Center for Biomedical Research

Assistant Professor John Finke Studies Protein Folding

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Assistant Professor John Finke, of the Department of Chemistry at Oakland University, and his coworkers recently published a paper in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, titled "Crystallographic B-Factors Highlight Energetic Frustration in Aldolase Folding" (vol. 112, pp. 10417-10431, 2008). The goal of the paper is to examine a important and long-standing problem in biophysics: how do proteins fold? In particular, Finke et al. use computer simulations to test a particular mathematical model of protein folding, and compare their results to experimental data. Finke's coauthors were both OU graduate students when they wrote the paper.

Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Study Stroke

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Stroke, when blood flow is blocked in the brain, is a devastating disease of the cardiovascular system. Oakland University Distinguished Professor of Medical Physics Michael Chopp and his coworkers at Henry Ford Hospital reported in the journal Stroke of new advances in using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to monitor stroke in rats. Their paper "Temporal MRI assessment of intracerebral hemorrhage in rats" (vol. 39, pp. 2596-2602, 2008) concludes "These methods may be useful to evaluate therapeutic interventions after experimental ICH [Intracerebral Hemorrhage] and eventually in humans."

Optimism in Women Undergoing Abdominal Surgery

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Can your state of mind affect surgical outcome? Assistant Professor Patricia Wren, of the Oakland University School of Health Sciences has attempted to answer this question for women undergoing surgery to repair a particular type of pelvic floor disorder. She was the lead author on a paper published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons that examined "Optimism in women undergoing abdominal sacrocolpopexy for pelvic organ prolapse" (vol. 207, pp. 240-245, 2008). The study concluded that "in women planning operation for POP [pelvic organ prolapse], optimism is related to pelvic symptom severity, but is not associated with satisfaction with treatment or treatment success. Abdominal sacrocolpopexy resulted in substantial improvements in quality of life and functional outcomes that were not notably influenced by optimism."

Stem Cells Help Regrow Cartilage

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Stem cells may revolutionize modern medicine. Oakland University Professor Rasul Chaudhry, of the Department of Biological Sciences and his team found that Chondrogenic derivatives of embryonic stem cells seeded into 3D polycaprolactone scaffolds generated cartilage tissue in vivo (Tissue Engineering Part A, vol. 14, pp. 1403-1413, 2008). Two of the coauthors (Ardit Kacorri and the lead author Chris Fecek) were undergraduate students at OU when the research was performed, and one coauthor (Adrian Vasquez) was a graduate student in the masters program. The study concluded that "ESC [embryonic stem cell] derivatives can be implanted to generate damaged cartilage tissue. In vitro-generated structural tissue grafts could therefore assist in cases of cartilage degeneration or injury such as osteoporosis, degenerative disc disorders, and sports injuries."

OU appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

In the August 26th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, OU Assistant Professor John Finke and coauthors reported more of their results on protein folding. Their paper "The Dual-Basin Landscape in GFP Folding" (PNAS, vol. 105, pp. 12283-12288, 2008) analyzes Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), often used as a fluorescent marker because it fluoresces green when exposed to blue light. GFP folds in two steps: a fast folding event followed by a slow, final "locking" step. Finke and his colleagues use a combination of experimental and computational methods to understand the details of how GFP folds.

Erythropoietin Helps Treat Brain Injury

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

The molecule erythropoietin plays a role in the brain's response to injury. OU Distinguished Professor Mike Chopp and his team recently tested a recombinant (or genetically engineered) type of erythropoietin to treat head injuries ("Effects of Erythropoietin on Reducing Brain Damage and Improving Functional Outcome after Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice - Laboratory investigation", Journal of Neurosurgery, vol. 109, pp. 510-521, 2008). The results look promising, at least in mice. They conclude "Recombinant human erythropoietin initiated 6 hours post-TBI [traumatic brain injury] provided neuroprotection by decreasing lesion volume and cell loss as well as neurorestoration by enhancing neurogenesis, subsequently improving sensorimotor and spatial learning function."

Yang Xia's Research is on the cover of the Journal of Structural Biology

roth@oakland.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

The research of Professor Yang Xia and his colleagues in the Department of Physics is featured on the cover of the October, 2008 issue of the Journal of Structural Biology. The issue contains their paper "Molecular and Morphological Adaptations in Compressed Articular Cartilage by Polarized Light Microscopy and Fourier-Transform Infrared Imaging" (J. Struct. Biol., 164:88-95, 2008). Xia's laboratory studies the microscopic structure of cartilage, how it is influenced by mechanical stress, and diseases of cartilage such as osteoarthritis. They concluded that the "depth-dependent adaptations to static loading in cartilage’s morphological structure and chemical distribution could be useful in the future studies of the early diseased cartilage." Co-author Hisham Alhadlaq is a graduate of the OU PhD program in Biomedical Sciences: Medical Physics, and co-author Farid Badar is currently a graduate student in that program.