process works. With all the potential that new technology brings, we must be sure that researchers can communicate their findings in the most reliable and accessible ways that, above all, serve the needs of the scientific community. With this in mind, the Wellcome Trust, the Max Planck Society and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will launch a new top-tier journal next year. online, open-access and peer-reviewed, it will have a senior editorial team made up exclusively of active scientists. We believe this will allow them to select truly outstanding, challenging and innovative research for rapid publication. It is an exciting proposition: scientific publishing by scientists, for scientists. Just as vital is good science communication beyond the research community. Two Wellcome Trust competitions celebrate and encourage science writing in particular, and we recently announced this years winners. The Wellcome Trust Book Prize recognises the eternal fascination that medical issues hold for great writers and their readers alike. My thanks to our esteemed judges for reading dozens of excellent books, whittling them down to a shortlist of six before deciding the winner Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante. I did my own share of judging this year for the inaugural Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, run in association with the Guardian and Observer newspapers. We received an overwhelming 800 entries. To have received so many in the competitions first year is testimony to societys deep interest in science and to the desire of ever more scientists to communicate their work to the public. You can read the winning entries on page 26 and if you think you could do better, we look forward to reading your entry next year.
Cover: Artwork showing various neglected tropical diseases. See page 14.
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Journal update
Dr Mark Patterson, Director of Publishing at the Public Library of Science, has been named Managing Executive Editor of a new openaccess research journal being launched next year. The Deputy Editors are Professors Fiona Watt and Drtlef Weigel. The journal, eLife, is being supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Max Planck Society.
Illustrating illness
Bobby Bakers graphic autobiography, Diary Drawings: Mental illness and me, has been named Book of the Year by the mental health charity Mind. Aiming to create a new painting every day, for over a decade she chronicled her journey through severe mental and physical illness to recovery. The artworks featured in the book were exhibited at Wellcome Collection in 2009. Diary Drawings was published by Profile Books in conjunction with the Wellcome Trust in 2010.
of History Joanna Bourke, author Tim Lott and Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of the Times.
breakers of 18th-century England and Wales, over dinner and wine. Alternatively, there is an opportunity to walk off the excesses of the holidays with medical historian Richard Barnett, on one of his Medical London walks. These continue on 8 January with Gallows, Ghosts and Golden Boys. Find out more at www.wellcomecollection.org
Liverpools World Museum. Students from both countries sent questions to scientists working in Malawi, who have answered them on film. The results are being presented at a celebration evening for students and parents in Liverpool in mid-December. Events involving other Wellcome Trust Centres are taking place in Dundee, London, Manchester, Cambridgeshire, Edinburgh and Bristol. Find out more at wellc.me/oR3VOy.
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fUNDING NEWS
African award
Dr Julie Makani has received the Royal Society Pfizer Award for making an innovative contribution to biological sciences in Africa. Dr Makani, who is a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine working in Tanzania, has found evidence that morbidity and mortality in sickle-cell disease in the country is commonly caused by anaemia, and has developed a framework to conduct clinical trials of potential treatments. The award consists of a 60 000 grant for research and a 5000 personal prize.
together the Royal Societys university Research Fellowships and the Trusts Research Career Development Fellowships into one new scheme will provide research support for up to eight years. The first awards will be made in June 2012. For more, see wellc.me/ta8z6Z.
Infectious wins
Professors Bob Snow and David Mabey have been awarded the George Macdonald Medal for research leading to health improvements in tropical countries. A Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow who works at the KEMRIWellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, Prof. Snow has developed an extensive programme to tackle the public health burden of malaria in Africa. Prof. Mabey works at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; his achievements include demonstrating that HIV transmission can be reduced by improving the management of other sexually transmitted infections.
Developmental prize
Professor Chittaranjan Yajnik has won the David Barker Medal for his contribution to understanding how early human development relates to chronic disease in later life. His research has highlighted numerous risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Prof. Yajnik, supported by the Wellcome Trust for over 20 years, is Director of the King Edward Memorial Hospital Diabetes Unit and Research Centre in India.
