(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers have uncovered molecular signals that regulate catch-up growth---the growth spurt that occurs when normal conditions are restored after a fetus, young animal or child has been ill, under stress or deprived of enough food or oxygen to grow properly.
The results, published in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Development, could lead to better understanding of why babies who undergo catch-up growth are at higher risk in later life for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and other health problems.
"Catch-up growth is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom, from humans down to little fish and worms," said Cunming Duan, U-M professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology. "But biologists have known very little about the molecular signals that coordinate this phenomenon."
Duan and co-workers suspected that a group of hormones called insulin-like growth factors (IGFs)---known to be important in normal growth and development and also implicated in cancer and aging---might be involved. Like other peptide and protein hormones, IGFs work by binding to receptors on the cells they target. The binding then sets off a cascade of reactions that ultimately direct the cell to do something.
"Since we were dealing with a type of growth, it made sense to look at the main growth regulators," Duan said.
Also, in research published in 2010, Duan's group found that altering oxygen levels in muscle cells changed the chemical signal of IGF. Knowing that catch-up growth can be triggered by changing oxygen levels, the researchers reasoned that IGF might mediate the process.
Using zebrafish as a model system, Duan's group did a series of experiments. First, they simply monitored growth and IGF signaling in fish embryos grown in water in which the oxygen concentration was reduced for a time and then restored. As expected, growth was suppressed when oxygen was low, but the fish caught up with a growth spurt when oxygen was restored to normal levels. Interestingly, IGF signals changed in concert with oxygen levels.
Next the researchers repeated the low-oxygen, normal-oxygen experiment with a different twist: They blocked IGF signaling in the fish embryos, using either genetic methods or pharmacological inhibitors.
"We found that if you block IGF signaling, the animal cannot catch up," Duan said. "From this we learned that the IGF signal is not only changing, but that the change is really necessary for the animal to catch up."
Duan's group went on to investigate the specific biochemical pathways involved. They found that one, called the MAP kinase pathway, is critical for catch-up growth. However, it may not be the only pathway that figures in, and the specific pathway used may depend on circumstances.
"You can think of it like your route to work. Maybe you normally take I-94, but if it's blocked, you use other routes that you normally don't use," Duan said.
In future research, Duan's group wants to explore the long-term effects of changes in the IGF-MAP kinase pathway that are related to catch-up growth.
"If we find lasting changes, we may be able to figure out ways of intervening to reduce the risk of associated health problems that develop later in life," Duan said.
INFORMATION:
In addition to Duan, the paper's authors are postdoctoral fellow Hiroyasu Kamei, former postdoctoral fellow Yonghe Ding, former graduate student Shingo Kajimura, graduate student Michael Wells and former undergraduate student Peter Chiang.
Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellowship program.
Cunming Duan: www.mcdb.lsa.umich.edu/faculty_cduan.html
Developmen: http://dev.biologists.org
'Catch-up' growth signals revealed
2011-01-29
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Mini-strokes leave 'hidden' brain damage: Vancouver Coastal Health and UBC Research
2011-01-29
Each year, approximately 150,000 Canadians have a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes known as a mini-stroke. New research published today in Stroke, the journal of the American Heart Association shows these attacks may not be transient at all. They in fact create lasting damage to the brain.
The stroke research team, led by Dr. Lara Boyd, physical therapist and neuroscientist with the Brain Research Centre at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia, studied 13 patients from the Stroke Prevention Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital and ...
AGU journal highlights -- Jan. 27, 2011
2011-01-29
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) and Water Resources Research (WRR).
In this release:
China's lakes changed dramatically in recent decades
Climate commitment in an uncertain world
New satellite data improve estimates of ocean circulation
Reversals in Saturn's polar radio emissions
Modeling an asteroid's giant impact crater
Tectonic plates relocked after 2005 earthquake in northeastern Japan
Links to rivers affect Arctic lake habitat diversity in Canada
More accurate ...
