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 MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Matrix-buster Inhibitor Has Second Way to Throttle Angiogenesis
The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their regulators, the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are closely watched proteins, and for good reason. MMPs work by breaking down the dense matrix surrounding cells, freeing them to wander the body during processes like metastasis and angiogenesis. TIMPs rein in the MMPs, cutting off the supply of migrating cancer or endothelial cells. Pharmaceutical companies have been racing to create synthetic versions, with disappointing results. It now appears that inhibiting the MMPs is not enough to stop the new blood vessel growth that accompanies tumors. Working in a mouse model, Marsha Moses (right), Cecilia Fernandez, and their colleagues found that TIMP-2, a variant known to stop angiogenesis in vivo, owes its power to thwart cancer-related blood vessel growth to its unique ability to inhibit endothelial cells from proliferating, rather than its ability to bind MMP. Their study appears in the Oct. 17 Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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 ADVANCEMENT: First Findings Reported in Survey on Faculty Careers
At an Oct. 15 conference, Maureen Connelly presented preliminary findings from the HMS faculty career advancement and satisfaction survey that was conducted last spring. It appears that clinical duties, family responsibilities, and time away from work may be bigger obstacles than gender to getting ahead at the School. But this does not mean that gender does not influence faculty career paths.
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 NEUROLOGY: Glial Cells Critical for Peripheral Nervous System Health
Gabriel Corfas has discovered that neuregulin signals sent from neurons to non-myelinating Schwann cells may be critical for maintaining the peripheral nervous system in adults. Writing in November's Nature Neuroscience, currently available online, he reports that when this pathway is interrupted in mice there is an increase in the proliferation and apoptosis of these Schwann cells, which is accompanied by profound morphological changes to small diameter nerves. Substantial numbers of non-myelinated neurons are also lost in these animals, as is feeling for hot and cold. The results raise the possibility that peripheral neuropathies could be the result of damage to glia.
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 PUBLISHING: Online Journal Opens Access to Scientific Literature
The open-access movement in scientific publishing got a big boost this month with the launch of the free online journal PLoS Biology, a monthly, peer-reviewed publication from the San Francisco-based Public Library of Science (PLoS). The first issue has three articles by HMS faculty, including one led by Marc Kirschner, chair of the new Department of Systems Biology and a member of the journal's editorial board. Kirschner and others involved in the venture envision open-access publications becoming a key to future advances in science by making research results more widely available to scientists and others throughout the world.
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Copyright 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
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