Centerline Spring/Summer 2005

New blood cell production technique for transplantation, transfusion

By Nishant Bagadia

Among the vast potentials of human embryonic stem (hES) cell research is the possibility of using hematopoietic (blood) cells as an alternative source for bone marrow transplantation, blood transfusion and the study of cell development. To study these alternatives scientists require mass quantities of hematapoietic stem cells from hES.

Already in 2005, Igor Slukvin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and his team have made great progress toward this goal by developing techniques for the high scale production of CD34+hematopoietic cells from human ES cells.

"CD34 is a well known marker of hematopoietic stem cells and the ability to obtain large numbers of these cells from hES cells is very critical for research," according to Slukvin. "We were able to establish large-scale productions of CD34+ cells and obtained very pure populations of these cells." The team led by Slukvin and colleagues at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center has taken a critical step in hematopoietic differentiation with the coculturing of human ES with OP9 bone marrow stromal cells. This step led to the isolation of up to ten million CD34+ cells with more than 95 percent purity just eight to nine days after initial culturing.

"Coculturing of hematopoietic cells with bone marrow stromal cells has several advantages," explains Slukvin. The research group has demonstrated that CD34+ cells generated in the OP9 system posses several features of adult type hematopoietic stem cells and can give rise to B-lymphocytes, a white blood cell which is capable of synthesizing a specific antibody molecule,"natural" killer cells, that attack a tumor without having to first recognize specific signaling substances, and it produces the myeloid and erythroid cells found in bone marrow.

The CD34+ cells are produced in great efficiency over a short period of time and are easily isolated with a process called magnetic sorting. Also important, human ES cells and OP9 coculture provides a powerful in vitro model for analyzing the earliest stages of blood cell development. This is work that cannot be done using human embryos.

To demonstrate the clinical utility of hES cell-derived CD34+ cells, "we need to show that cells can engraft in mice," explains Slukvin. "The less mature cells you use for transplants, the less chance of graft versus host disease," where the donor cells attack the recipient cells. The key to reducing the chance of attack might come from the human ES cell-derived CD34+ cells. The accomplished feat might provide a source of cells for bone marrow transplantation, which is used to treat cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia, which is estimated to cause 35,000 new cases in the U.S. in 2005.

The OP9 coculture has been used successfully for hematopoietic differentiation of mouse and nonhuman primate ES cells, and to obtain mature cells such as lymphocytes, reports Slukvin. The research group is the first to culture viable lymphoctyes from hES cells.

The big picture for use of hES cell derived hematopoietic cells, according to Slukvin, is a low risk of pathological contamination and risk free donor collection. With the novel source of cells, researchers and doctors can develop a bank of frozen blood cells matching anyone in the population, ready to be thawed and transplanted as needed. This is a tremendous global need, as not nearly enough people donate blood.

Results of this research were recently published in the science journal Blood. Maksym Vodyanyk in the Slukvin lab was the study"s lead author. Embryonic stem cell scientist James Thomson and Jack Bork in the Thomson Lab were collaborators.

Slukvin earned his Ph.D. in allergy and immunology from the Kiev Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology in Kiev, Ukraine. He earned his M.D. with honors in medicine and pediatrics from the Kiev Medical Institute. He did post-doctoral research at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport, followed by research associate and resident physician appointments at the UW-Madison. Slukvin has conducted research at the Primate Center and Departments of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology since 1996. He has worked in reproductive biologist Ted Golos"s lab, and his own lab is now based at the Primate Center. He has published more than 38 scientific papers.

Reference:
Vodyanik MA, Bork JA, Thomson JA, Slukvin II. Human embryonic stem cell-derived CD34+ cells: efficient production in the coculture with OP9 stromal cells and analysis of lymphohematopoietic potential. Blood. 2005 Jan 15;105(2):617-26. Epub 2004 Sep 16.

Gene therapy research targets Parkinson's disease

By Nishant Bagadia

Marina Emborg is using gene therapy in nonhuman primate models as an avenue to treat Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is characterized by the progressive loss of specific cells of the brain region called the substantia nigra. These cells produce the chemical messenger dopamine.

"When people learn that there are animal models of Parkinson's disease, they always ask, 'What is the best model to study Parkinson's?'" says Emborg, a senior scientist at the WNPRC and in the UW-Madison Department Anatomy. "This is difficult to answer because it depends on what you are trying to study."

