China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) — Despite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's U.S. levels by 2040, according to a new energy study by the Baker Institute.

The study's authors said this finding has timely significance because China's growing energy use could continue to pose a major challenge for global climate deliberations in South Africa this week.

The study, "The Rise of China and Its Energy Implications," finds that China's recent efforts at centralizing energy policy do not appear to be significantly more successful than the makeshift patchwork of energy initiatives devised by the United States. In fact, the study said, the U.S. system of open and competitive private sector investment is stimulating more innovation in the American energy sector than in the Chinese energy industry, especially in the area of unconventional oil and gas.

That, ironically, is attracting Chinese state investment to U.S. shores and prompting Beijing to consider further opening of its oil and gas exploration activities to partnerships with U.S. firms, the study said.

China, like the United States, has substantial potential shale gas resources but faces technical, regulatory and market infrastructure challenges that are likely to delay rapid development. Were China to mobilize investments in shale gas more quickly, the study said, it could greatly reduce the country's expected large import needs for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia and the Middle East and contribute to a future glut in global natural gas markets.

Despite sporadic government policies to discourage private car ownership, the growth in the number of vehicles on the road in China has more than quadrupled in recent years to more than 50 million. The Baker Institute report projects that this number could increase to more than 200 million vehicles by 2020 and 770 million by 2040 under a scenario where China's real gross domestic product growth averages 6 percent between now and 2030. Even under a scenario where the number of electric cars rises to 5 million a year by 2030, which is in line with ambitious targets announced by China's National Development and Reform Commission, China's oil use from the transportation sector will grow significantly, the Baker Institute study said.

"Given the scale of vehicle stock growth in China, it is going to be extremely difficult to move the needle of the country's rising transport fuel outlook," said Kenneth Medlock, a study author and the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute.

The study noted that China's "going abroad" strategy has also encountered recent difficulties in light of geopolitical events and rising global political risks in oil-producing regions.

"China is learning that owning equity oil in risky regions may not be as effective an energy security strategy as it had previously imagined," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an author of the study and the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute. "China is now finding itself mired in more energy-related foreign diplomacy than it bargained for.

"But this could be good news for the United States," Jaffe said. "It may mean China will be more inclined to act in concert with other members of the international community in conflict-prone regions."

The study noted that China has tried to offset some of this risk by increasing investments in the United States and Canada, which gives the U.S. more leverage in seeking China's collaboration in international diplomatic matters.

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NASA's Swift finds a gamma-ray burst with a dual personality

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — A peculiar cosmic explosion first detected by NASA's Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was caused either by a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home, within our own galaxy. Papers describing both interpretations appear in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Nature.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the universe's most luminous explosions, emitting more energy in a few seconds than our sun will during its entire energy-producing lifetime. What astronomers are calling the "Christmas burst" is so unusual that it can be modeled in such radically different ways.

"What the Christmas burst seems to be telling us is that the family of gamma-ray bursts is more diverse than we fully appreciate," said Christina Thoene, the supernova study's lead author, at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain. It's only by rapidly detecting hundreds of them, as Swift is doing, that we can catch some of the more eccentric siblings."

Common to both scenarios is the presence of a neutron star, the crushed core that forms when a star many times the sun's mass explodes. When the star's fuel is exhausted, it collapses under its own weight, compressing its core so much that about a half-million times Earth's mass is squeezed into a sphere no larger than a city.

The Christmas burst, also known as GRB 101225A, was discovered in the constellation Andromeda by Swift's Burst Alert Telescope at 1:38 p.m. EST on Dec. 25, 2010. The gamma-ray emission lasted at least 28 minutes, which is unusually long. Follow-up observations of the burst's afterglow by the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories were unable to determine the object's distance.

Thoene's team proposes that the burst occurred in an exotic binary system where a neutron star orbited a normal star that had just entered its red giant phase, enormously expanding its outer atmosphere. This expansion engulfed the neutron star, resulting in both the ejection of the giant's atmosphere and rapid tightening of the neutron star's orbit.

Once the two stars became wrapped in a common envelope of gas, the neutron star may have merged with the giant's core after just five orbits, or about 18 months. The end result of the merger was the birth of a black hole and the production of oppositely directed jets of particles moving at nearly the speed of light, followed by a weak supernova.

