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TACKLING TUBERCULOSIS, FIRST STEPS TOWARDS NEW VACCINE
08 July 2004 - University of Wisconsin-Madison
| Tuberculosis, a mycobacterium that infects human lungs, still claims the lives of about 2 million people every year. Existing vaccines provide questionable protection, and they can even cause disease in individuals with compromised immune systems. |
But recent research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine holds promise for developing a more effective vaccine. Using new microarray technology, Adel Talaat, a microbiologist with genomics training in the veterinary school's Department of Animal Health and Biosciences, has identified the specific genes that are activated during infection with tuberculosis. His work, begun during his postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was published in the March 30, 2004 Proceeding of National Academy of Sciences journal. In the report, he compares the infection in normal mice versus mice with weak immune systems. Knowing where and how an invader activates genes to cause disease gives scientists ammunition to develop a vaccine or drugs that can stop the disease from becoming established. "It's like an invading army," Talaat explains. "If you know that the one thing the soldiers need to survive is potatoes, then you eliminate potatoes from the town they're invading, and the soldiers will die." In the past, researchers could evaluate only one or two genes at a time. With the new microarray technology, developed eight years ago, they can see tens of thousands of genes at the same time. It's a fluorescence-based technology that in effect "lights up" gene activity so that computers can track and evaluate the expression levels of genes that establish infection. According to Talaat, the old methods were a random process, like searching for a needle in a haystack. The sheer volume of data available through the new technology makes progress much more rapid and systematic. Because of the volume possible, Talaat has been able to provide a complete overview of the TB disease process. He has identified all the genes that the TB pathogens activate at all stages of the infection. Armed with this complete knowledge, scientists can now develop a much more targeted and effective vaccine. "It's easy to study an infectious agent in a flask," Talaat says. "But that doesn't tell you what happens during an infection." Understanding how the disease and host interact is key to developing a combative strategy, and that is what the microarray studies have provided. The next step is to develop vaccines based on the knowledge gained. Once vaccines have been found effective in at least two animal models, human clinical trials can begin.
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About: University of Wisconsin-Madison
In achievement and prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been recognized as one of America’s great universities. A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a complete spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs and student activities. Many of its programs are hailed as world leaders in instruction, research and public service.The university traces its roots to a clause in the Wisconsin Constitution, which decreed that the state should have a prominent public university. In 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the university, and its first class, with 17 students, met in a Madison school building on February 5, 1849. From those humble beginnings, the university has grown into a large, diverse community, with about 40,000 students enrolled each year. These students represent every state in the nation, as well as countries from around the globe, making for a truly international population. UW-Madison is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Wisconsin System, a statewide network of 13 comprehensive universities, 13 freshman-sophomore transfer colleges and an extension service. One of two doctorate-granting universities in the system, UW-Madison’s specific mission is to provide "a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." The university achieves these ends through innovative programs of research, teaching and public service. Throughout its history, UW-Madison has sought to bring the power of learning into the daily lives of its students through innovations such as residential learning communities and service-learning opportunities. Students also participate freely in research, which has led to life-improving inventions from more fuel-efficient engines to cutting-edge genetic therapies. Students, faculty and staff are motivated by a tradition known as the "Wisconsin Idea," described by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904 as the compelling need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university ... to every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students and the state’s industries and government. |
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