Emborg attempts to study the disease with a model that incorporates environmental and aging factors. Her seminal work in gene therapy fostered the delivery of glial derived neurotrophic factors (GDNF) into the substantia nigra of nonhuman primates. The significance of GDNF is its ability to promote dopaminergic neuron survival; and therapies aimed to halt degeneration, protect and sustain dopaminergic cells are needed.

Emborg will attempt to protect against missing brain function in aged monkeys that have early Parkinsonism using gene therapy for delivery of trophic factors. Patrick Aebischer (Laussane Institute of Technology, Switzerland), Clive Svendsen (WNPRC, Anatomy), James Holden (WNPRC, Medical Physics), Jeff Kordower (Neurology, Rush Presbyterian) Ben Roitberg (Neurosurgery, UIC) and Charles Garrell (WNPRC, Neurosurgery) are collaborators in the gene therapy effort. The Centralized Protocol Implementation team (WNPRC) led by Jacque Mitchen and coordinated by Valerie Joers is intrinsically involved in the procedures, Emborg says. She also recognizes CPI's Karla Potratz and Jessica Vandeleest, as well as Nancy Schultz-Darken, the veterinarians and the rest of the Animal Services staff.

The researchers believe that the knowledge gained from this type of genetic and trophic factor research in nonhuman primates will enable doctors to help patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Without hesitation, Emborg says her goal at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center is "to help find the cure for Parkinson's."

Emborg transferred to the Primate Center and UW-Madison last September from Chicago. There, she was an assistant professor and led the primate studies at the Research Center for Brain Repair directed by Dr. J. Kordower in the Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. Emborg was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She obtained her M.D. and later her Ph.D. at the University of Buenos Aires. More biographical information and research background appears on the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research website. Contact Marina through the Wisconsin Stem Cell Program.

References:
Emborg ME. Evaluation of animal models of Parkinson's disease for neuroprotective strategies. J. Neurosci. Methods. 139:121-143. 2004. (Note: This was the journal's most heavily downloaded article in recent issues.)

Moirano J, Emborg M. Non human primate models for testing gene therapy for neurodegenerative disorders. In: Gene Therapy for Neurological Disorders, Eds. M. During and M. Kaplitt, Elsevier, 2005.

A patient's letter

The following correspondent, whose name and city are withheld, sent the following e-mail to the Public Information Office in response to learning about ongoing polycystic ovary syndrome research at the Primate Center.

"I was very interested in the research of Abbott, Dumesic and Dee Schramm, Ph.D., on PCOS. I was diagnosed with PCOS 21 years ago, at age 27. Although I was happy to know that my condition has a name, I have been highly disappointed with the treatment options I've been given by various medical professionals regarding my PCOS over the past 21 years.

Presently, I am a borderline diabetic with high triglycerides, high cholesterol, very high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, depression, attention difficulties, and a skin condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa. I take 10 different medications each day in an attempt to control the changes my body has undergone in connection with my PCOS. At the age of 19, I underwent nearly two years of electrolysis to remove the side burns and hair that grew under my chin and down my neck. Attempts at medical interventions most often have only succeeded in further lowering my self esteem. I have been told by different medical professionals at different times that I should lose weight, or I should keep myself cleaner, or I should see a psychologist because it was all in my head.

I wanted to let the researchers know how happy I am that someone is actually making an effort to determine ways in which to more effectively treat PCOS. If they are looking for research subjects I would be happy to volunteer. PCOS, and the decreased quality of life it can cause, has been ignored or made light of by the medical profession too long."

It's all about the animals

It's hot. It's noisy. It's sunny outside, but you'd never know it because you're not near any windows. It's 10 minutes to break time and you've been working since 7 a.m. You've been on your feet all morning, observing, reporting, feeding, washing, hauling-and you're hungry. But don't touch the fresh fruit. As good as those bananas, apples and grapes look-they're for the monkeys.