The particle jets produced gamma rays. Jet interactions with gas ejected before the merger explain many of the burst's signature oddities. Based on this interpretation, the event took place about 5.5 billion light-years away, and the team has detected what may be a faint galaxy at the right location.

"Deep exposures using Hubble may settle the nature of this object," said Sergio Campana, who led the collision study at Brera Observatory in Merate, Italy.

If it is indeed a galaxy, that would be evidence for the binary model. On the other hand, if NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory finds an X-ray point source or if radio telescopes detect a pulsar, that goes against it.

Campana's team supports an alternative model that involves the tidal disruption of a large comet-like object and the ensuing crash of debris onto a neutron star located only about 10,000 light-years away. The scenario requires the break-up of an object with about half the mass of the dwarf planet Ceres. While rare in the asteroid belt, such objects are thought to be common in the icy Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. Similar objects located far away from the neutron star may have survived the supernova that formed it.

Gamma-ray emission occurred when debris fell onto the neutron star. Clumps of cometary material likely made a few orbits, with different clumps following different paths before settling into a disk around the neutron star. X-ray variations detected by Swift's X-Ray Telescope that lasted several hours may have resulted from late-arriving clumps that struck the neutron star as the disk formed.

In the early years of studying GRBs, astronomers had very few events to study in detail and dozens of theories to explain them. In the Swift era, astronomers have settled into two basic scenarios, either the collapse of a massive star or the merger of a compact binary system.

"The beauty of the Christmas burst is that we must invoke two exotic scenarios to explain it, but such rare oddballs will help us advance the field," said Chryssa Kouveliotou, a co-author of the supernova study at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

NASA's Swift was launched in November 2004 and is managed by Goddard. It is operated in collaboration with several U.S. institutions and partners in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Japan.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

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Journal References:

C. C. Thöne, A. de Ugarte Postigo, C. L. Fryer, K. L. Page, J. Gorosabel, M. A. Aloy, D. A. Perley, C. Kouveliotou, H. T. Janka, P. Mimica, J. L. Racusin, H. Krimm, J. Cummings, S. R. Oates, S. T. Holland, M. H. Siegel, M. De Pasquale, E. Sonbas, M. Im, W.-K. Park, D. A. Kann, S. Guziy, L. Hernández García, A. Llorente, K. Bundy, C. Choi, H. Jeong, H. Korhonen, P. Kubànek, J. Lim, A. Moskvitin, T. Muñoz-Darias, S. Pak, I. Parrish. The unusual ?-ray burst GRB 101225A from a helium star/neutron star merger at redshift 0.33. Nature, 2011; 480 (7375): 72 DOI: 10.1038/nature10611S. Campana, G. Lodato, P. D’Avanzo, N. Panagia, E. M. Rossi, M. Della Valle, G. Tagliaferri, L. A. Antonelli, S. Covino, G. Ghirlanda, G. Ghisellini, A. Melandri, E. Pian, R. Salvaterra, G. Cusumano, V. D’Elia, D. Fugazza, E. Palazzi, B. Sbarufatti, S. D.Vergani. The unusual gamma-ray burst GRB 101225A explained as a minor body falling onto a neutron star. Nature, 2011; 480 (7375): 69 DOI: 10.1038/nature10592

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Age-old remedies using white tea, witch hazel and rose may be beneficial, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) — Age-old remedies could hold the key to treating a wide range of serious medical problems, as well as keeping skin firmer and less wrinkled, according to scientists from London's Kingston University. A collaboration between the university and British beauty brand Neal's Yard Remedies has seen experts discover that white tea, witch hazel and the simple rose hold potential health and beauty properties which could be simply too good to ignore.

The research suggests a number of naturally-occurring substances may offer the hope of new treatments to block the progression of inflammation. It is credited with a major role in both the initiation and development of diseases ranging from cancer, diabetes and arthritis through to neuro-degenerative conditions and cardiovascular and pulmonary problems.