15 Investigators is Professor Derek Jones (left) from Cardiff university, who will use his New Investigator Award to focus on the development and application of tractometry. This is a non-invasive imaging approach used to obtain detailed information about the microstructure of white matter, the connections that carry information between different parts of the brain. Prof. Jones believes that this approach will be instrumental in advancing our understanding of the brain in health, development and disease. At the university of Edinburgh, Prof. Rose Zamoyska has been made a Senior Investigator. She will explore the mechanisms that regulate T cells, an important component of the immune system, including understanding what goes wrong with this regulation in autoimmune conditions, in which T cells attack healthy cells. We consider applications for Investigator Awards in biomedical science four times a year. The next deadline is 16 December 2011. For more, see wellc.me/rqxQyd.
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Wellcome Library
Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world
Louis Pasteur Keep up to date with worldwide biomedical science policy through our free weekly newsletter Science Policy in the News (Spin). Sign up to receive Spin straight to your inbox and access our free, searchable archive dating back to 1992. www.wellcome.ac.uk/spin/wn
Diagrams of a bronchus (left) and the heart (right). Miles Kelly Art Library/Wellcome Images
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RESEARCh NEWS
Mouse mutations
An international team led by researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Oxford have catalogued over 56 million genetic differences among 17 strains of mice. Having such information available should help reduce the number of mice bred for experiments and should also help research in the field progress faster.
Keane TM et al. Nature 2011;477:28994. Yalcin B et al. Nature 2011:477:3269.
Diagnosing cancer
Researchers at the University of Liverpool and Newcastle University have identified the most accurate test yet for diagnosing human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancers: a combination of testing for the p16 gene and quantitative PCR (used to determine levels of viral DNA). They hope that a combination test will become the diagnostic standard and have immediate clinical impact.
Schache AG et al. Clin Cancer Res 2011;17(19):626271.
participants believed that they had a good memory. PCS reductions have been reported in previous studies of schizophrenia; Dr Jon Simons, who led this latest research, argues that these findings are consistent with the idea that this structural variability might directly influence the functional capacity of surrounding brain areas and the cognitive abilities that they support.
Buda M et al. A specific brain structural basis for individual differences in reality monitoring. J Neurosci 2011;31(40):1430813.
Kinky findings
The kink turn is a widespread structural motif in RNA that is involved in many RNA functions, including translation, RNA processing and genetic regulation. The kinked shape can be stabilised by metal ions or protein binding, and now researchers from the University of Dundee have found a third way of stabilisation: by interactions within a larger RNA structure. The results suggest that the combined influences of specific protein binding and these so-called tertiary interactions could be very important during the biogenesis of structures such as the ribosome.
Schroeder KT et al. Structure 2011;19(9):123340.
preventing BET and MLL from attaching to chromatin and activating the leukaemia genes. Treatment of leukaemia in mice and human cancer cells in the lab showed that the chemical could halt the disease, paving the way for its use in human trials. Senior author and inaugural WellcomeBeit Prize Fellow Dr Mark Dawson said: This is an exciting study with wider implications for cancer treatment, as it highlights the importance of understanding how proteins mutated in cancer alter the chromatin landscape to initiate and drive cancer.
Dawson MA et al. Inhibition of BET recruitment to chromatin as an effective treatment for MLL-fusion leukaemia. Nature 2011 2 Oct [epub].
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Wellcome Library
that occurs in damaged tissues and identified the cellular mechanisms responsible for activating repair. Cell migration during tissue repair requires the turnover of cellular adhesions [repeated sticking and unsticking of cells], and the challenge
has been to determine how cells detect damage and modify their adhesive properties accordingly, says lead author Dr Mark Bass. By measuring the atomic force required to detach a cell, the researchers showed how a protein, syndecan-4, triggers the uptake and redeployment of adhesive molecules. This novel sequence of signals enables fibroblasts and other cells, which help a wound to contract and heal, respond to changes in tissue structure and migrate along the matrix fibres that make up the skin. By moving directly towards a long-range damage signal, cells arrive at a wound far quicker than if they searched for it randomly. The researchers hope this work will help find new ways to improve wound healing.