Welcome to life in Animal Services. This is one physically and mentally demanding job-whether you're doing a dental exam or juvenile pairing, leading an occupational safety seminar, or selecting an animal for a research protocol. More than 40 people comprise the Primate Center's largest division. That breaks down into one attending veterinarian, two colony managers, two colony records keepers, three veterinarians, four veterinary technicians, and 22 laboratory animal technicians (LATS). The latter used to be officially called caretakers, but today they carry out many more research support functions in addition to feeding animals and cleaning cages. About a dozen part-time UW-Madison and Madison Area Technical College students also work in the division, doing basic animal care. There is some overlap between care staff and research staff, especially with the needs presented by the Center's aging, SAIDS, specific pathogen-free (SPF) and other special colonies.

The Center houses about 1,200 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), 60 cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis), 20 vervets (Chlorocebus aethiops) and 200 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Background species information, regulations governing humane animal care, and frequently asked questions can be found on the Center's macaque, marmoset and vervet fact sheets.

There's so much to Animal Services, an article in this newsletter can't do justice to all that goes on and the people who are involved. They don't make the big news headlines, but their behind-the-scenes efforts are the lifeline of the Primate Center.

Try to picture what can all be happening on a typical day behind the barrier and you get a clear snapshot of a busy, diverse and hard-working team.

In one room, an LAT is working with a research assistant to draw blood from a common marmoset. The monkey has been trained and is calm, knowing that a fruit or other treat will follow. In another room on another floor, the colony's new vervets are under close observation. Two LATs make sure the monkeys are adjusting to their new surroundings and page the colony managers if there are any problems. Downstairs, an infant rhesus macaque is being transferred from an incubator to a surrogate mom, after its birth mother rejected it, as sometimes happens in the wild as well. Surgery is also busy today: a successful C-section is just wrapping up. In a separate wing, a veterinarian is giving a cynomolgus macaque a physical exam. In another building, researchers are working with care staff to run a bone scan on a rhesus monkey. And across campus, another rhesus is having a PET scan.

Meanwhile, other employees are weighing and measuring food, transferring animals back to their cleaned home cages, planning training seminars, working on better breeding methods, or trying out new enrichment ideas.

It never ends. The veterinarians and colony managers are often on call 24-7. While it's true that they might be helping support a $2 million research project that could someday save lives, or that the animal in the transport cage they're carrying is worth $10,000, that's not how people think of the monkeys from day to day.

More likely they are looking into an animal's eyes and thinking something along the lines of what former supervisor Russ "Rosie" Vertein said upon his retirement a couple of years ago: "I always tried to give them the best I could. Living in a cage is not perfect. I knew the research was necessary, and my part was taking care of the monkeys as best I could. I never dreamed I'd work with monkeys, but I sure enjoyed it."

Vertein and others have shared many stories over the years about how smart the monkeys are, how they have their own personalities, how some get along better with others, some are old and cranky, others are wonderful moms or dads, and the little ones are so inquisitive. If you've been around the Center for a while, you have also no doubt heard about the Great Zoo Escape back in the '60s, the occasional monkey fire alarm pull, and other antics.

One common thread that runs through all the stories, old and new, is that the monkeys know and trust their caretakers. They can even act downright protective. Once, when a seasoned caretaker was showing a new LAT around-someone he knew quite well-the rookie briefly put his hand on the other's shoulder. That didn't sit too well with one of the rhesus monkeys in the room. The animal proceeded to jump around and make threat faces at the new staffer, signaling him in monkey body language to back off and do it quickly. "These animals are given a bad rap when they are called 'aggressive', when what they are really being is defensive," says animal care supervisor David Wade.

In reality, there is little contact between caretakers and macaques or other large and strong nonhuman primates. The monkeys are transported in special containers and anesthetized for most procedures. The risks of bites or scratches and transmission of zoonotic diseases are otherwise too great. Even with sedated animals, a handler must be well trained before positioning, examining or otherwise touching an animal. With the marmosets, it's a bit different. Caretakers and researchers wear thick suede gloves up to the elbow to carry these small primates. The marmosets bite, but they can't get their little chomps through such a glove.

As Primate Center research expands, Animal Services is growing right along with it. The challenge is to keep this huge division working together efficiently and effectively, as people and monkeys move to new buildings and new employees are hired and trained.

It's a lot of work. Morale can be up one day, when everything's working smoothly, and down the next, when something goes wrong. This is of course, true of any workplace, but when you're directly responsible for another living being, there's a lot more at stake, especially in the public eye, and you can feel as if everyone is watching you. It's an uncomfortable truth, but an important concept to grasp if you plan to take the job.