"For thousands of years people used natural remedies to try -- and sometimes succeed -- in curing their ailments and preserving their youth," Professor Declan Naughton, from the University's School of Life Sciences, said. "Now the latest research we have carried out suggests a number of naturally-occurring substances may offer the hope of new treatments to block the progression of inflammation."

Inflammation is credited with a major role in both the initiation and development of diseases ranging from cancer, diabetes and arthritis through to neuro-degenerative conditions and cardiovascular and pulmonary problems. It is also implicated in premature aging and early death. "Inflammation is a secret killer -- helping arrest its development, or being able to stop it happening at all, would clearly be of benefit," Professor Naughton explained.

The new study builds on work undertaken by Professor Naughton and Kingston University PhD student Tamsyn Thring, along with the technical team from Neal's Yard. They tested 21 plant extracts for evidence of their efficiency in fighting cancer and also in the battle against aging. Of the 21 extracts, three -- white tea, witch hazel and rose -- showed considerable potential, with white tea displaying the most marked results. "Indeed it appeared that drinking a simple cup of white tea might well help reduce an individual's risk of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or even just age-associated wrinkles," Professor Naughton said.

Spurred on by their laboratory findings, the team members decided to take the work further to see if they could replicate the results in human skin cells, looking more closely at the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity of the three extracts.

Using human skin cells as their model, the researchers added three different concentrations of white tea (freeze dried powder), witch hazel (dried herb) and rose extract (in a medicinal tincture form) to see what effect the mixtures might have on suppressing rogue enzymes and oxidants which play a key role in helping inflammation develop, as well as aging the skin. "As the largest organ in the body, the skin provides a barrier against UV radiation, chemicals, microbes and physical pollutants," Ms Thring said. "Challenges like this can contribute to both inflammation and skin aging.

"We also know that when inflammation starts -- be it a simple cut to a finger or in an arthritic joint -- the body starts producing a compound called interleukin 8, which helps the process along. We began wondering if there was a way we could switch that signal off, thereby blocking the inflammation's progress."

Even though the team's previous research had intimated there might be some promising results ahead, the experts were astonished to see just how good the various concentrations of the three extracts were at doing the job.

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Tamsyn SA Thring, Pauline Hili, Declan P Naughton. Antioxidant and potential anti-inflammatory activity of extracts and formulations of white tea, rose, and witch hazel on primary human dermal fibroblast cells. Journal of Inflammation, 2011; 8 (1): 27 DOI: 10.1186/1476-9255-8-27

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Timing is everything: Bacterial attachment mimics just-in-time industrial model

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — n the human world of manufacturing, many companies are now applying an on-demand, just-in-time strategy to conserve resources, reduce costs and promote production of goods precisely when and where they are most needed. A recent study from Indiana University Bloomington scientists reveals that bacteria have evolved a similar just-in-time strategy to constrain production of an extremely sticky cement to exactly the appropriate time and place, avoiding wasteful and problematic production of the material.

Indiana University biologists and two physicists at Brown University with IU connections have shown that certain bacteria wait until the last minute to synthesize the glue that allows them to attach permanently to surfaces. Binding efficiently to surfaces is extremely important to bacteria in the environment and for bacterial disease agents during the infection process.

The researchers found that bacteria -- including the freshwater bacterium Caulobacter crescentus and the agricultural pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- first connect to a surface with the cellular equivalents of propellers and cables and that this initial, reversible contact stimulates the synthesis of a sticky glue. This holdfast adhesin, which is composed of polysaccharide sugar molecules, is then released only at the site of surface contact to irreversibly attach the bacteria to host surfaces.

The study, "Surface contact stimulates the just-in-time deployment of bacterial adhesins," was published earlier this month in Molecular Microbiology . It describes how single bacterial cells use their flagella (the propellers) and pili (the cables) to facilitate the timely release of adhesive polysaccharides upon initial contact with other surfaces.

Microbiologists are generally interested in bacterial adhesion and formation of complex microbial communities called biofilms that can clog pipes, slow down ships and establish antibiotic-resistant infections. Efficient surface attachment strategies are advantageous to bacteria as they can increase nutrient access and resistance to environmental stress, including host defenses.

