Salk Institute For Biological Studies

BASIC RESEARCH IN THE FOLLOWING: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS, NEUROSCIENCE, AND PLANT BIOLOGY.

GIANT LEAP IN DIAGNOSING LIVER DISEASE - CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE REPRESENTS A MAJOR GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM AFFECTING AN ESTIMATED 844 MILLION PEOPLE, ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. IT IS AMONG THE TOP CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN AUSTRALIA, THE UK AND THE UNITED STATES. AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS BOTH DIFFICULT TO MANAGE AND THERE IS NO FDA-APPROVED ANTI-FIBROTIC LIVER THERAPY. THE MICROBIOME-A COMPLEX COLLECTION OF MICROBES THAT INHABIT THE GUT-MAY BE AN UNEXPECTED INDICTOR OF HEALTH. NOW, A COLLABORATIVE TEAM OF SALK INSTITUTE AND UC SAN DIEGO SCIENTISTS HAVE CREATED A NOVEL MICROBIOME-BASED DIAGNOSTIC TOOL THAT, WITH THE ACCURACY OF THE BEST PHYSICIANS, QUICKLY AND INEXPENSIVELY IDENTIFIES LIVER FIBROSIS AND CIRRHOSIS OVER 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME IN HUMAN PATIENTS. THE NON-INVASIVE METHOD RELIES ON AN ALGORITHM TO ANALYZE PATIENT STOOL SAMPLES-WHICH CONTAINS TRACES OF WHAT LIVES IN THE GUT-AND COULD LEAD TO IMPROVED PATIENT CARE AND TREATMENT OUTCOMES FOR LIVER DISEASE, AS DETAILED ONLINE ON JUNE 30, 2020 IN CELL METABOLISM. [7/1/2020] SALK SCIENTISTS DISCOVER GENETIC "DIAL" TO TURN IMMUNE FUNCTION UP AND DOWN TO TARGET CANCER, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE - THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM IS A FINELY TUNED MACHINE, BALANCING WHEN TO RELEASE A CELLULAR ARMY TO DEAL WITH PATHOGENS, WITH WHEN TO REIN IN THAT ARMY, STOPPING AN ONSLAUGHT FROM ATTACKING THE BODY ITSELF. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR YE ZHENG AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR DIANA HARGREAVES HAVE DISCOVERED A WAY TO CONTROL REGULATORY T CELLS, IMMUNE CELLS THAT ACT AS A CEASE-FIRE SIGNAL, TELLING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WHEN TO STAND DOWN. THEIR STUDY APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL IMMUNITY ON JULY 7. [7/7/2020] KEEPING INNOCENT PEOPLE OUT OF JAIL USING THE SCIENCE OF PERCEPTION - PEOPLE WRONGFULLY ACCUSED OF A CRIME OFTEN WAIT YEARS-IF EVER-TO BE EXONERATED. MANY OF THESE WRONGFULLY ACCUSED CASES STEM FROM UNRELIABLE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY. NOW, THE LAB OF PROFESSOR THOMAS ALBRIGHT HAS IDENTIFIED A NEW WAY OF PRESENTING A LINEUP TO AN EYEWITNESS THAT COULD IMPROVE THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THE CORRECT SUSPECT IS IDENTIFIED AND REDUCE THE NUMBER OF INNOCENT PEOPLE SENTENCED TO JAIL. THE WORK APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL NATURE COMMUNICATIONS ON JULY 14. [7/14/2020] NEW MAPS OF CHEMICAL MARKS ON DNA PINPOINT REGIONS RELEVANT TO MANY DEVELOPMENTAL DISEASES - THE LAB OF PROFESSOR JOSEPH ECKER HAS GENERATED 168 NEW MAPS OF CHEMICAL MARKS ON DNA-CALLED METHYLATION-IN MICE. THE DATA, WHICH CAN HELP NARROW DOWN REGIONS OF THE HUMAN GENOME THAT PLAY ROLES IN DISEASES SUCH AS SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RETT SYNDROME, WERE PART OF A SPECIAL EDITION OF NATURE DEVOTED TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DNA ELEMENTS (ENCODE) PROJECT. THE PAPER'S AUTHORS WERE ALSO ON TWO OTHER PAPERS IN THE SPECIAL EDITION, PUBLISHED ON JULY 29. [7/29/2020] NEW MOLECULE REVERSES ALZHEIMER'S-LIKE MEMORY DECLINE - A DRUG