Turnover happens, of course, especially at the entry levels; but there is also a lot of career building moving up or moving on. The starting LAT pay is $9.79 per hour and there are no merit raises, but the Center promotes from within and many LATs have moved up to training, supervisory, research and other positions over the years. Others have gone back to school and earned veterinary medicine or other medical and science degrees. So take note: If you're physically and mentally strong, passionate about top-notch animal care and the critical need for biomedical research at all levels, from cell culture to animal models to human clinical trials, then this is the perfect job.

Whether you're working directly with the animals, more involved in the rules and regulations guiding the humane care and use of laboratory animals, or looking in from the outside and wanting to know more, there is a wealth of resources on the Internet related to primate care. Some of the best sites-in this editor's opinion-are easily accessible from the Primate Center's home page. Here, you can find links to WNPRC Animal Services, Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Care International, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, UW-Madison's Research Animal Resource Center, and much more. Primate Info Net offers a wealth of laboratory primate care sites as well.

Monkeys fascinate. To care for them properly is to respect them completely. Over the past four decades, since the Primate Center's inception, few people have left these walls without a better understanding of just how remarkable primate biology and behavior is; and that includes all primates, from the common marmoset to us.

Buddy Capuano is new head vet

Saverio "Buddy" Capuano began March 1 as the WNPRC's attending veterinarian and associate director for the Animal Services Division. Capuano joins us from the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a research assistant professor and attending veterinarian of the Magee-Womens Research Institute.

Capuano earned his D.V.M. from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Columbus and his resident certificate in primate medicine from the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He has practiced medicine and conducted research at the California National Primate Research Center, Pittsburgh Facility for Infectious Disease Research located at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine and, more recently, at the Magee-Womens Research Institute. Among his numerous professional licensures, memberships and honors, Capuano received an Excellence in Veterinary Anesthesiology award from Ohio State in 1993.

Tuberculosis, SIV/HIV, and herpesvirus are topics covered in Capuano's widely published body of research. He presently collaborates on NIH grants supporting several nonhuman primate studies. Most recently he has worked on experiments refining assisted reproductive techniques and cloning in rhesus macaques and the use of the cynomolgus macaque as a model of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

"I am looking forward to the challenge of heading the animal services division at the Primate Center," Capuano said. " I hope to work with everyone here to establish a nonhuman primate medicine residency at the Center. I am also excited about our impending growth and renovation."

Dr. Butler weighs in

Editor's note: We were fortunate to have had Tom Butler, D.V.M., M.S. DACLAM, with us as interim associate director and attending veterinarian for the past year. Tom also remains on the Primate Center's External Advisory Board. Here, Tom offers his insights on the division he successfully steered for a year. Thank you, Tom, for your tireless work and recruiting efforts on behalf of the Center.

C-Line: How would you summarize your past year at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center? Was it a rewarding experience?

Dr. Butler: The scientific program at the UW-Madison is considered outstanding and this level was certainly evident to me at the Primate Center. Everybody was nice to me such that I felt welcome. All have been so enjoyable to work with. Essentially all are dedicated and enthusiastic about their jobs. This includes animal care staff as well as research, administrative and support staffs. One point that always sits well with me is that people at this center truly care about the animals.

C-Line: You can see this question coming a mile away: What are some weaknesses-things that need some more work, in your opinion.

Dr. Butler: One thing we really worked on was better collaboration between researchers and veterinarians. I think this is heading in the right direction and I have seen some definite changes for the good of the animals here and for the research. Everyone wants to "do the right thing". However, due to re-organization and recruiting so many new people, especially many more junior staffers, more focus was needed this past year. It has been such a positive experience for me that when I suggested things, everybody jumped on board and got them done. But I don't know that I did anything special except try to keep us focused on what had to be done. The rest of the staff "did the doing." I tried to give guidance, play devil's advocate, bring new ideas to the table, and support most of what folks wanted to do.

One of the areas of focus was the SPF colony. We don't have an SPF breeding colony in a formal sense; we don't have a grant to support it and the base grant does not specifically support it. What we have is one of our breeding colonies that we are housing in SPF conditions. I see our long-term goal as slowly "cleaning up" our entire colony of specific diseases. The colony is doing very well in that we are producing lots of infants and we have been able to keep it SPF.