Bass MD et al. A syndecan-4 hair trigger initiates wound healing through caveolin- and RhoG-regulated integrin endocytosis. Dev Cell 2011 23 Oct [epub].
Left: Blood clot on a plaster. Anne Weston, LRI, CRUK/ Wellcome Images
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CAREERS
We are a committed funder of translational R&D. We work with world-class investigators in academic institutions and companies alike, in pursuit of solutions for unmet medical needs.
We fund medical innovations in the following areas: therapeutics diagnostics enabling technology regenerative medicine vaccines medical devices. Forthcoming deadlines for Translation Award preliminary applications: 6 January 2012 20 July 2012.
www.wellcome.ac.uk/ta
oPINIoN
www.wikipedia.org
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he big three infectious diseases in global health are the all too familiar: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Less well known are a host of other infections endemic across the world. Caused by a motley variety of parasites, viruses and bacteria, these diseases are a serious problem in lowand middle-income countries, causing long-term disability and disadvantage. They are diseases of poverty, affecting the worlds poorest nations and trapping their people in a cycle of economic stagnation, but they do not receive anything like the attention or funding given to work on the big three. In the past five years or so, however, more focus has begun to fall on these other diseases. Years of neglect are being overturned by a campaign led predominantly by scientists and centred on a new name: neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs. The phrase was part of a drive to think about these diseases in a fresh light, says Professor Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington, DC and Editor-in-Chief
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of the journal PLoS NTDs. After the launch of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, a lot of attention fell on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Goal 6 called for action on those three and other diseases. It led to a lot going on in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, but those of us working on the other diseases felt we were on the outside looking in. We were driven to think afresh, to rebrand these conditions. His research is on vaccines for human hookworm infection and other parasitic worms. As with many NTDs, they are not lethal in themselves but infections can last for decades, impairing childrens growth, development and physical fitness and causing severe anaemia during pregnancy, which leads to low birth weight and increased infant and maternal mortality. The most common neglected tropical diseases have high morbidity and low mortality, explains Hotez. They are causes of poverty through their effects on children, pregnant women and workers. From descriptions in ancient texts, we know these diseases
have been around for ever. They are the opposite of emerging diseases. That is one reason why NTDs have been neglected. If they were unknown, emerging diseases, governments and international organisations would undoubtedly have demanded action and targeted funding for research. We are more scared of emerging diseases, Hotez suggests, but NTDs do more harm overall.
Definitions of neglect
Neglected tropical diseases is not a precisely defined term. Not all NTDs are exclusively tropical, for instance, and the nature of neglect varies. Sometimes neglect comes from the communities in which these diseases are found: lymphatic filariasis, for example, causes severe disfigurement and massively swollen limbs, which can lead to prejudice and stigma. In other cases, neglect is from the rest of the world, for which diseases such as schistosomiasis and dracunculiasis are entirely unfamiliar and infections such as cholera and leprosy are chapters from history rather than pressing medical problems.
Research funders tended to focus on emerging infections. The pharma industry cut programmes because there wasnt a profitable market.