CANDIDATE DEVELOPED BY SALK RESEARCHERS, AND PREVIOUSLY SHOWN TO SLOW AGING IN BRAIN CELLS, SUCCESSFULLY REVERSED MEMORY LOSS IN A MOUSE MODEL OF INHERITED ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. THE NEW RESEARCH, PUBLISHED ONLINE IN JULY 2020 IN THE JOURNAL REDOX BIOLOGY, ALSO REVEALED THAT THE DRUG, CMS121, WORKS BY CHANGING HOW BRAIN CELLS METABOLIZE FATTY MOLECULES KNOWN AS LIPIDS. [8/4/2020] IMAGING METHOD HIGHLIGHTS NEW ROLE FOR CELLULAR "SKELETON" PROTEIN - SALK RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW IMAGING METHOD THAT LETS THEM MONITOR A SMALL SUBSET OF FINE SKELETON-LIKE FILAMENTS, CALLED ACTIN. WITH THE NEW IMAGING TECHNIQUE, THE SALK TEAM HAS BEEN ABLE TO HOME IN ON HOW ACTIN MEDIATES AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION: HELPING THE CELLULAR "POWER STATIONS" KNOWN AS MITOCHONDRIA DIVIDE IN TWO. THE WORK, WHICH APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL NATURE METHODS ON AUGUST 10, 2020, COULD PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO CANCER, AGING, AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. [8/10/2020] FIRST IMMUNE-EVADING CELLS CREATED TO TREAT TYPE 1 DIABETES - SALK INSTITUTE SCIENTISTS MADE A MAJOR ADVANCE IN THE PURSUIT OF A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES, AN ILLNESS THAT IMPACTS AN ESTIMATED 1.6 MILLION AMERICANS WITH A COST OF $14.4 BILLION ANNUALLY. USING STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY, SALK RESEARCHERS GENERATED THE FIRST HUMAN INSULIN-PRODUCING PANCREATIC CELL CLUSTERS ABLE TO EVADE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, AS DETAILED IN THE JOURNAL NATURE ON AUGUST 19, 2020. THESE "IMMUNE SHIELDED" CELL CLUSTERS CONTROLLED BLOOD GLUCOSE WITHOUT IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS IN MICE, ONCE TRANSPLANTED IN THE BODY. [8/19/2020] METHOD TO DERIVE BLOOD VESSEL CELLS FROM SKIN CELLS SUGGESTS WAYS TO SLOW AGING - SALK SCIENTISTS HAVE USED SKIN CELLS CALLED FIBROBLASTS FROM YOUNG AND OLD PATIENTS TO SUCCESSFULLY CREATE BLOOD VESSELS CELLS THAT RETAIN THEIR MOLECULAR MARKERS OF AGE. THE TEAM'S APPROACH, DESCRIBED IN THE JOURNAL ELIFE ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2020, REVEALED CLUES AS TO WHY BLOOD VESSELS TEND TO BECOME LEAKY AND HARDENED WITH AGING, AND LETS RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY NEW MOLECULAR TARGETS TO POTENTIALLY SLOW AGING IN VASCULAR CELLS. [9/8/2020] COMMON DIABETES DRUG REVERSES INFLAMMATION IN THE LIVER - THE DIABETES DRUG METFORMIN HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED TO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE AS THE FRONTLINE TREATMENT FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES. YET SCIENTISTS DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE DRUG IS SO EFFECTIVE AT CONTROLLING BLOOD GLUCOSE. SALK RESEARCHERS HAVE NOW SHOWN THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ENZYMES IN THE BODY FOR METFORMIN'S FUNCTION. IN ADDITION, THE NEW WORK SHOWED THAT THE SAME PROTEINS, REGULATED BY METFORMIN, CONTROLLED ASPECTS OF INFLAMMATION IN MICE, SOMETHING THE DRUG HAS NOT TYPICALLY BEEN PRESCRIBED FOR. APART FROM CLARIFYING HOW METFORMIN WORKS, THE RESEARCH, WHICH APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL GENES & DEVELOPMENT ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2020, HAS RELEVANCE FOR MANY OTHER INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. [9/10/2020] TRAVELING BRAIN WAVES HELP DETECT HARD-TO-SEE OBJECTS - A