Victor Chang scientists unlock the 'gates' on sudden cardiac death
2011-01-29
Australian researchers have come one step closer to understanding how the rhythm of the heartbeat is controlled and why many common drugs, including some antibiotics, antihistamines and anti-psychotics, can cause a potentially fatal abnormal heart rhythm.
It is estimated around 40-50% of all drugs in development will block one of the main 'channels' that carries electricity in the heart and, as a result, can cause heart rhythm problems called cardiac arrhythmias. Most sudden cardiac deaths are caused by cardiac arrhythmias.
Since 1996, nine drugs have been withdrawn ...
ONR's TechSolutions providing SEALs with new glasses that change lens color on the fly
2011-01-29
ARLINGTON, Va. - The Office of Naval Research's (ONR) TechSolutions department is set to deliver to Navy Special Warfare Command personnel later this year new protective eyewear that will eliminate the need for warfighters to stop to change out colored lenses to accommodate differences in light levels.
The Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear (FTPE) changes color quicker than transitional lenses commonly found at an optometrist's office. "Transition time is less than 0.5 seconds," said Stephanie Everett, ONR's TechSolutions program manager.
"Currently, warfighters are using ...
Vitamin D deficiency alters lung growth and decreases lung function
2011-01-29
Previously linked to the severity of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in humans, vitamin D deficiency has now been shown to alter lung structure and function in young mice. The new study, conducted by researchers in Australia, offers the first concrete evidence linking vitamin D deficiency with deficits in lung function and altered lung structure.
The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"The results of this study clearly demonstrate ...
Hormone therapy begun at menopause may pose risk for breast cancer
2011-01-29
Starting hormone therapy at around the time of menopause is associated with a greater risk of breast cancer compared to starting after a longer gap, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In this large, prospectively followed cohort of women, those who started hormone therapy five years or more after menopause had little or no increased risk, regardless of the type of hormone therapy used, how long they used it, and whether they were overweight or obese.
Many studies have established that breast cancer incidence ...
'Old' information theory makes it easier to predict flooding
2011-01-29
Many different aspects are involved in predicting high water and floods, such as the type of precipitation, wind, buildings and vegetation. The greater the number of variables included in predictive models, the better the prediction will be. However, the models will inevitably become increasingly more complex. PhD student from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft, The Netherlands) Steven Weijs uses basic insight from the information theory (Shannon's Information Theory) to demonstrate the cohesion between this added complexity, the information from observational data ...
Exposure to worm infection in the womb may protect against eczema, study suggests
2011-01-29
Exposure to worm infections in the womb may protect a newborn infant from developing eczema, a study funded by the Wellcome Trust suggests. A large trial in Uganda showed that treating a pregnant woman for worm infections increased her child's chances of developing the allergic skin disease.
Published this week in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, the research supports the so-called 'hygiene hypothesis', which proposes that exposure to infections in early childhood can modify the immune system and protect the child from allergies later in life.
The World ...
Cancer drug aids the regeneration of spinal cord injuries
2011-01-29
After a spinal cord injury a number of factors impede the regeneration of nerve cells. Two of the most important of these factors are the destabilization of the cytoskeleton and the development of scar tissue. While the former prevents regrowth of cells, the latter creates a barrier for severed nerve cells. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried and their colleagues from the Kennedy Krieger Institute and University of Miami in the United States, and the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, have now shown that the cancer drug Taxol reduces ...
Fast growth, low defense -- plants facing a dilemma
2011-01-29
Plants are attacked by a multitude of insects and mammals. As defense against these herbivores they developed complex defense mechanisms over the course of evolution: spines, thorns, leaf hairs and a number of toxic chemical substances. For decades it has been controversially discussed whether the production of defense traits incurs costs to the plants. Now, using a new method the ecologists and plant biologists of the University of Zürich together with their American colleagues demonstrate these costs accurately in a Proceedings of the Royal Society article.
For their ...