time, the prevalence of schistosomiasis there fell from 20 per cent to less than 5 per cent. He knew it was possible to reduce the burden of the disease until it was no longer a public health issue; his problem was in finding the support to apply this knowledge in other countries. Fenwick was awarded $30m to work with African countries to introduce national programmes to control schistosomiasis. The first treatment began in uganda in 2003 and after one year, the intensity of schistosome infection had fallen by 70 per cent. Disease control is an ongoing challenge, however: If we stop treating, he says, I fear that within five years it will come back again. The SCI has supported or is currently working in 12 African countries and is still expanding coverage. More than 100m people have been treated at least once. Moreover, it treated for three parasitic worm infections at the same time, in effect tackling four NTDs with one integrated programme. NTDs tend to cluster in rural areas, where any one person can be infected with several NTDs at the same time. Integrating programmes of mass drug administration increases their costeffectiveness and is more attractive to potential funders. Integration is made possible in part through initiatives such as the Global Network for NTDs, founded in 2005 by a group
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It doesnt help that the available information is not always reliable. NTDs are more common in regions of extreme poverty or conflict not situations that lend themselves to effective epidemiological monitoring Research into NTDs has been neglected too. In the late 20th century, research funders tended to focus on emerging infections and diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry cut programmes on parasitic infections because there wasnt a profitable market to invest in Frustratingly for those who did know about NTDs, effective drugs were available for a small number of infections but they were not being widely used. Even when drug companies began donating these drugs or supplying them at very low cost for use in low-income countries, programmes to implement mass drug administration struggled to find sustained funding Professor Alan Fenwick, Director of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) at Imperial College London, worked in Egypt for 15 years. In that
Proof of principle
Many organisations are interested in supporting research; some, like the Wellcome Trust, are mandated to only fund research, says Fenwick. But this left schistosomiasis and others in limbo: most of the research had been done. We had the tools which, if implemented properly, could help some 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2002, he approached the newly established Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and suggested they buy and distribute praziquantel, an effective schistosomiasis drug treatment, in countries where the disease was endemic. They agreed to allow me to test the proof of principle: Will these countries implement control if given access to drugs and funding?
How can you achieve primary education for all if the kids are full of worms? If they have no energy so that even if they go to school they fall asleep?
of researchers, including Hotez and Fenwick, with an interest in global policy efforts to combine such programmes as they grew in scale.
the equation from the pharma perspective is low cost of goods, he adds. Expensive drugs are good for the odd safari but too costly for the local population. People often cant afford the treatment, so they dont complete the course and this drives resistance. The challenge is to develop cheaper and safer drugs. The Dundee unit works on the best potential targets wherever they come from, making concepts viable for further development in animal models. Fairlamb says they are always looking for scientists with a promising target but who dont have either the know-how or the infrastructure to do drug discovery. our vision is to take excellent basic science and turn it into useful medical products, he says. Their most successful project to date is based on an enzyme called N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), which was developed as a target at Imperial College London by Professor Deborah Smith, now at the university of York. The enzyme has been found in a number of parasites: the Dundee unit is working on developing a drug for human African trypanosomiasis
(sleeping sickness) while Smith is leading on developing drugs and vaccines for leishmaniasis. NMT may even be a target for new malaria drugs. Theres still a long way to go, she says, but even if the work on NMT does not lead to a viable drug for all these diseases, it will be valuable research. Were doing the groundwork for future potential opportunities, she concludes.
new drugs and vaccines for dengue, he is researching better diagnostic and prognostic tests to help doctors make decisions about dengue, and novel approaches to vector control. The important point, he says, is that all these approaches can be complementary. Were not going to eradicate the virus any time soon, so we need a swag of tools to control dengue. Its a point that applies to NTDs as a whole: each presents specific challenges and a range of strategies will be needed to control, eliminate or even eradicate each one. Hotez highlights some of the achievements made since 2005, when the first paper to use the term neglected tropical diseases was published: major initiatives from the uS Agency for International Development and the uK Department for International Development; a new Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the WHo; and PLoS NTDs, the journal he edits, which launched in 2007. Grouping NTDs together doesnt necessarily help the research effort but it has definitely succeeded in drawing attention to the huge problem they
present collectively and the need for sustained, coordinated action. ultimately, says Fenwick, it will be impossible to achieve any of the Millennium Development Goals without tackling NTDs. How can you break the poverty cycle? he demands. How can you achieve primary education for all if the kids are full of worms? If they have no energy so that even if they go to school they fall asleep? Its a persuasive argument and one that he, Hotez and others will continue to make to anyone who will listen. I think as scientists we are taught not to be advocates, says Hotez. Thats something Im trying to correct.
You can read more about neglected tropical diseases in a series of four posts on the Wellcome Trust blog: wellcometrust.wordpress.com.
