Degenerative Diseases Archives - Sanford Burnham Prebys
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Remembering Dongxian Zhang

AuthorKristen Cusato
Date

March 31, 2017

Dongxian Zhang, PhD, our valued colleague, collaborator, mentor and friend, recently passed away after a long illness.

Dongxian had been with SBP since the fall of 1999. He came to us from Harvard Medical School. “He was a valued associate professor in our Degenerative Diseases Program and served as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pathology at UC San Diego since 2004,” says Kristiina Vuori, MD, PhD, president of SBP. “His positive and helpful personality will be missed and always remembered.”

“He told me he was surprised that he had been accepted to college, but that acceptance motivated him to go on to make major contributions to his chosen field of study,” says Randal Kaufman PhD, director of the Degenerative Diseases Program.

“When Dongxian shared the news about his diagnosis, he was incredibly brave and at peace with his life,” says Kaufman. “I will truly miss my friend. I will also miss the times we played golf. We enjoyed the camaraderie, which I will never forget.”

Dongxian made key advances in the study of motor neuron degeneration, including the discovery of novel neuroprotective factors and biomarkers of early events in disease pathology. Recent findings in collaboration with Huaxi Xu, PhD, professor at SBP, should be published soon and may lead to new diagnoses and treatments for motor neuron diseases.

Xu says he will remember his friend for his gentle demeanor and extreme dedication to his trainees. “Dongxian would never hesitate to jump into the lab to finish an experiment, calibrate instruments or perform molecular biology to help out members of his lab, as well as our lab,” Xu says. “His illness came as a surprise to everyone. He faced his sickness with great integrity and humor.”

“To me, he was more than a mentor for my work but also to my life,” says Lu-Lin Jiang, PhD, who worked in Dongxian’s lab. “He gave us much freedom to explore the beauty of the science. He took care of us like he took care of his own kids. When he was recovering from his first brain surgery, he told us he was not afraid of death, but he was worried about us. Later, he tried to help us to find new positions. Dongxian was the most positive person I have ever met.”

Dongxian leaves behind his wife Dong-Er Zhang and two sons, David and Phillip. We offer our sincere condolences to his family.

 

More about Dongxian Zhang

In 1969, during the Culture Revolution in China, Dongxian, like many students in big cities, was sent from Shanghai to a rural village to be “re-educated” by farmers. He was only 16 years old and had completed less than one year of middle school. When the Revolution ended in 1977, the Chinese government reopened enrollment for college entrance and Dongxian took the national college entrance exam. Using textbooks he borrowed from the headquarters of a local railroad, he taught himself enough middle and high school subjects to receive one of the top 10 exam scores in Yunnan province in 1978. He went on to study at Peking University, one of the most prestigious in China.

Dongxian was hoping to write a novel based on his life experience, but sadly this never happened.

Institute News

Research points to new way to prevent optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma

AuthorJessica Moore
Date

June 2, 2016

Over 3 million Americans have glaucoma, the group of eye diseases that damage the nerve that carries information from the eye to the brain. This damage slowly degrades patients’ vision, even with treatment. Current glaucoma drugs lower the pressure in the eye, which lessens the injury to the nerve, although it is not eliminated. Finding ways to protect the optic nerve could lead to treatments that are much more effective in preserving or restoring sight in glaucoma patients. Continue reading “Research points to new way to prevent optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma”

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Fine-tuning cellular energy increases longevity

AuthorJessica Moore
Date

February 25, 2016

New research from SBP has identified a protein that can extend the natural lifespan of C. elegans, a microscopic roundworm commonly used for research on aging and longevity. The findings, published in Cell Reports, expand what we know about the aging process and may lead to new ways to delay the onset of human age-related diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Continue reading “Fine-tuning cellular energy increases longevity”

Institute News

Teaching stem cells to build muscle

Authorjmoore
Date

February 18, 2016

Researchers in Alessandra Sacco’s lab have found a key to enhancing repair of damaged muscle. In work published in Cell Reports, they describe why fetal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are better at regenerating muscle compared to adult MuSCs. The research opens the door for new approaches to treat muscle diseases including muscular dystrophies, which affect approximately 50,000 people in the U.S., and muscle wasting associated with cancer and aging.

“We found that fetal MuSCs remodel their microenvironment by secreting specific proteins, and then examined whether that same microenvironment can encourage adult MuSCs to more efficiently generate new muscle. It does, which means that how adult MuSCs normally support muscle growth is not an intrinsic characteristic, but can be changed,” explained Matthew Tierney, a graduate student at SBP and first author of the study.

