Focus | September 17, 2004

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Cell Biology
Radiology
Endocrinology
Systems Biology
Research Briefs
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September 17, 2004

CELL BIOLOGY: Live-cell Studies Pick Up Pattern in Vesicle Traffic
Many proteins, viruses, and other molecules rely on vesicles to hitch rides into and around cells. A team led by Tomas Kirchhausen shot movies of living cells to capture traffic patterns at the cell surface. Their results, published in the Sept. 3 Cell, provide the most comprehensive view to date of how these cellular taxicabs form at the cell's outer membrane and take in passengers from outside.

RADIOLOGY: Imaging Method Reveals Which Mice Develop Type 1 Diabetes
By the time type 1 diabetes is detected, the immune system has already begun its attack on the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas and may have destroyed most of them. Diane Mathis, Ralph Weissleder, and their colleagues report in the Aug. 24 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have literally shone a light on the earliest stages of the disease--just when the renegade immune troops are amassing at the borders of the pancreas. The technique could aid in early diagnosis and development of better therapies.

ENDOCRINOLOGY: Fat Hormone Revives Reproductive Systems of Lean Women
A pilot study of amenorrheic women in the Sept. 2 New England Journal of Medicine shows that leptin restored ovulation for some, increased levels of reproductive and neuroendocrine hormones, and hinted at better bone formation. The findings have implications for very thin women who are dealing with problems of infertility, competitive athletes and dancers whose thin frames put them at risk for bone fractures and osteoporosis, and the women who are battling eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, say Christos Mantzoros and his colleagues.