C-Line: Can you give a few examples of improvements to facilities or technologies, and innovative solutions you observed or encouraged while you were here?

Dr. Butler: I think the use of PDAs [the new Palm Pilot hand-held computers] for taking observations, when it is up and running fully, will be a great advancement. In fact, the entire use of IT for animal records is wonderful at the Center. The colony records keepers still have to keep tweaking it, and Tom Lynch and Jayne Vanderwerker in data management have been so willing to work with them on it. One thing the staff is working on now that will be very helpful in the future is doing a cost analysis for every procedure. Animal Services is also reviewing and revising all SOPs, and developing a modified system for researchers to request technical services. A more formal system of consulting with PIs about their protocols before they are submitted to the IACUC is underway and working very well.

C-Line: We all talk about better communication. Can you share your thoughts on that?

Dr. Butler: I am a firm believer that conducting biomedical research is a team effort. We all talk about 'team this and team that'; however, the team goes beyond the WNPRC. The NIH and other funding agencies provide the money for us. The UW-Madison provides the infrastructure and administrative support that provides an environment where research can be done. The researchers have to have the ideas and design studies to answer the scientific questions. But, they can't do animal research without having a group like Animal Services. On the other hand, if we didn't do research, then we'd have no need for animals so none of us would be here. I sometimes tell people in our business that their jobs depend on the animals. No animals, no research. No research, no need for the library or purchasing or PR or whatever. It all means we have to communicate with each other.

Marmoset group helps launch genome study

The Marmoset Research Group of the Americas (MRGA) meeting in Madison last summer, which WNPRC staff hosted, resulted in a request submitted to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the NIH encouraging sequencing of the common marmoset genome. The initiative paid off, as NHGRI recently announced several new species, including the marmoset, that are being targeted for sequencing. Read the full press release at www.genome.gov/13014443

Rosamunde Almond photo

Watkins earns Kellett Award

David Watkins, WNPRC core scientist and professor of pathology, earned the UW-Madison Graduate School's Kellett Mid-Career Award in 2005. His research has made substantial contributions to understanding the pathogenesis of HIV. His team's findings have been critically important in vaccine development for this pathogen. Dr. Watkins also has an impressive track record training graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Their numerous important discoveries have resulted in the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award and numerous invited presentations around the world. Service on various NIH and NGO (Nongovernmental Organization) committees and Journal review boards has been an important aspect of Dr. Watkins' endeavors during his tenure at the UW-Madison and the Primate Center. Dr. Watkins also serves an important clinical role as Director of HLA and Molecular Diagnostics. The Kellett Award was created to provide needed support and encouragement to faculty at a critical stage of their careers.

Find more news on recent awards, research and programs under "Primate Center News" on the WNPRC home page.

Gleanings

New grants

Before listing new grants, we offer our sincere congratulation to those who have recently garnered successful renewals or continuations: Kudos to the Weindruch, Watkins, Schramm and Abbott research groups, and to Library and Information Services!

Molly Carnes, WNPRC affiliate and professor of medical sciences and women's health, is overseeing a clinical research training program made possible by a $14 million, five-year NIH grant to the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy. Carnes is also on the Primate Center's External Advisory Board.

Primate Center senior scientist Marina Emborg and co-investigator Patrick Aebischer, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland have had their $1.2 million NIH NINDS grant transferred to the Primate Center on "Lentiviral delivery of GDNF and Bcl-2 in PD monkey model." The grant was awarded in July 2000 and continues to July 2006 with a no-cost extension.

WNPRC affiliate Keith Latham, Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, is the principal investigator on a new NCRR grant with Dee Schramm, WNPRC associate scientist. The two will look at the primate embryo gene expression resource.

Toni Ziegler, WNPRC senior scientist, received a two-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The grant, which began Dec. 1, is entitled, "Regulators of male parental care in common marmosets." Others on the grant include Nancy Schultz-Darken, WNPRC research program manager, Sophia Zahed, research assistant in psychology, and lab technician Shelly Prudom.

Kelly Schultz, an undergraduate student working with Dr. Joe Kemnitz earned a Johns Hopkins University Fellowship and Animal Welfare Enrichment Award on March 1.