The proteins that fetal MuSCs secrete are part of the extracellular matrix (ECM), the meshwork of strand-like proteins and starches that make up the structure of MuSCs’ microenvironment. As fetal MuSCs mature into adult MuSCs, they take on different responsibilities and help change their microenvironment over time to support their distinct functions. Fetal MuSCs are geared toward creating new muscle, whereas adult MuSCs repair damaged muscle and self-replicate to sustain the pool of stem cells to mend future injuries.

In muscular dystrophies and muscle wasting, progressive degeneration overwhelms the regenerative capacity of adult MuSCs. The new study showing that adult MuSCs living in a microenvironment with fetal characteristics are better at regenerating muscle provides rationale for developing drugs that could trigger this transition.

“These results help explain the differences between the capacity of fetal and adult MuSCs to repair muscle. Such an understanding is urgently needed, as no treatments are yet available for muscular dystrophies and muscle-wasting disorders,” stated Alessandra Sacco, PhD, associate professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program at SBP and senior author of the study.

“Our findings fit with the growing appreciation of the importance of a cell’s structural and biochemical surroundings in influencing cellular behavior. Managing the microenvironment is an emerging approach to treat many diseases, from cancer to cardiovascular disease to neurodegeneration. We’re excited about the implications of our research for treating muscle diseases, and look forward to applying our conclusions toward development of therapies.”

The full text of the paper is available here.

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Randal Kaufman among world’s most influential biologists

Authorkcusato
Date

February 4, 2016

Thomson Reuters has announced the world’s most influential scientific minds, and for the second time since 2014, Randal Kaufman, Ph. D., professor and director of SBP’s Degenerative Disease Program, is on that list. Thomson Reuters created the list based on scientists who write the most reports that rank among the top 1 percent cited by other scientists between the years 2003 and 2013. Analysts looked at more than 120,000 papers and recognized close to 3000 scientists.

Continue reading “Randal Kaufman among world’s most influential biologists”

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Newly identified cause of motor neuron disease paves way for better treatments

Authorsgammon
Date

July 8, 2015

The discovery that a protein called membralin promotes the survival of motor neurons could potentially lead to novel therapies for severe, early-onset motor neuron disease, according to a recent study by SBP investigators. As reported recently in eLife, the researchers developed a novel mouse model for identifying therapeutic targets for a class of motor neuron disorders called distal hereditary motor neuropathies. Continue reading “Newly identified cause of motor neuron disease paves way for better treatments”

Institute News

Protecting pancreatic cells from stress could hold promise for treating diabetes

Authorsgammon
Date

April 21, 2015

 

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that affects about eight percent of adults worldwide, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. This disease interferes with the body’s ability to make or use a hormone called insulin, which is produced by beta cells in the pancreas. These cells eventually fail in many patients with type 2 diabetes, making insulin replacement therapy a necessity for survival. However, this treatment is imprecise, onerous and often promotes weight gain, highlighting the strong need for better treatment options. Continue reading “Protecting pancreatic cells from stress could hold promise for treating diabetes”

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A new approach to treating osteoarthritis

AuthorSusan Gammon
Date

January 20, 2015

In a recent collaborative research study between two brothers—one a rheumatologist and the other a medical engineer—novel shaped nanoparticles were able to deliver anti-osteoarthritis drugs directly to the cells that drive the onset and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). The findings show promise to improve the treatment options for the nearly 21 million Americans, 25 years of age and older, that suffer from this chronic, often debilitating disease. Continue reading “A new approach to treating osteoarthritis”

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Enzymes could be key for brain cancer and Alzheimer’s disease

AuthorGuest Blogger
Date

December 9, 2014

This post was written by Janelle Weaver, PhD, a freelance writer.

Animals ranging from fish to humans produce a vitamin-A metabolite called retinoic acid, which plays an important role in growth and embryonic development and protects against diseases such as cancer. By regulating the activity of key genes, retinoic acid causes immature cells called embryonic stem cells to turn into mature, specialized cells such as neurons. “Neurons—the building blocks of the nervous system—are particularly important cell types in therapy, due to the fact that they normally don’t reproduce or replace themselves after they become damaged,” said Laszlo Nagy, MD, PhD, director of the Genomic Control of Metabolism Program and professor in the Diabetes and Obesity Research Center at Sanford-Burnham’s Lake Nona campus. “Despite their crucial role, we still have a limited understanding regarding the molecular programs that coordinate their functionality.” Continue reading “Enzymes could be key for brain cancer and Alzheimer’s disease”

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What’s the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.? Alzheimer’s disease.

Authorsgammon
Date

November 7, 2014

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. If you know nine people over the age of 65, at least one of them has Alzheimer’s disease. Learn 10 facts about the disease that may change your life, and check out highlights of how Sanford-Burnham is contributing to the efforts to diagnose, prevent, and treat this devastating disease. Continue reading “What’s the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.? Alzheimer’s disease.”