"For bacteria, surface attachment by single cells is the first step to important processes such as biofilm formation and host infection," said IU microbiologist Pamela Brown, one of the project's lead authors. "What we found is that the interaction of bacterial cells with a surface using their flagellum and pili stimulates the on-the-spot production of polysaccharide adhesins, propelling the transition from transient to permanent attachment."

The new findings also suggest that pathogenic bacteria may carefully time adhesin release to protect themselves from premature exposure to a host's immune system during infection.

The team used cutting-edge, high-resolution video microscopy to observe the single-cell attachment process in real time in the presence of a fluorescent stain that decorates the adhesive polysaccharide. They found that when Caulobacter cells are propelled to a surface by their rotating propeller-like single flagellum, the flagellar motor stopped immediately upon contact with the surface. Inhibition of flagellar rotation was quickly followed by the production of the holdfast polysaccharide adhesin, specifically from the cell pole containing the now inactive flagellum, and in contact with the surface.

"We knew that cable-like pili are present at the same pole of the cell as the flagellum, and we hypothesized that they played a key role in the process by interacting with the surface, thereby preventing the free rotation of the flagellum," said IU microbiologist Yves Brun, the project's principal investigator. Indeed, when the team made a mutation that abolished the pili, the cells became tethered to the surface by their flagellum, but its rotation continued and the cell eventually detached.

The team hypothesizes that just-in-time adhesin production may be a general phenomenon since they obtained similar results with two other bacterial species, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Asticcacaulis biprosthecum.

"What is striking is that we found that this mechanism does more than stimulate binding to inert surfaces. It also operates when the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens binds to host tissue," said IU microbiologist Clay Fuqua, who recently discovered the holdfast-type adhesin used by this bacterium to attach to plant tissue. "We think that the ability to rapidly deploy this permanent adhesin may be advantageous for swimming cells attempting to colonize a favorable environment."

Since pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa also attach by their pole prior to their transition from reversible to irreversible attachment, the authors hypothesize that this mechanism could also be at play during the infection process.

"Once we know more about the details of this mechanism, we may be able to design drugs that prevent this adhesin stimulation, therefore reducing the efficiency of infections," Brown said.

Research from Brun's laboratory and that of Brown University physicist Jay Tang on bacterial glues published in 2006 received international attention after they showed that the holdfast "glue" released by the tiny Caulobacter cells was the strongest in nature with a pulling force of 1 micronewton, equivalent to holding three or four cars with glue spread on the surface of a quarter.

"For such a strong adhesive, it may be important to avoid producing it too early because it might lose its efficiency, or it might get the cells irreversibly bound to the wrong surface. The analogy to the human world is amazing: You don't apply glue hours before you want to use it because it cures and hardens," Brun said.

Timing is everything, and with just-in-time adhesive production, cells have a better chance for efficient surface interaction and colonization because the two main factors in reducing adhesion -- curing and coating of glue with small particles -- are inhibitory mechanisms that require time to decrease adhesiveness. The on-the-spot production of adhesins circumvents this problem.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Indiana University Faculty Research Support Program and the Indiana METACyt Initiative of IU.

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Guanglai Li, Pamela J. B. Brown, Jay X. Tang, Jing Xu, Ellen M. Quardokus, Clay Fuqua, Yves V. Brun. Surface contact stimulates the just-in-time deployment of bacterial adhesins. Molecular Microbiology, 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07909.x

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From gene to function: Genome wide study into new gene functions in the formation of platelets

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — In a study into the genetics of blood cell formation, researchers have identified 68 regions of the genome that affect the size and number of platelets. Platelets are small cells that circulate in the blood and are key to the processes of blood clotting and wound healing.

In this genome-wide study, the team used a multidisciplinary approach to successfully identify new genetic variants involved in the formation of platelets and more importantly, defined the function of genes near these variants using a series of biological analyses.

Abnormally high or low platelet counts can lead to disease. An increase in the number of platelets, or an increase in their size can lead to an increased risk for thrombotic events, like heart attacks and strokes. A very low number of platelets or platelets that do not function well, increases the risk of bleeding.