Cover images Outside: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Clockwise from top: Ascaris lumbricoides worm; Schistosoma haematobium parasite (Lanarkshire Infectious Unit/ Wellcome Images); schistosomiasis in the large intestine; larva of Ancylostoma duodenale hookworm; bilharziaspreading snails; women walking (N Durrell McKenna/ Wellcome Images); Leishmania donovani parasites (D Evans/Wellcome Images); dengue virus (CDC); Schistosoma haematobium worms. Pages 1415 images Woman carrying water (N Durrell McKenna/Wellcome Images); structure of praziquantel, a schistosomiasis drug; parachute (teacept/iStockphoto); mother and child on bench, and children in river (Joss Dimock); background (Richard Reithinger/Wellcome Images; W Peters/Wellcome Images). Pages 1617 images Prof. Peter Hotez (Agapito Sanchez, Baylor College of Medicine). Pages 1819 images Nerve networks; Prof. Alan Fenwick (Schistosomiasis Control Initiative); background (A Bryceson/Wellcome Images). Others from Wellcome Images.
More on NTDs
The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases: www.globalnetwork.org WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases: www.who.int/neglected_diseases/en/ Schistosomiasis Control Initiative: www3.imperial.ac.uk/schisto Drug Discovery Unit, Dundee: www.drugdiscovery.dundee.ac.uk
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CLOSE-UP
Diffusion 1.4 Lung tissue (below, by Spike Walker) and Manchester orbital motorways (above).
To be considered for the Wellcome Image Awards 2012, you must contribute your biomedical images by 16 January 2012. For more details see page 2.
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Diffusion 1.1 Alveolar spaces in the lungs (above, by David Gregory and Debbie Marshall) as a contour map of Manchester (left, in red) with a choropleth map (green) showing 3+ car ownership per household in Greater Manchester.
Diffusion 1.2 A mast cell with histamine granules (above, from the University of Edinburgh) as a dot map showing sites of air pollution emissions in Greater Manchester (left).
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ONLINE hIGhLIGhTS
Blog
Wellcome Library This article first appeared on the Wellcome Trust blog. To read, comment on and share hundreds more posts on life from a Wellcome Trust perspective, see wellcometrust.wordpress.com.
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The enzyme ATPase has been described as the most efficient, beautiful machine that nature has ever made. Professor Carol Robinson, a Royal Society Research Professor at the university of oxford Departmetn of Chemistry and a Wellcome Trust programme grant holder, has been using a new technique to find out more about this intriguing beast, as she calls it. She tells us about her latest study, the pinnacle of 15 years work.
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NEuRoSCIENCE
THE NEuRoN
Neurons are highly specialised cells that conduct and process information in animals, enabling thought, perception and control of movement. Problems with neuronal function underpin a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Lydia Harriss presents a quick to these remarkable cells.
Individual neurons were first identified by Santiago Ramn y Cajal at the end of the 19th century. using a tissue-staining technique invented by Camillo Golgi, he produced microscopy images showing that the brain is not a continuous mesh of tissue but formed from individual cells, or neurons. A single neuron may be connected to as many as 200 000 others, via junctions called synapses. They form an extensive network throughout the body, and can transmit signals at speeds of 100 metres per second. This enables animals to process and respond to events rapidly, for example by carrying sensory information from the ears to the brain, then instructions for movement from the brain to the leg muscles. Within a neuron, signals are transmitted by a change of membrane voltage a variation in the difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of the cell. This electrical signal moves along the neuron as an electrical pulse (the action potential). The nature of the connection between neurons was hotly debated until early-20th-century experiments by otto Loewi and Sir Henry Dale (a founding trustee and chairman of the Wellcome Trust) showed that signals are typically transmitted across synapses by chemicals called neurotransmitters. Researchers are investigating how changing levels of neuron activity alter the number of synapses and how well they transmit signals. This has given us insight into cognitive processes such as memory and learning, and has suggested treatments for diseases in which neural network activity becomes uncontrolled, such as epilepsy. There is also great interest in glial cells, found in the spaces between neurons. Some glial cells (astrocytes) maintain the composition of this watery space, helping neurons to function properly. others (oligodendrocytes) wrap neurons in an insulating myelin sheath, which can become damaged in neurodegenerative conditions such as stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. A better understanding of how neurons interact with glial cells may help in finding new treatments for these conditions.
