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- Posted Wednesday September 9, 2015
NIH awards $2.8 million for study into new ways to detect and treat brain injury resulting from bleeding in the brain
TGen, Phoenix Children's Hospital and Barrow Neurological Institute lead study of traumatic brain injuries following stroke
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Sept. 9, 2015 - Developing
better treatments and an improved understanding of the biology
behind brain injury from hemorrhagic strokes is the main goal of a
three-year $2.8 million grant to the Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen), Phoenix Children's Hospital, and Barrow
Neurological Institute. Announced today, the funding comes from the
National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing
Translational Sciences (NCATS) under its Extracellular RNA (ExRNA)
Communication program.
Hemorrhagic strokes occur when a blood vessel bursts in the brain
and blood accumulates and causes injury to the surrounding brain
tissue, often leading to rare but devastating types of traumatic
brain injuries (TBIs).
In this study, researchers seek to identify exRNAs suitable as
biomarkers to indicate the severity of hemorrhagic stroke and risk
of subsequent injury. Biomarkers are indicator molecules - such as
proteins, DNA, or RNA - measurable in blood, body fluids or tissue
samples that can aid in the diagnosis or severity of a particular
disease or the effects of a given treatment.
"Because exRNAs are released from all tissues in the body,
including the brain, they make an ideal candidate as a biomarker to
help doctors in the evaluation and treatment of patients with brain
injury," said Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, Ph.D., an Associate
Professor in TGen's Neurogenomics Division, and one of the study's
principal investigators. "Ultimately, this research could lead to
the development of new treatments and improved outcomes in
hemorrhagic stroke patients."
In adults, this type of stroke occurs annually in 10-15 people per
100,000, and the risk of these strokes increases with age.
"Scientists still do not fully understand what goes wrong in the
brain during and after stroke, and this study will be an important
step toward better defining the biological underpinnings of not
only stroke, but brain injury in general" said Yashar Kalani, M.D.
and Ph.D., a chief resident in Neurological Surgery, assistant
professor at Barrow Neurological Institute, and a principal
investigator on the study.
The project will focus on two subtypes of hemorrhagic events:
aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage; and pediatric intraventricular
hemorrhage, which is a significant complication of premature
infants.
"We are especially concerned about how these types of brain injury
affect children and their ability to recover from such trauma but
also develop new and innovative approaches for treating TBI," said
P. David Adelson, M.D., Director of BNI at PCH, Chief Pediatric
Neurosurgeon at PCH, and an internationally recognized expert in
the area of pediatric traumatic brain injury. He also is one of the
study's principal investigators.
An extracellular RNA (exRNA) biomarker to predict onset and
severity of brain hemorrhage would have an immediate effect on
improving patient outcomes, as well as to reduce significant costs
to patients and caregivers.
Until recently, scientists believed RNA worked mostly inside the
cell that produced it. Some types of RNA help translate genes into
proteins that are necessary for organisms to function. Other types
of RNA control which proteins and how much of those proteins the
cells make.
Now, investigators have shown that cells can release RNA - in the
form of exRNA - to travel through body fluids and affect other
cells. ExRNA can act as a signaling molecule, communicating with
other cells and carrying information from cell to cell throughout
the body.
A better understanding of basic exRNA biology could open doors to
improving the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of diseases and
conditions such as cancer, bone marrow disorders, heart disease,
Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis.
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About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org. Follow TGen on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @TGen.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]