"This is a detective story starting with the initial genetic discovery and allowing us to identify new genes that could contribute to platelet associated diseases," says Professor Willem H Ouwehand, senior co-author at the University of Cambridge and NHS Blood and Transplant. "Our aim of this genome-wide meta-analysis study was to discover which genes control the size and number of platelets, to understand how these genes instruct blood stem cells to orchestrate every day the formation of billions of platelets and finally to investigate whether genes associated with heart attacks and strokes overlap with the genes that affect platelet formation."

In this collaborative study, the team first developed a prioritisation strategy that allowed them to identify and pinpoint the genes underlying the formation of platelets through biological annotations of these genes. This effort laid the foundation for the construction of a protein-protein interaction network that shows how the different genetic players interact. Finally, they analysed the role of the genes in model organisms and found their function to be conserved in evolution.

The researchers found the newly identified genes associated with platelet characteristics overlap with other genes implicated in inherited bleeding disorders. This genetic overlap suggests that this study may help discover new genes implicated in severe forms of bleeding disorders, providing evidence that the new findings will be significant in clinical research for improvements in the care of patients.

This study involved about 68,000 individuals from different ancestries (European, South & East Asian) making it the largest genome-wide meta-analysis study to be conducted globally on platelet number and volume.

"This is the largest dataset of this type ever produced, and yields a wealth of new exciting biological discoveries and insights into the genetic control of blood cell formation," says Dr Nicole Soranzo,senior co-author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Our findings will be relevant not only to better understand the mechanisms leading to the formation of blood cells, but also to pinpoint new genes involved in diseases with altered blood clotting."

The team examined the role of the genes they identified in the fruit fly and zebrafish. They found that reducing the activity of one of these genes, ARHGEF3, in fish abrogates not only the production of platelets but also of red blood cells because the blood forming cells cannot capture iron. The study has shown that the human equivalent, ARHGEF3 gene is an important new regulator of the uptake of iron from the diet.

Tropomyosin 1 is a member of a family of genes already known to be involved in the regulation of muscle contraction and plays a role in heart disease. This study found a novel role for this well-known protein in platelet formation.

"This study provides a paradigm for how to successfully translate genome-wide association studies into function" says Dr Christian Gieger, senior co-author from the Institute of Genetic Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Center Munich."We have shown that biologic and functional annotation can greatly enhance our ability to interpret genetic data."

"These genes could be used in the future as new targets to develop better and safer platelet inhibitors for treatments of patients with heart attacks or strokes."

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Christian Gieger et al. New gene functions in megakaryopoiesis and platelet formation. Nature, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/nature10659

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In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom'

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — An otherwise nondescript binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova.

The study, submitted in a paper to the Astrophysical Journal, provides the latest result from an Ohio State University galaxy survey underway with the Large Binocular Telescope, located in Arizona.

In the first survey of its kind, the researchers have been scanning 25 nearby galaxies for stars that brighten and dim in unusual ways, in order to catch a few that are about to meet their end. In the three years since the study began, this particular unnamed binary system in the Whirlpool Galaxy was the first among the stars they've cataloged to produce a supernova.

The astronomers were trying to find out if there are patterns of brightening or dimming that herald the end of a star's life. Instead, they saw one star in this binary system dim noticeably before the other one exploded in a supernova during the summer of 2011.

Though they're still sorting through the data, it's likely that they didn't get any direct observations of the star that exploded -- only its much brighter partner.

Yet, principal investigator Christopher Kochanek, professor of astronomy at Ohio State and the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Observational Cosmology, does not regard this first result as a disappointment. Rather, it's a proof of concept.

"Our underlying goal is to look for any kind of signature behavior that will enable us to identify stars before they explode," he said. "It's a speculative goal at this point, but at least now we know that it's possible."

"Maybe stars give off a clear signal of impending doom, maybe they don't," said study co-author Krzystof Stanek, professor of astronomy at Ohio State, "But we'll learn something new about dying stars no matter the outcome."

Postdoctoral researcher Dorota Szczygiel, who led the study of this supernova, explained why the galaxy survey is important.

"The odds are extremely low that we would just happen to be observing a star for several years before it went supernova. We would have to be extremely lucky," she said.

