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The ORT Times A monthly newsletter featuring UHN Trainees www.uhntrainees.ca For information on UHN training courses, scholarships, seminars happening around the city and so much more, visit www.uhntrainees.ca. Season’s Greetings! December 2015 It’s been another great year for The ORT Times! We want to take this opportunity to highlight some of the past issues of 2015 as we roll into a new year. Some momentous commentary articles, include: New wave of antibiotics: is it too late to turn the tide of resistance? To PhD or not to PhD, that is the question How to improve your chances of publication success and ,minimize the wrath of the “dreaded third reviewer” Have you read the following highlighted Latest & Greatest papers? Repairing the foundation: hydrogels for heart healing Second-hand smoke creates a haze around quitting, even for non–tobacco-related cancers Emergency granulopoiesis waits for no one...except B cells Special Thanks Insider Latest & Greatest We also want to thank our 14,186 loyal readers! Conference Reports We hope you have a wonderful holiday! Dr. Linda Penn, ORT Director & Ms. Priscilla De Luca, ORT Coordinator CLICK HERE TO PRINT 01 02 03 04 06 We want to thank the research trainees who have participated in the newsletter by being highlighted as someone who won a scholarship; someone who won an ORT conference travel award; or someone who published an interesting paper. We have some big plans for The ORT Times in 2016, but you will have to wait until January to hear the news. Thank you for reading, commenting on and sharing The ORT Times all year round. Click here to access past issues from our archive. Inside this issue…. Upcoming Events & Funding Opportunities INSIDER Sipping coffee at Le Pré aux Clercs in Paris. Working day and night in the lab. Meeting Mr. Trudeau himself. Enjoying a cocktail at Harry’s Bar in Paris. Café, s’il vous plait “I don’t drink coffee too often, but when I do, I get a double espresso or cappuccino with raw sugar, and a croissant or Sicilian cannoli if I can get my hands on one!” Lauren Agro PhD Candidate, O’Brien Lab, Princess Margaret A third year student takes us into a day in the life of a UHN research trainee: “People are always surprised when I tell them I’m a cancer researcher. I think they still have this idea that we should have Einstein hair, zero fashion sense, and be incredibly nerdy (though we ARE all nerdy!). I don’t think there is a ‘typical research trainee’. We all have hobbies outside of the lab: my hobbies are playing soccer, cooking, and travelling.” My mantra “I believe there are no excuses for not achieving your goals.” If I were not in research... “I would have been a lawyer or politician. I have a minor in criminal justice and almost went to law school before starting my PhD, but decided I liked research better.” My favourite beverage is... “A French 75 cocktail; named for its ability to ‘hit you like a French 75 revolver’. Whenever I am in Paris I stop by Harry’s Bar for the original.” Office of Research Trainees 02 LATEST & GREATEST Low EAT-2 causes to DCs to release a cytokine feast Identification of the SLAM Adapter Molecule EAT-2 as a Lupus-Susceptibility Gene That Acts through Impaired Negative Regulation of Dendritic Cell Signaling. Talaei, N., Yu, T., Manion, K., Bremner, R., Wither JE. J Immunol. 2015 Nov 15; 195 (10): 4623-31. By Shaalee Dworski, ORT Writer and UHN Trainee The key to our immune system’s success is being able to distinguish between self and intruders. When that ability to distinguish fails, the immune system can attack our own bodies, leading to organ damage. This is what happens in lupus, a poorly understood autoimmune disease. In the most common type of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the immune system fails in various ways. Immune cells, such as T cells, become activated when they shouldn’t be. The activated cells can congregate in organs, leading to organ damage and even failure. Nafiseh Talaei, in collaboration with colleagues in Dr. Joan Wither’s and Dr. Rob Bremner’s laboratories, conducted a study to understand how genetic changes in lupus lead to this aberrant immune cell activation. To achieve this, they employed a mouse model of SLE that develops lupus-like characteristics and carried out experiments to identify associated genetic polymorphisms. Nafiseh Talaei, PhD candidate One lupus-related characteristic that is observed in the model is the presence of excess activated T cells. Previously, the authors found that there is a genetic polymorphism that biases T cell development towards the production of more pro-inflammatory T cells than usual. In this study, the authors discovered that this is further exacerbated by functionally abnormal dendritic cells (DCs). When DCs from the lupus mouse are