Medical Doctors, Scientists Take Stock
Of Lung Disease At APS Conference
Bioinformatics clarifies role of
genes and proteins
BETHESDA, MD (June 20, 2006) – When researchers
completed the human genome map in 2000, they still faced a complex
puzzle: What role does each of the 24,000 human genes and the thousands
more proteins they produce, play in various illnesses?
Researchers and medical doctors who deal with lung
disease will take stock of the progress toward answering that question
at The American Physiological Society conference “Physiological
Genomics and Proteomics of Lung Disease,” Nov. 2-5 in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. The conference comes amid giant leaps in knowledge of genes and
proteins and also in the face of recent advances in bioinformatics (the
use of computer hardware and software to analyze large amounts of
biological information).
It is now possible to find the proverbial needle in
a haystack by analyzing “tons of data,” said J. Usha Raj, the chief of
neonatology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, professor of pediatrics at
the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine and chair of the conference
organizing committee. Scientists are using these advances to identify
the genes and proteins implicated in diseases such as asthma and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), she said.
“This is a conference where the latest advances in
computer technology, genomics (the study of the hereditary information
encoded in the DNA) and proteomics (the study of proteins, which the
genes instruct the body to produce) are being applied to the treatment
and prevention of diseases,” Raj noted. “We have doctors who want to
jump in and take these basic science advances to the bedside.”
The conference will “provide a relaxed environment
where established researchers and young investigators alike can present
and examine the most recent experimental discoveries and discuss ways to
translate these discoveries for clinical use,” the organizers said.
Researchers and clinicians can use the information to fight diseases
such as:
-
Asthma, a chronic disease in
which the inside walls of the airways into and out of the lungs
become inflamed and narrow, reducing air flow, according to a
National Institutes of Health (NIH) web site.
-
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a
progressive disease marked by loss of lung function. COPD, which
includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is the fourth leading
cause of death in the U.S., the NIH said.
-
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a
life-threatening condition brought on by a major injury or
inflammation to the lung which causes fluid build up in the lung’s
air sacs. Common causes include pneumonia, septic shock, trauma,
aspiration of vomit, or chemical inhalation.
-
Pulmonary hypertension, an abnormally high blood
pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, according to the
American Heart Association. The high pressure makes it difficult for
the heart to pump blood through the lungs.
With the use of spectrometers and bioinformatics,
scientists can analyze samples from patients’ lungs to hone in on key
proteins that may play a role in a disease, picking them out from among
the thousands that an individual expresses, Raj explained. Once such
proteins are identified, scientists can find ways to block them, she
said.
The research is important even in environmental
lung diseases, such as black lung, which some people develop and others
do not, even under similar conditions. Researchers want to know if there
are genetic markers of susceptibility for these environmental diseases.
“This is a new era with the use of proteomics and
genomics,” Raj said. “It really is a new way of understanding disease.
We’re looking globally at the whole human body and how it interacts with
the environment.”
The conference will include symposia and poster
sessions presenting the latest in genomic and proteomic research in the
development of various lung diseases, including:
-
Airway and vascular diseases
-
Environmental lung disease
-
Acute lung injury and inflammation.
-
Approaches to developing potential therapeutic targets
Allen Cowley Jr., chairman and professor of
physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a former APS
president, will deliver the keynote address. Cowley is a prominent
researcher who has focused on hypertension and is editor-in-chief of
Physiological Genomics, published by The American Physiological Society.
David A. Schwartz, the director of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National
Institutes of Health, will deliver the featured presentation on
Saturday, November 4.
The media can attend this cutting-edge conference.
Reserve a place by contacting Christine Guilfoy,
cguilfoy@the-aps.org or at (301) 634-7253.
* * *
The
American Physiological Society was founded in 1887 to foster basic and
applied bioscience. The Bethesda, Maryland-based society has 10,500
members and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals containing almost 4,000
articles annually.
* * *
APS
provides a wide range of research, educational and career support and
programming to further the contributions of physiology to understanding
the mechanisms of diseased and healthy states. In 2004, APS received
the Presidential Award for Excellence in
Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).
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