"With this galaxy survey, we're making our own luck. We're studying all the variable stars in 25 galaxies, so that when one of them happens go supernova, we've already compiled data on it." The supernova, labeled 2011dh, was first detected on May 31 and is still visible in telescopes. It originated from a binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy -- also known as M51, one of the galaxies that the Ohio State astronomers have been observing for three years.

The system is believed to have contained one very bright blue star and one even brighter red star. From what the astronomers can tell, it's likely that the red star is the one that dimmed over the three years, before the blue star initiated the supernova.

When the Ohio State researchers reviewed the Large Binocular Telescope data as well as Hubble Space Telescope images of M51, they saw that the red star had dimmed by about 10 percent over three years, at a pace of three percent per year.

Szczygiel believes that the red star likely survived its partner's supernova.

"After the light from the explosion fades away, we should be able to see the companion that did not explode," she said.

As astronomers gather data from more supernovae -- Kochanek speculates that as many as one per year could emerge from their data set -- they could assemble a kind of litmus test to predict whether a particular star is near death. Whether it's going to spawn a supernova or shrink into a black hole, there may be particular signals visible on the surface, and this study has shown that those signals are detectable.

The team won't be watching our sun for any changes, however. At less than 10 percent of the mass of the star in supernova 2011dh, our star will most likely meet a very boring end.

"There'll be no supernova for our sun -- it'll just fizzle out," Kochanek said. "But that's okay -- you don't want to live around an exciting star."

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

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Researchers examine role of inflammatory mechanisms in a healing heart

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that an inflammatory mechanism known as inflammasome may lead to more damage in the heart following injury such as a heart attack, pointing researchers toward developing more targeted strategies to block the inflammatory mechanisms involved.

Following a heart attack, an inflammatory process occurs in the heart due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients. This process helps the heart to heal, but may also promote further damage to the heart. The mechanisms by which the heart responds to injury are not fully understood, so researchers have been examining the cellular pathways involved to gain further insight.

In a study published online the week of Nov. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers addressed the role of a specific inflammatory mechanism, called inflammasome, during the process of healing in the heart. Using an animal model, the team found that inflammasome amplifies the response by generating the production of a key inflammatory mediator known as Interleukin-1ß. Further, they described that pharmacologic inhibition of the formation of inflammasome prevents heart enlargement and dysfunction.

"Defining the role of the inflammasome in the response to injury in the heart and the possibility to intervene opens a new area of investigation for the prevention and treatment of heart failure following a heart attack," said Antonio Abbate, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the VCU Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Cardiology.

According to Abbate, who serves as the interim director for the cardiac intensive care unit at the VCU Pauley Heart Center, this study supports the team's previous findings that showed that Interleukin-1ß affects the heart, and blocking Interleukin-1ß benefits patients of heart attack and heart failure.

"Based on the findings of the current study we are even more convinced that blocking Interleukin-1ß may be safe and beneficial, and we are now exploring novel ways to do so," he said.

Abbate said there are four ongoing clinical trials at the VCU Pauley Heart Center in patients with various heart conditions treated with a drug called anakinra which blocks Interleukin-1ß.

Abbate and his team continue to examine the molecular mechanisms of inflammasome formation and heart injury, and hope to determine new ways to intervene with potentially more targeted strategies in the future.

The study was conducted in the Victoria W. Johnson Center for Research at VCU, which is directed by Norbert Voelkel, M.D, professor of medicine in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division.

Abbate led with a multidisciplinary team of VCU researchers biologists, physicians, and pharmacists including Eleonora Mezzaroma, Ph.D., and Stefano Toldo, Ph.D., post-doctoral associates in the VCU Pauley Heart Center; Daniela Farkas, B.S., research specialist in the Victoria Johnson Research Laboratory; Benjamin Van Tassell, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and outcome sciences; and Fadi Salloum, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and physiology in the VCU Pauley Heart Center.

This study was supported by a grant from the American Heart Association.

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E. Mezzaroma, S. Toldo, D. Farkas, I. M. Seropian, B. W. Van Tassell, F. N. Salloum, H. R. Kannan, A. C. Menna, N. F. Voelkel, A. Abbate. The inflammasome promotes adverse cardiac remodeling following acute myocardial infarction in the mouse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108586108

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