Rutgers News Center

State Legislature signs bill funding stem cell research

The State Legislature signed a bill last month allocating $270 million in state funds for stem cell research. Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick called the move “a bold step in the pursuit of life-saving medical advances,” and applauded Governor Jon S. Corzine and the legislature for their action.

New Jersey made significant progress in stem cell research when, in 2004, the state established the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey as a partnership among the state, Rutgers, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The institute is now poised to become a hub of collaborative research, attracting renowned scientists, talented students, and substantial grant support.

The state monies will fund state-of-the-art facilities in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden that can turn new knowledge into effective cures and pioneer innovative technologies essential to economic growth. Stem cell research holds promising potential for the 128 million Americans who suffer from acute, chronic and degenerative diseases. These include conditions such as spinal cord and brain injury, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke, diabetes, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.

– University Relations staff

Marijuana may affect neuron firing

It has long been known that marijuana use impairs memory. Now, Rutgers-Newark neuroscientists may have discovered why.

The findings were reported in the December issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. Professor Gyorgy Buzsaki and his colleagues at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers-Newark recorded hippocampus activity in rats. Normally, brain cells in the hippocampus region synchronize their electrical activity. But when injected with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, the rats’ hippocampal synchronization became disrupted. The frequency of nerve impulse firing did not change, but their timing became erratic. The study suggests that synchronized brain cell activity is crucial for memory formation.

Buzsaki compared the activity to an orchestra whose players are deafened and blindfolded. "They could still play their own pieces, but without any feedback from the other instruments played by other musicians or the conductor, depending on the nature and the length of the music played, it could be just a bit worse or outright disastrous, even though every note has been played. What is missing is the temporal coordination," Buzsaki explained. This is similar to what the researchers think goes on "in the hippocampal circuits under the influence of marijuana."

– Ashanti M. Alvarez (compiled from news reports)

Uric acid holds potential for treating central nervous system damage

Uric acid is commonly associated with the excruciatingly painful joint disease known as gout, but it can also play a crucial role in the treatment of spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, according to Rutgers’ Bonnie Firestein.

Firestein, an associate professor of cell biology and neuroscience, and her laboratory team have reported their discovery in the journal Glia.

“In spinal cord injury, as well as stroke, two kinds of damage can occur,” Firestein explained. “First there is the physical damage, but this is followed by secondary chemical damage to neurons [nerve cells] by compounds released in response to the trauma. We have found that uric acid can promote an early intervention step in combating this chemical damage through its action on astroglial cells.”

In addition to the scientific achievement, the research study is a model for student involvement and education. Among the co-authors, postdoctoral associate Yangzhou Du is teaching Firestein more about astroglial cells, while he is learning about neurons from her. Christopher Chen was a Henry Rutgers Honors undergraduate student on the study, and Yuval Eisenberg, a laboratory technician; both now attend medical school. Another student, Chia-Yi Tseng is continuing her graduate studies in Firestein’s laboratory.

The study was supported by a grant from the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research. Click here to read the related news release.

– Joseph Blumberg

Nursing study will analyze Latinas’ attitudes toward exercise

College of Nursing faculty member Karen T. D’Alonzo has been awarded a three-year, $274,104 grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health to conduct two studies examining young Latinas’ attitudes toward physical activity.

The research will be used to develop and test a pilot physical activity intervention for Latinas, according to D’Alonzo, assistant professor at the College of Nursing. “We will be looking at exercise patterns and physical activity for young Latinas between 18 and 35 years old,” D’Alonzo said. “These women are trying to make time for themselves. Cultural beliefs and time management issues such as family responsibilities and work often interfere with their ability to exercise and engage in self-care.”

A focus group of 24 women from Bound Brook will identify issues concerning exercising and prioritizing family responsibilities. This information will be used to design a culturally appropriate physical activity intervention that will be tested among 80 women.

“This is a unique study because it is an example of community-based participation research,” D’Alonzo said. “Women will be selected from the focus group to be trained as ‘promotoras’ or lay health workers. These women will then go on to assist in the implementation of the physical activity intervention and lead the exercise groups.”

– Miguel Tersy

NSF awards grant to support biofertilizer research in Camden

A research project under way at Rutgers–Camden could help revolutionize agriculture through the use of fungi as “biofertilizers” that reduce the farming industry’s reliance on phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers that pollute water supplies.

A three-year grant of more than $419,000 from the National Science Foundation will enable Heike Bücking, an assistant professor of biology at Rutgers–Camden, and her research team to explore the exchange of nutrients in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, a close interaction between plant roots and soil fungi that is essential for the nutrient uptake of approximately 80 percent of all known plant species.

Rutgers–Camden undergraduate and graduate students are joining Bücking in this innovative research project, and scientists from Michigan State University, New Mexico State University, and the USDA will collaborate with the Rutgers group.

Traditional agriculture relies on the use of fertilizers to provide the soil with the nutrients needed to grow plants. Such use is not without risks, Bücking explains. Farmers frequently apply more fertilizer nutrients than are used by the plants, leading to excess nitrogen and phosphate causing ecological problems by leaching into the groundwater and overfertilizing aquatic ecosystems. This can result in algal blooms, high fish mortality rates, and a variety of other problems while severely reducing the water quality. “We must find ways to improve agricultural assistance,” she says.

– Michael Sepanic