cultured in the presence of T cells, the DCs produce pro-inflammatory cytokines that encourage the T cells to become more reactive. The authors found that this lupus-specific behavior in DCs was caused by a mutation in the promoter of the EAT-2 protein. EAT-2 is involved in SLAM signalling, which is important for proper immune regulation. Normally, EAT-2 negatively regulates DC activation following CD40 crosslinking through SLAM stimulation. In lupus mice, the EAT-2 promotor is mutated, which causes the levels of EAT-2 to decrease. This subsequently leads to CD40mediated hyperactivation of DCs. In addition, the authors were able to knockdown EAT-2 in non-lupus cells, causing the DCs to attain a more stimulated, lupus phenotype. By studying how these mutations lead to immune cell dysfunction, scientists can gain a better understanding of the genetic causes of lupus. Click here to download the full manuscript. The ORT caught up with Nafiseh Talaei, who is a UHN research trainee and the first author of this publication. ORT: How could this potentially help lupus patients? NT: Our study shows that functionally abnormal DCs contribute to T cell activation—a process that leads to development of lupus symptoms. In terms of patient impact, these findings suggest that the development of a drug that is capable of regulating DC function may serve as an effective treatment for this condition. ORT: How do you think EAT-2 downregulation in other cells could affect lupus? NT: Current data suggests that EAT-2 is not expressed in other immune cell populations, such as T and B cells. However, expression of EAT-2 has not been carefully examined in specific cell subpopulations and therefore it is possible that other immune cells could also be affected. Office of Research Trainees 03 CONFERENCE REPORTS Trainee: Hae-Ra Cho, PhD Candidate Supervisor: Dr. Mingyao Liu, TGRI Abstract: Loss of Xb130 causes dyshormonogenesis associated with iodide organification defect and the development of multinodular goiter Conference: 15th International Thyroid Congress (ITC) & 85th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association, October 18-23, 2015, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA Click here to read Hae-Ra’s conference report! Trainee: Zhaleh Safikhani, Postdoctoral Fellow Supervisor: Dr. Benjamin Haibe-Kains, PM Cancer Centre Abstract: Integration of pharmacogenomic datasets enables identification of tumor--specific isoforms as expression--based biomarkers predictive of drug response Conference: Canadian Cancer Research Conference, November 8-10, Montreal, QC Click here to read Zhaleh’s conference report! Office of Research Trainees 04 CONFERENCE REPORTS Trainee: Valerie Crowley, Postdoctoral Fellow Supervisor: Dr. Kevin Kain, TGRI Abstract: Inflammatory and angiogenic factors at mid-pregnancy are associated with spontaneous preterm birth in a cohort of Tanzanian women Conference: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting (ASTMH), October 25-29, Philadelphia, PA, USA Click here to read Valerie’s conference report! Trainee: Marie-Andrée Coulombe, Postdoctoral fellow Supervisor: Karen Davis, Krembil Abstract: Intrinsic functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) is related to fibromyalgia clinical symptoms Conference: Society for Neuroscience, October 17-21, 2015, Chicago, IL, USA Click here to read Marie-Andrée’s conference report! Office of Research Trainees 05 Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries & Feta UPCOMING EVENTS & FUNDING CALENDAR: 01/02 Parkinson Society Fellowship The Parkinson Society is offering fellowships and student awards in the area of Parkinson research. Click here for details. 01/02 Personalized Cancer Medicine The Personalized Cancer Medicine Conference will be held on February 1-2, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Toronto. Click here to register. 15/02 CIHR KRESCENT Fellowship The CIHR is offering a fellowship for those training in kidney research. Click here for details. 15/03 International Fellowship The Lady Tata Memorial Trust is offering an international fellowship for those training in leukemia. Click here for details. 15/04 Arthritis Fellowship The Arthritis Society is offering a fellowship and scholarship for those training in arthritis research. Click here for details. Food for Thought The holiday season is fast approaching, and the ORT decided to share a great recipe as a side dish for your holiday feast. It’s delish! Bon appétit! Click here for the recipe! Visit www.uhntrainees.ca for more events and funding information. “Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com QUESTIONS? Please contact: ORT Coordinator University Health Network [email protected] t. 416-634-8775 WANT TO STAY UPDATED ON A DAILY BASIS? Follow us socially on: Office of Research Trainees 06