An Appetite for Amino Acids

In a paper published in Science Signaling, Jacky Chung, PhD, and Barry Paw, MD, PhD, of the BWH Hematology Division, and colleagues describe the role of the amino acid transporter gene Lat3 in the development of red blood cells, with implications for the treatment of Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA). A related News & Views commentary by David G. Nathan, MD, president emeritus of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and physician-in-chief emeritus of Boston Children’s Hospital, also discusses the research team’s findings.

Read more in Clinical & Research News.

Tracing T Cell Origin

Thomas Kupper, MD, chair of the BWH Department of Dermatology, and colleagues have investigated the generation, localization and function of central memory T (TCM) cells and resident memory T (TRM) cells – both of which play important roles in protective immunity. The team’s findings are published in Nature Medicine.

Read more in Clinical & Research News.

Multiple Sclerosis

Phil De Jager, MD, PhD, director of the Program in Translational NeuroPsychiatric Genomics at BWH’s Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, and colleagues report the discovery of a genetic variant that is associated with a patient’s likelihood of responding to interferon-beta, one of the medications used in treating multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, published in the Annals of Surgery, also presents evidence that the affected gene, SLC9A9, may have a broader role in regulating the development and activity of certain immune cells that play important roles in inflammatory diseases like MS.

Read more in a BWH press release.

Mastectomy vs. Breast Conserving Therapy

New research led by Mehra Golshan, MD, director of Breast Surgical Services at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, finds that breast conserving therapy – or the removal of less breast tissue via a lumpectomy – was successful in more than 90 percent of the women who became eligible for this procedure after treatment with chemotherapy. Despite these findings, 31 percent who were eligible for breast conserving therapy chose to have the entire breast removed via mastectomy.

Read more in a BWH press release.

You Are When You Eat

A study led by Christopher Morris, PhD, and Frank Scheer, PhD, in the Division of Sleep Circadian Disorders, may help explain why glucose tolerance – or the ability to regulate blood sugar levels – is lower at dinner than at breakfast for healthy people and why shift workers are at increased risk of diabetes. The team reports its findings – with implications for shift workers and for the general public –in PNAS.

Read more in a BWH press release.