CELL
BIOLOGY: Discovery Shows How Fungi Pump Up Defense
Multidrug-resistant versions of Candida and other fungi have been on
the rise, invading the mucosal linings and bloodstreams of people whose immune
systems have been ravaged by AIDS, chemotherapy, or transplantation procedures.
Many of these resistant strains defend themselves by equipping their cell walls
with tiny pumps capable of expelling antifungals soon after they enter. A series
of key steps in this strategy have been uncovered by Anders Naar and colleagues,
a discovery that may help turn the tables on this emerging microbial threat.
The findings appear in the April 3 Nature.
STRATEGIC
PLANNING: Group Presents Recommended Research Priorities
Part of Dean Jeffrey Flier’s strategic planning process, the Biomedical
Research Advisory Group (BRAG), led by Bruce Spiegelman (left) and Christine
Seidman, has presented its first two reports, on human genetics and immunology.
A third report, on therapeutics, is already on the strategic planning
website, and more reports are on the way. Among the initial recommendations
in genetics and immunology are that the existing Committee on Immunology
gain more resources and authority and that a new committee or trans-University
department for human genetics be established.
PATHOLOGY:
Human Gene Tied to Rare Iron-deficiency Disorder
Researchers have identified the genetic defect that causes a rare iron-deficiency
disorder called iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia (IRIDA). The
team, including co–senior author Mark Fleming, has not yet found
a molecular mechanism by which the implicated gene acts. Yet they did
determine that mutations in the gene cause inappropriately high levels
of hepcidin, effectively turning off the body’s ability to absorb
and recycle iron. The researchers hypothesize that this mutation may
be involved in less severe forms of iron deficiency. Reported in the
May Nature Genetics, the discovery could open up the possibility
for new approaches to treating iron-deficiency disorders.
Copyright 2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College