Ian Duncan, professor of neurology, has a pilot study through the Primate Center to explore repair and neuroprotection in marmoset models for multiple sclerosis.

P. Charles Garell, assistant professor of neurological surgery, and Joseph Kemnitz, professor of physiology, are studying obesity; specifically deep brain stimulation and hypothalamic mechanisms controlling feeding and metabolism in macaques with funding from a Veterans Administration pilot project.

Peiman Hematti, assistant professor of medicine, has initiated a pilot study, funded by Flex, on the ex vivo expansion potential of rhesus macaque bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells.

Stuart Knechtle, professor of surgery, is using Research Services to support his work on an early stage project designed to prolong graft survival in a baboon model of renal transplantation, funded by TolerRx.

Ji-Won Yoon, director of Immunologic Research, Chicago Medical School, and Primate Center affiliate scientist, has grants for researching gene constructs for therapy of Type I diabetes, to expand his research from rodents to monkeys. The grant is from the Biotech Institute for Innovative International Research and the American Diabetes Foundation.

Just published

Check out new scientific journal listings at www.primate.wisc.edu/wprc/justpub.html

In the news

"Birth control hormone blocks sex drive in monkeys", Reuters, July 15. Featured research on Depo-Provera by WNPRC affiliate scientist Karen Pazol (Assay Services), who is now at Emory University in Atlanta.

"Primate Researchers Gather Saturday at UC Riverside", University of California-Riverside Newsroom. WNPRC affiliate scientist Wendy Saltzman was a speaker.

"Stem cells breeding super-sized hope, large-scale concern," Toledo Blade, Oct. 25, 2004. WNPRC scientists James Thomson and Thomas Zwaka were interviewed.

WGN TV Chicago Health and Medical news feature on embryonic stem cell research at the UW-Madison, aired Monday, Nov. 2. WNPRC scientists Ted Golos, Igor Slukvin, Su-Chun Zhang (Waisman Center) and Marina Emborg explained their research. Several members of the Golos lab also appeared.

NHK TV Japan, program on longevity, included a segment on Primate Center and WNPRC scientist Rick Weindruch's caloric restriction and aging studies, aired in Japan in October. The program is also slated to air in the U.S. and Canada.

The Director's Office and Public Information Office also recently worked with DVM News Magazine (economic cost of animal rights activism and terrorism); NOVA (neuroimaging research); NBC Nightly News (aging and caloric restriction), and many other reporters interested in our research.

Molly Carnes, who is on the WNPRC's External Advisory Board, was featured in the Capital Times on Feb. 25 for her role as director of the Women Veterans Program in Madison. Carnes also directs the Center for Women's Health Research at UW-Madison.

Affiliate scientist Ned Kalin, chair of the UW Psychiatry Dept., was featured in Medical News Today on March 8. He discovered how two rhesus monkey brain regions, the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, are involved in the regulation of fear and distress responses. The work appears this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online. UW Madison collaborators Steve Shelton, Richard Davidson, Andrew Fox, Terrence Oakes and Alexander Converse are coauthors.

Affiliate scientist Wendy Saltzman, University of California-Riverside, interviewed Feb. 21 with BBC Radio 4, for a program called "Leading Edge". She discussed her studies on reproductive suppression in female marmosets. The interview aired March 10 and generated further media attention. (UC-Riverside news release)

Researchers in the lab of Jeff Johnson have discovered how the protein Nrf2 might work to prevent cell death in people with neurological diseases such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease. Johnson is an associate professor in the School of Pharmacy and a new Primate Center affiliate. He and Marcus Calkins, a molecular and environmental toxicology graduate student in his lab, garnered media attention in January for their work, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan. 4. (http://www.news.wisc.edu/10564.html)

