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Drugs that block chloride transport in the developing cerebral cortex may be useful to treat neonatal seizures, as shown by Staley and colleagues on page 1205 of this issue. Image of the cerebral cortex courtesy of Tom Deerinck (University of California, San Diego).
Effective new treatments have saved millions of children from the clutches of cancer. But as Paroma Basu discovers, those miracle cures may keep them sick for the rest of their lives.
From the violent streets of Belfast to a small municipal college in Manhattan, Marie Filbin has traveled an unconventional path to success. And she's walked that distance in well-shod feet.
The objective of the multidisciplinary expert Consensus Panel on Research with the Recently Dead (CPRRD) was to craft ethics guidelines for research with the recently dead. The CPRRD recommends that research with the recently dead: (i) receive scientific and ethical review and oversight; (ii) involve the community of potential research subjects; (iii) be coordinated with organ procurement organizations; (iv) not conflict with organ donation or required autopsy; (v) use procedures respectful of the dead; (vi) be restricted to one procedure per day; (vii) preferably be authorized by first-person consent, though both general advance research directives and surrogate consent are acceptable; (viii) protect confidentiality; (ix) not impose costs on subjects' estates or next of kin and not involve payment; (x) clearly explain ultimate disposition of the body.
Infants with seizures have few treatment options, because anticonvulsants effective in adults rarely work. A widely used diuretic takes advantage of the unique physiology of the developing brain and could lead to a therapy (pages 1205–1213).
The extracellular matrix is traditionally regarded as a facilitator of tumor progression, providing an environment in which cells can grow and metastasize. Three new studies take the matrix out of this context and suggest that the microenvironment can not only subsidize, but also initiate, the oncogenic conversion of epithelial cells.
In several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson disease, specific neurons are vulnerable to death whereas others are spared. It now appears that the neurotransmitter dopamine may damage parkin, a neuroprotective protein, in susceptible neurons and contribute to their demise (pages 1214–1221).
Toll-like receptors act as mediators of injury or repair in the inflamed lung, and the balance depends on the integrity of a component of the extracellular matrix (pages 1173–1179).
Immunity is partly destroyed by the effects of high-dose chemotherapy associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A new strategy restores impaired immunity in people and offers clues to improving vaccination against pathogens and tumors (pages 1230–1237).
A new approach to hematopoietic cell transplantation in people seems to lessen the incidence of a serious complication, acute graft-versus-host disease.