Cell membrane
A film of fatty molecules that encloses the neuron.
Contains many components typically found in other types of cell. This includes DNA, located in the nucleus, which holds instructions for producing the proteins that determine the shape and function of the cell.
Node of Ranvier
See Myelin sheath.
Synapse
A connection between two neurons. When a nerve signal travelling along an axon reaches a synapse, it triggers the release of a chemical neurotransmitter (A) that diffuses across the synaptic gap (B) and binds to proteins (C) on the surface of the receiving neuron. This binding causes an influx of ions, changing the membrane voltage and initiating an electrical signal in the second neuron.
oligodendrocyte
A type of glial cell that makes the myelin sheath.
Myelin sheath
Many neurons are insulated by myelin: multiple layers of cell membrane that wrap around the axon. The sheath is interrupted at regular intervals ( nodes of Ranvier), where the channels that generate the electrical signal are located. Myelin reduces leakage of electrical charge from the axon, resulting in a signal that rapidly jumps from one node of Ranvier to the next, speeding up the conduction of information.
>
Nervous research
Current research in this field funded by the Wellcome Trust includes that of Professor David Attwell, University College London, who is investigating how proteins on the surface of certain glial cells may be responsible for the malfunction or death of neurons, as seen in conditions such as cerebral palsy, stroke and spinal cord injury. Neurons can readily change, which allows them to adapt to variations in environment but also makes the networks that they form inherently unstable. Professor Juan Burrone, Kings College London, is studying how neurons avoid drifting towards extreme levels of activity. Understanding this better will provide targets for treating diseases caused by uncontrolled neuron activity, such as epilepsy. Professor Peter Brophy, University of Edinburgh, has identified a gene that is mutated in people with a form of Charcot MarieTooth disease, which affects the peripheral nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord. He is using mouse models to understand why the absence of the protein encoded by the gene makes peripheral nerves degenerate.
Axon
The long projection that carries signals away from the cell body. The membrane voltage change from an incoming signal here triggers the opening of channels that allow ions (charged atoms) to flow into the cell from outside. This causes more channels farther along the axon to open, creating a voltage pulse that propagates along it (see arrow).
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Tess Shellard (left) and Penny Sarchet (right) after receiving their prizes, in Henrys club room at Wellcome Collection.
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WINNING WAYS
800 entries, two winners, one competition: 2011 saw the first ever Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, in association with the Guardian and the Observer. Here we present the two winning entries.
Tess Shellard
Occupation Health Project Coordinator for an international NGO. Whats your background? Ive been working in the charity sector for about ten years now, so it isnt a scientific background at all. That being said, Ive always had an innate curiosity about science and have always written for pleasure, which is why I went for the competition. Where did you get the idea for your article? I do a huge amount of reading and watch lectures online. The idea for this article came out of a TED talk, given by Professor Bonny Bassler at Princeton. Shes an amazing lady who has led the way in quorum-sensing research. I was blown away! It seemed so fascinating, but also the implications were huge. It could completely change the way that we design our medicines. What are your future plans? Im putting together plans for a website to use as an outlet for my writing. Ive done a blog before and got a lot of positive feedback, so Id like to start that again. Id love to get to the point where I could make some sort of living from writing. Well just have to see how it goes, but I will always carry on writing.
Penny Sarchet
Occupation Doctoral research student, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. Whats your background? During my PhD I realised that I really missed the reading and writing that I did as an undergraduate. I started writing for a couple of student magazines and the Oxford Science Blog, and have built it up from there. Where did you get the idea for your article? Whilst working on a piece for the Oxford University alumni magazine, I came across a press release from Irene Traceys lab, who had been looking at the nocebo effect in pain relief and pain perception. Id never heard about an opposite of the placebo effect, or the evil twin, as its often called. I found it really fascinating. What are your future plans? Im hoping to wrap up my experiments over the next six months and then write the thesis. It would be my dream to get a full-time job doing science journalism. Ive been writing for New Scientist about how awful the job market is for new graduates, so I guess Ill just have to see how I get on!