There has been a great deal of stem cell news. Here are some highlights: Parkinson's research advocate and actor Michael J. Fox visited campus stem cell researchers on Feb. 1. His visit was hosted by the Governor's Office. Primate Center affiliates Ren-He Xu and Su-Chun Zhang were both in the media spotlight for their recent breakthroughs. Xu, who trained at the Primate Center as a post-doc in James Thomson's lab and is now at WiCell, crafted a recipe that allows researchers to grow human embryonic stem cells without mouse-derived feeder cells. His team's work was published Feb. 17 in Nature Methods. Zhang, who conducts research at the Waisman Center and through the Primate Center, worked with assistant scientist Xuejun Li to direct human embryonic stem cells into becoming spinal motor neurons, a critical step toward someday helping patients with Lou Gehrig's disease or spinal cord injuries. Their findings appeared Jan. 30 in Nature Biotechnology. Finally, the planned Healthstar Interdisciplinary Research Complex on campus, which will include the Primate Center, received a major funding boost this week from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation. More at www.news.wisc.edu/10771.html

Other recent science media contacts included ABC News Nightline, NOVA, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chickadee children's' magazine in Toronto, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and Wisconsin Week. RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana in Rome, Italy, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, KBS TV in Korea, and The Isthmus worked with Center staff on stories about caloric restriction and aging.

2004-2005 Annual Progress Report at a glance

Personnel: (Core staff, collaborators, affiliates, post-docs and grad students): 216.

Geography: Investigators come from 24 U.S. states and 14 countries.

Research Subprojects: 104 submitted.

Funding: More than $20 million from PI's directly using Primate Center resources; more than $40 million from affiliates working with Primate Center staff. (Includes $3.16 million non-federal).

Colony: 1,654 monkeys, 406 zebrafish, 40 mice.

Publications: 176 published and in press articles, abstracts, books and chapters (spanning 10 months).

Assay Services change

David Abbott, senior researcher and professor of Ob/Gyn, steps aside as co-chair of Assay Services after 15 years to spend more time on his growing PCOS research program. Senior Scientist Toni Ziegler, co-chair since 1994, will assume leadership effective July 1.

Featured visitors

Franziska Grieder visited the Primate Center on April 11 and 12. The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) appointed Dr. Grieder director of comparative medicine Dec. 14, 2004. Since 2000, Grieder has managed the Division of Comparative Medicine's Laboratory Animal Sciences Program, where she created the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers Program and supervised grants related to mammalian models, comparative and functional genomics, and training opportunities for veterinarians and veterinary students. As the NCRR Associate Director of Comparative Medicine, Grieder will oversee the division's grant awarding, which exceeded $176 million in FY 2004. This funding supports the eight national primate research centers and their field stations, primate breeding and resource-related projects, development of mammalian and nonmammalian animal model resources, pre- and post-doctoral training, and a variety of research projects. View complete NIH release and photo.

Members of the Primate Center's Scientific External Advisory Board met at the Primate Center and Fluno Center last fall to hear updates on facilities and research services, as well as to learn about new research initiatives and new scientists at the Center. Attending board members were: Thomas Butler, WNPRC; Rodney Phillips, Oxford University, Oxford, UK; Jerome Strauss III, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Arnold Ruoho, UW-Madison Department of Pharmacology; George Bray, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge; and William Scanlon, The Scanlon Law Office, Madison.

Scientific representatives from the Kinetics Foundation visited the Center in September. They included Theo Palmer, Barr Taylor, Andy Grove, Ken Kubota and Lorenz Studer. WNPRC administrators and scientists are planning to develop a National Center for Nonhuman Primate Models for Parkinson's disease Research. Initial plans are to establish a research colony of approximately 30 monkeys, with support of the Kinetics Foundation, to be used in a range of studies targeting new therapeutic approaches.

Wendy Saltzman, assistant adjunct professor of biology, University of California, Riverside, visited the Center Nov. 15-17 to work with Center staff on studies she is conducting through the Primate Center on breeding and behavior in common marmosets.

Deputy Director Toshio Itoh and three colleagues from the ICLAS Monitoring Center, Central Institute for Experimental Animals in Japan, visited the Center Oct. 22. The institute, which has about 1,000 marmosets, uses them for preclinical studies, production of human disease models, and establishment of embryonic stem cells. The group is interested in research, management, quality control and veterinary care concerning marmosets.

Additional scientific visitors to the Primate Center recently have included:
-- Peter J. Whitehouse, Case Western Reserve University
-- Charleen Chu, University of Pittsburgh
-- John T. Gale, Georgetown University
-- Márcia Andrade, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
-- Kim Wallen, Emory University and Yerkes NPRC
-- Pornchai Matangkasombut, President, Mahidol University, Thailand