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Dr. David Threadgill, professor and department head of genetics, is relatively new to NC State, but not new to producing groundbreaking research findings.

In the past few months, he and colleagues have published papers suggesting new ways of thinking about old problems, including a new target for colon-cancer drugs and a cheaper and possibly more effective way to predict toxic side effects of drugs on humans.

Like horror films in which victims haplessly fire ammunition into a vampire’s skull, Threadgill and colleagues found that current colon-cancer treatments might be aiming at the wrong target. Rather than focus on epidermal growth factor receptors, or molecules commonly targeted in other types of cancers – a strategy that is not very effective in colon-cancer treatment – Threadgill finds a new molecular receptor target by blocking a “cousin” receptor in mice and showing that these particular mice don’t develop colon cancer.

If it stops the bad guy in mice, it might just stop the bad guy in humans.

To study ways of predicting drug toxicity on humans, Threadgill and colleagues published a paper in Genome Research that found a genetic marker linked to the risk of acetaminophen-induced liver injury in mice. They then examined the gene’s counterparts in humans, and found a specific gene associated with possible liver injury. Although the gene’s role in liver toxicity in humans is not yet known, Threadgill’s method of using corollaries of animal model genes represent a new way of predicting the side effects drugs will have on humans.

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew that Tylenol was bad for your health before you took it?

To ensure campus safety and security, university parking lots and decks adjacent to Hillsborough Street will be staffed and require an NC State parking permit and/or campus identification (student/faculty/staff ID) starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Wolfprowl, Werewolf and Route 2 (North Campus Reverse) bus routes will run with normal service. However, please check the TVS system for real-time bus locations as there may be schedule delays due to increased Hillsborough Street vehicle and pedestrian traffic related to Halloween celebrations. For more information, visit the Wolfline site.

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North Carolina State University officials will break ground on a new state-of-the-art library for its Centennial Campus that, through its innovative design and technological sophistication, will set the standard for 21st century university libraries.

The 200,000-square-foot Hunt Library, named for former North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.,  will help alleviate overcrowded conditions in university library spaces, effectively doubling the number of study seats on campus. It will contain an automated book-retrieval system – saving valuable space normally consumed by book “stacks” – and the latest learning and computer technologies to assist students. Appropriations for the project are $115 million.

The groundbreaking event will take place at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, in the oval behind College of Engineering Buildings I and II on Centennial Campus. Media coverage is invited; media parking is available on Oval Drive, which can be accessed from Centennial Parkway.

The groundbreaking is part of the university’s celebration of Centennial Campus’ 25th anniversary. The 1,334-acre Centennial Campus serves as NC State’s research park, and includes more than 120 government, industry and university partners who work collaboratively to solve problems and make societal advancements.

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Assistant professor of food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences can discuss some easy ways to combat the “Freshman 15.”

Read more about this expert.

Director of professional education can comment on the recent U.S. Dept. of Education’s call to produce teachers prepared for 21st century education.

Read more about this expert.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a genetic “switch” in fruit flies that plays an important role in making flies more tolerant to alcohol.

This metabolic switch also has implications for the deadly liver disease cirrhosis in humans. A counterpart human gene contributes to a shift from metabolizing alcohol to the formation of fat in heavy drinkers. This shift can lead to fatty liver syndrome – a precursor to cirrhosis.

In the study, published in the October print issue of the journal Genetics, the research team measured the time it takes for flies to stagger due to alcohol intake while simultaneously identifying changes in the expression of all their genes. They used statistical methods to identify genes that work together to help the flies adapt to alcohol exposure. In looking at corresponding human genes, a counterpart gene called ME1 was associated with alcohol consumption in humans, as people with certain variations of the gene showed a tendency to drink stronger alcoholic beverages.

Dr. Robert Anholt, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Biology and Genetics at NC State and the senior author of the study, says the research has possible clinical implications.

“Our findings point to metabolic pathways associated with proclivity for alcohol consumption that may ultimately be implicated in excessive drinking,” he said. “Translational studies like this one, in which discoveries from model organisms can be applied to insights in human biology, can help us understand the balance between nature and nurture, why we behave the way we do, and – for better or worse – what makes us tick.”

Anholt conducted the study with Dr. Tatiana Morozova, a post-doctoral researcher in biology; Dr. Trudy Mackay, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished University Professor of Genetics; Dr. Eric Stone, an assistant professor of statistics; and graduate student Julien F. Ayroles. Researchers from Boston University’s School of Medicine also contributed to the study.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, a unit of the National Institutes of Health.

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Note: An abstract of the paper follows.

“Alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila: translational potential of systems genetics”

Authors: Tatiana V. Morozova, Julien F. Ayroles, Katherine W. Jordan, Laura H. Duncan, Mary Anna Carbone, Richard F. Lyman, Eric A. Stone, Robert R.H. Anholt, Trudy F.C. Mackay, North Carolina State University; Diddahally R. Govindaraju, R. Curtis Ellison, Boston University

Published: October 2009 in Genetics

Abstract: Identification of risk alleles for human behavioral disorders through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has been hampered by a daunting multiple testing problem. This problem can be circumvented for some phenotypes by combining genome-wide studies in model organisms with subsequent candidate gene association analyses in human populations. Here, we characterized genetic networks that underlie the response to ethanol exposure in Drosophila melanogaster by measuring ethanol knock-down time in 40 wild-derived inbred Drosophila lines. We associated phenotypic variation in ethanol responses with genome-wide variation in gene expression and identified modules of correlated transcripts associated with a first and second exposure to ethanol vapors as well as the induction of tolerance. We validated the computational networks and assessed their robustness by transposon-mediated disruption of focal genes within modules in a laboratory inbred strain, followed by measurements of transcript abundance of connected genes within the module. Many genes within the modules have human orthologues, which provides a stepping stone for the identification of candidate genes associated with alcohol drinking behavior in human populations. We demonstrated the potential of this translational approach by identifying seven intronic SNPs of the Malic Enzyme 1 (ME1) gene that are associated with cocktail drinking in 1,687 individuals of the Framingham Offspring cohort, implicating that variation in levels of cytoplasmic malic enzyme may contribute to variation in alcohol consumption.

North Carolina State University engineers have created a new material that would allow a fingernail-size computer chip to store the equivalent of 20 high-definition DVDs or 250 million pages of text, far exceeding the storage capacities of today’s computer memory systems. Continue Reading »