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to interfere with the communication between individual bacterial cells in order to ensure that they live out their days without getting too dangerous. As each species has its own language, we can befuddle one without disturbing the rest. on the other hand, we could interfere with helpful bacteria to increase the volume of their conversation and increase their activity. When it comes to life on Earth, we like to think that the bigger the brain, the better. Bacteria might be small but they communicate in more than one language, they strategise, they coordinate their efforts, they have thrived in places you wouldnt even go for a dare. It seems clear they still have a lesson or two for us big-headed folk.
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the full benefits of their prescribed treatments, but if we trust in them too strongly, we can die from their pronouncements. Today, many of the fastest-growing illnesses are relatively new and characterised solely by a collection of complaints. Chronic fatigue syndrome, food allergies and back pain could easily be real physiological illnesses in some people and nocebo-induced conditions in others. More than a century ago, doctors found they could induce a hay fever sufferers wheezing by exposure to an artificial rose. observations like these suggest we should think twice before overmedicalising the human experience. our day-to-day worrying should be regarded as such, not built up into psychological syndromes with suites of symptoms, and the health warnings that accompany new products should be narrow and accurate, not vague and general in order to waive the manufacturers liability. As scientists begin to determine how the nocebo effect works, we would do well to use their findings to manage that most 21st-century of all diseases anxiety.
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A banking bonus
The Protein Data Bank, an online repository for protein structures, reflects this difficulty. Currently it holds some 58 000 soluble protein structures but only around 300 integral membrane proteins. of these, just 20 or so are human. This is disproportionately low, given that an estimated 15 to 39 per cent of the 23 000 or so human proteins are integral membrane proteins. In May 2011, the SGC deposited protein number 1126 to the data bank: ABCB10, a human mitochondrial ABC transporter (www. thesgc.org/structures/ details?pdbid=2YL4/). Not only was it the first structure of a human ABC (ATPbinding cassette) transporter to be released, but it is also the first human integral membrane protein to be solved by the SGC taking just under two years. We treated this as a test case, Liz says. From a list of 186 human integral membrane proteins we wanted to see if we could produce proteins in quantity
which act as gatekeepers for the cells. These are the channels, transporters and receptors that help substances and signals get into and out of the cell across the membrane. Embedded in the fatty membrane of cells and organelles, these proteins are harder to produce in sufficient amounts, and difficult to purify and to crystallise. Dr Liz Carpenter, Principal Investigator of the Integral Membrane Protein Group at SGC oxford explains: The membrane is very hydrophobic, or oily, inside. The proteins sit in this lipid bilayer, and only parts of their surface are hydrophilic [attracted to water and more soluble in it]. Purification and crystallisation need to occur in a water-rich environment, so the membrane proteins have to be extracted from the fatty bosom of the bilayer using detergent. The detergent coats the
The structures give clues to what the proteins do in the organism and can be used to design drugs to act on specific proteins.
and get their structures. The 186 proteins were from six families of integral membrane proteins. These include ion channels, proteins that form pores to allow charged particles to pass through a membrane, the family that Lizs team is focusing on. Weve screened the 186 proteins and have so far found three that we could crystallise, and from these, we went on to solve the ABC transporter. Not unusually for the membrane protein field, the team didnt know what the protein did when they solved its structure.