TEAM OF SALK INSTITUTE SCIENTISTS LED BY PROFESSOR JOHN REYNOLDS UNCOVERED DETAILS OF THE NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTS. THEY FOUND THAT PATTERNS OF NEURAL SIGNALS, CALLED TRAVELING BRAIN WAVES, EXIST IN THE VISUAL SYSTEM OF THE AWAKE BRAIN AND ARE ORGANIZED TO ALLOW THE BRAIN TO PERCEIVE OBJECTS THAT ARE FAINT OR OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO SEE. THE FINDINGS WERE PUBLISHED IN NATURE ON OCTOBER 7, 2020. [10/7/2020] WHEN IT COMES TO FEELING PAIN, TOUCH OR AN ITCH, LOCATION MATTERS - WHEN YOU TOUCH A HOT STOVE, YOUR HAND REFLEXIVELY PULLS AWAY; IF YOU MISS A RUNG ON A LADDER, YOU INSTINCTIVELY CATCH YOURSELF. BOTH MOTIONS TAKE A FRACTION OF A SECOND AND REQUIRE NO FORETHOUGHT. NOW, RESEARCHERS AT THE SALK INSTITUTE HAVE MAPPED THE PHYSICAL ORGANIZATION OF CELLS IN THE SPINAL CORD THAT HELP MEDIATE THESE AND SIMILAR CRITICAL "SENSORIMOTOR REFLEXES." THE NEW BLUEPRINT OF THIS ASPECT OF THE SENSORIMOTOR SYSTEM, DESCRIBED ONLINE IN NEURON ON NOVEMBER 11, 2020, COULD LEAD TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IT DEVELOPS AND CAN GO AWRY IN CONDITIONS SUCH AS CHRONIC ITCH OR PAIN. [12/10/2020] TEACHING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO ADAPT - GETTING COMPUTERS TO "THINKHUMANS IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BUT HUMAN BRAINS TURN OUT TO BE TOUGH ACTS TO FOLLOW. NOW, SALK RESEARCHERS HAVE USED A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF BRAIN ACTIVITY TO SIMULATE THIS PROCESS MORE ACCURATELY THAN EVER BEFORE. THE NEW MODEL MIMICS HOW THE BRAIN'S PREFRONTAL CORTEX USES A PHENOMENON KNOWN AS "GATING" TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF INFORMATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT AREAS OF NEURONS. IT NOT ONLY SHEDS LIGHT ON THE HUMAN BRAIN, BUT COULD ALSO INFORM THE DESIGN OF NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS. THE TEAM'S FINDINGS WERE PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 24, 2020, IN PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [12/16/2020] COMPUTATIONAL MODEL REVEALS HOW THE BRAIN MANAGES SHORT-TERM MEMORIES - SALK SCIENTISTS HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW COMPUTATIONAL MODEL SHOWING HOW THE BRAIN MAINTAINS INFORMATION SHORT-TERM USING SPECIFIC TYPES OF NEURONS. THEIR FINDINGS, PUBLISHED IN NATURE NEUROSCIENCE ON DECEMBER 7, 2020, COULD HELP SHED LIGHT ON WHY WORKING MEMORY IS IMPAIRED IN A BROAD RANGE OF NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, INCLUDING SCHIZOPHRENIA, AS WELL AS IN NORMAL AGING. [12/17/2020] NEW CLUES WHY GOLD STANDARD TREATMENT FOR BIPOLAR DISORDER DOESN'T WORK FOR MAJORITY OF PATIENTS - LITHIUM IS CONSIDERED THE GOLD STANDARD FOR TREATING BIPOLAR DISORDER (BD), BUT NEARLY 70 PERCENT OF PEOPLE WITH BD DON'T RESPOND TO IT. THIS LEAVES THEM AT RISK FOR DEBILITATING, POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING MOOD SWINGS. RESEARCHERS AT THE SALK INSTITUTE HAVE FOUND THAT THE CULPRIT MAY LIE IN GENE ACTIVITY-OR LACK OF IT. A NEW STUDY LED BY SALK PROFESSOR AND PRESIDENT RUSTY GAGE, WHICH PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY ON JANUARY 4, 2021, SHOWS THAT DECREASED ACTIVATION OF A GENE CALLED LEF1 DISRUPTS ORDINARY NEURONAL FUNCTION AND PROMOTES HYPEREXCITABILITY IN BRAIN CELLS-A HALLMARK OF BD. THE WORK COULD RESULT IN A NEW DRUG TARGET FOR BD AS WELL AS A BIOMARKER FOR LITHIUM NON-RESPONSIVENESS. [1/5/2021] SPECIFIC BACTERIA IN THE GUT PROMPT MOTHER MICE TO NEGLECT THEIR PUPS