Department of Biomedical Sciences

Diabetic retinopathy is a retinal microvascular disease that often causes blindness in adults who have had diabetes mellitus for 10 years or more. Estimates are that 600 million people will have some sort of diabetic retinopathy by 2040. Previously, no good animal models existed that scientists could use to study the disease, its diagnosis or potential treatments. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Missouri has employed a mouse model exhibiting diabetic retinopathy symptoms that could lead to future translational research studies. “Diabetic retinopathy is a common retinal complication of diabetes mellitus that can be categorized in…

Each day, normal human cell tissues express a protein known as p53 that wages war against potential malignancies. However, between 30 and 40 percent of human breast cancers express a defective (mutant) form of p53 that helps cancer cells proliferate and grow. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that combining a cancer therapy, which activates mutant p53 and is currently under a clinical trial, with a second drug therapy that helps suppress tumor blood vessels found in cancer cells, can help significantly reduce the spread of breast cancer tumors while also causing cancer cell death. In a…

Shawn Bender, PhD, an assistant professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Biomedical Sciences, was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 research award to continue his laboratory’s work to further understanding of the cardiovascular consequences of obesity. Bender received the five-year $2.8 million grant entitled “Mineralocorticoid receptor-dependent coronary vascular dysfunction in obesity” from the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The study will explore the possible role of smooth muscle mineralocorticoid receptors as central contributors to obesity associated coronary microvascular dysfunction. “This grant provides the resources to continue unique, proven collaborations and to…

College Avenue separates Patrick Delafontaine, MD, and Doug Bowles, PhD, but a mutual interest in unclogging arteries brought the two together. The dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the chair of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences are collaborating on research that could help prevent heart attacks. For the last 15 years, Delafontaine and his team have conducted National Institutes of Health-funded research on atherosclerosis — plaque buildup in arteries. Specifically, Delafontaine has studied the effectiveness of the protein Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) in reducing plaque in the arteries of mice. “We have…

Public/private partnership to develop new device could revolutionize cardiovascular disease treatment It is common for blockages to develop in arteries that carry blood to the heart, which can lead to heart attack and other serious heart diseases. Stents are small, expandable metal mesh tubes that are inserted in blocked heart arteries during a heart catheterization procedure to improve blood flow to the heart muscle. Approximately 600,000 stent procedures are performed each year in the U.S. at a cost exceeding $12 billion. Recently, a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, biomedical scientists and cardiologists at the University of Missouri received a $1.5 million…