In search of a role
From the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein, the team knew it was an ABC transporter, one of four types found in human mitochondria. Previous research indicates a possible role for this protein in oxidative stress and protection of the heart. The transporters cargo remains a mystery, but suggestions include substances involved in iron metabolism, short proteins called peptides, bile salts and lipids. Rather than wait until these findings were published in a journal, Lizs team released the structure and information on how to purify and crystallise it to the public straight away online in accordance with the SGCs ethos of open access. This gave other
labs across the world working on membrane proteins access to information that could prove invaluable for their own research, saving time, effort and manpower. She and her team are now finalising their paper on the protein and its role. They are also back to the list of 186 proteins working on the next structure, determined to solve more human membrane protein structures. With computer modelling of structures possible, is crystallography really the most pragmatic approach to working out how proteins fold? You can build a model from the protein sequence, says Liz, but these dont give enough accuracy for working out which small-molecule drugs may bind to the protein, and where. Knowing this information is vital if this research is to be translated into therapies. Membrane proteins are targets for a large number of pharmaceuticals currently on the market. Many are on the cell surface, and are accessible to small molecules, Dr Rob Cooke, formerly of GSK and a Director of the SGC, and now with Heptares Therapeutics, explains. A membrane protein often provides the first response to a signal from the environment, so by manipulating their activity you can affect the cells signalling pathways.
pharmaceutical research. The challenge has been to extend them to integral membrane proteins, which are of interest for a number of areas, neuroscience in particular, says Rob. But obtaining their structures is finally allowing this to happen. Companies dont want just one structure but a series of different protein structures that they can test with their new molecule, says Liz. For this you need a very stable, reliable way of making protein crystals that will diffract at high resolution and can be crystallised with the small molecule. Were still a long way from this kind of screening being possible. Knowing a structure can also boost our understanding of the wider role of a particular protein in the body. The SGCs work on a family of enzymes called kinases is a case in point. The kinase work stimulated a huge amount of research in other areas, says Liz. Challenging though the field is, she wouldnt work on anything else. If you want to know how cells work, then you need to know how molecules work, she says. As I tell students, this isnt the easiest field in the world but its all worth it when you make something that no one has ever seen before.
In September 2011, the SCGs funders, which include the Wellcome Trust, committed nearly $50m (32m) in funding to sustain another four years of operations. For more, see www.thesgc.org or www.sgc.ox.ac.uk.
Left: The ABC10 structure solved by Liz Carpenter and colleagues. Created using ICM Browser from MolSoft LLC
Winter 2011 | 31
SANDALS
32 | Wellcome NEWS
William Schupbach presents some AIDS awareness memorabilia from the Wellcome Library. What is it?
A pair of sandals made in Spain around 1994.
They include the red ribbon that was introduced in 1991 to declare solidarity with people with HIV/AIDS. Such ribbons were first used in 1979: yellow, for the uS hostages in Iran. This was revived in 1991 for victims of the Gulf War, and the red ribbon appeared along with it for people with AIDS. The link is significant because the red ribbon presented patients as victims rather than culprits, in an attempt to combat the blame and stigmatisation they experienced. But there is more to it. The brand name on these sandals is Red or Dead. That phrase referred originally to Red Indians (native Americans), and from the 1950s to the McCarthyite anticommunist sentiment Better Dead than Red. This associated the design firm doubly with a liberal outlook, and using the red AIDS ribbon provided the brand with a third level of emphasis.
Yes, they can be seen in the Wellcome Library in London by anybody, on request. If you need to handle them, you will be supplied with white cotton gloves to keep them clean.
Read Sander L Gilmans essay What is the color of the gonorrhea ribbon? Stigma, sexual diseases, and popular culture in the twenty-first century, in his book Diseases and Diagnoses: The second age of biology.
Winter 2011 | 33
APPLIANCE oF SCIENCE
Find out more about Cheltenham Festival at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com. Quentin Cooper will be hosting The Thing Is at Wellcome Collection on 27 January and 22 February.
34 | Wellcome NEWS
Winter 2011 | 35
Critics choice
MEXICAN MIRACLE PAINTINGS AND LONDONS LOST CHARMS, EXPLORING FAITH, HOPE AND CHANCE UNTIL 26 FEbRUARy
TUESDAYSUNDAY (UNTIL 18.00), CLOSED MONDAY LATE-NIGHT THURSDAY (UNTIL 22.00) EUSTON, EUSTON SqUARE 183 EUSTON ROAD, NW1