News

Measles Outbreak in NY Reports 16 Cases

New York, NY- Recently, a measles outbreak flooded the busiest city in the US, and part of that the NY City Health Department started investigation the virus outbreak. Based from AP report, seven adult victims were identified on Friday, part of the 16 cases. Four of them were found ill in the hospitals.

The NY medical department works with state hospitals to halt the spreading virus in the ER sections. New Yorkers are invited to update immunization, including blood tests and vaccinations.

Measles is contagious said a NY post and causes red raised bumps, cough, high fever and red eyes.

High risks are babies below one year old, particularly when vaccinations are incomplete. Although some cases take days to heal, others require hospitalization and treatment due to severity. 

Bone Growth-Triggering Pathway Discovered

A protein that can aid human and animals to recover from bone damages in short period of time and can start the formulating treatments for a rare metabolic condition called Alagille Syndrome has been uncovered. The latest discovery, the Jagged-1, a result by a study of researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, is known for triggering human stem cells to separate into bone-producing cells.

The recent discovery which was led by postdoctoral researchers Fengchang Zhu and Mariya T. Sweetwyne and associate professor Kurt Hankenson, all members of Penn Vet’s Department of Clinical Studies-New Bolton Center and Animal Biology has been published in the journal Stem Cells.

Bone tissues of humans make a cycle of forming and reforming all throughout our lives. Mesenchymal stem cells stored in bone marrows form cells called osteoblast which forms bones. Osteoblasts are formed when these stem cells receive body signals.

Bone morphogenic protein or BMP, a molecule which is used for helping people in recovering from bone damages and in performing spinal fusions without using a patient’s own bone tissue has been identified in recent studies.

According to Hankenson, BMP’s have some issues with safety and efficacy and that they are always in the look for ne ways that will have the progenitor cells turn to osteoblasts which resulted to studying of Notch signaling pathway. The molecular signaling pathway is known for being a vital cog in stem cell differentiation and can be traced in most species of animals. 

The researchers made an investigation by binding one of the proteins to the Jagged-1 which is the Notch receptor.  It has been proven by the team that the Jagged-1 is highly-expressed in cells involved in forming bones in recovery period and integrating it to stem cells of mouse has clogged the transition of stem cells into osteoblasts.

The team’s study has created a connection between Jagged-1 and bone formation. People who suffer from Alagille syndrome, a rare disease most of the time have mutations that code for Jagged-1. Patients with this disease are experiencing difficulties in their metabolism that aggravates their livers and disorders in their skeletal system like brittleness of their bones.

Studies that search mutations that have big numbers which can be connected with such traits have revealed a link between mutations in close relation to the Jagged-1 gene and low bone mass.

In his goal to help patients suffering from the disease in the future, Hankenson has partnered with several researchers at the university. Henkenson is working on a study of kids with the disease to see if Jagged-1 disorders are linked with the irregularities in their bones together with Kathleen Loomes of Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Aside from a being partners with his former doctoral student Mike Dishowitz in their company called Skelegen which aims to create a technology that will deliver Jagged-1 to bone repair sites, Hankenson is also focusing on how to improve and implement the system Jason Burdick in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science and Jaimo Ahn and Samir Mehta of Penn Medicine. Henkenson’s research has also received the backing of the Department of Defense of the United States.