Biologists use sound to identify breeding grounds of endangered whales

Remote acoustic monitoring among endangered whales is the subject of a major article by two doctoral students in The College of Arts and Sciences.

Leanna Matthews and Jessica McCordic, members of the Parks Lab in the Department of Biology, have co-authored "Remote Acoustic Monitoring of North Atlantic Right Whales Reveals Seasonal and Diel Variations in Acoustic Behavior." The article appears in the current issue of PLOS ONE, an inclusive, peer-reviewed, open-access resource from the Public Library of Science in San Francisco.

Susan Parks, assistant professor of biology for whom the lab is named, says the article confirms what many conservationists fear -- that Roseway Basin, a heavily traveled shipping lane, off the coast of Nova Scotia, is a vital habitat area for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

"Remote acoustic monitoring is an important tool for understanding patterns in animal communication, and studies on the seasonality of context-specific acoustic signals allow inferences to be made about the behavior and habitat use of certain species," says Parks, an expert in behavioral ecology, acoustic communication and marine science. "Our results support the hypothesis that the North Atlantic right whale's breeding season occurs mostly from August to November and that this basin is a widely used habitat area."

More than 30 percent of all right whales use Roseway Basin, part of a larger geological formation called the Scotian Shelf, throughout the year. With only 400-500 in existence, these whales, says Parks, must congregate in the basin to feed and find mates.

Already, the U.S. and Canadian governments have taken steps to redirect shipping traffic, in response to several fatal collisions with right whales.

Matthews, whose research includes animal behavior and physiology, says the object of the article is to determine how and when Roseway Basin is used for male breeding activities.

"Part of the answer lies in a loud 'gunshot' sound, made by the male whale," says Matthews, the article's lead author. "We're not exactly sure what the gunshot is, but we think it may be a male-to-male antagonistic signal or an advertisement to females. … During a two-year period, we used non-invasive acoustic monitoring to analyze gunshots at two locations on the Scotian Shelf. The resultant data has provided tremendous insights into the whales' feeding and mating habits."

Matthews and her team found that gunshot sound production occurred mainly in the autumn and, more often than not, at night. Researchers say this kind of information is essential to not only the individual fitness of each whale, but also the survival of the species, in general.

McCordic, whose research spans animal behavior and communication, says the observed seasonal increase in gunshot sound production is consistent with the current understanding of the right whale breeding season.

"Our results demonstrate that detection of gunshots with remote acoustic monitoring can be a reliable way to track shifts in distribution and changes in acoustic behavior, including possible mating activities," she says, acknowledging David Mellinger, associate professor of marine bioacoustics at Oregon State University, who collected and provided access to the recordings used in the study. "It also provides a better understanding of right whale behavior and what needs to be done with future conservation efforts."

Parks, who assisted with the article, is proud of her students' accomplishments.

"Right whales are increasingly rare, and Leanna's and Jessica's research helps us understand how to better protect them," she says. "By identifying potential breeding areas, we might be able to save this critically endangered species."

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The above story is based on materials provided by Syracuse University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Researchers identify biomarkers for lung cancer in smokers.

Succeeded to identify smoking-related lung cancer has a pair of specific proteins of prognostic markers Mayo Clinic researchers have shown. Protein — ASCL1 — is associated with increased expression of RET gene, called the RET of certain cancer-causing gene. The findings appear in the online issue of the journal genes.

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Researchers identify switch that controls growth of most aggressive brain tumor cells

Sep. 20, 2013 — Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a cellular switch that potentially can be turned off and on to slow down, and eventually inhibit the growth of the most commonly diagnosed and aggressive malignant brain tumor.

Findings of their investigation show that the protein RIP1 acts as a mediator of brain tumor cell survival, either protecting or destroying cells. Researchers believe that the protein, found in most glioblastomas, can be targeted to develop a drug treatment for these highly malignant brain tumors. The study was published online Aug. 22 in Cell Reports.

"Our study identifies a new mechanism involving RIP1that regulates cell division and death in glioblastomas," said senior author Dr. Amyn Habib, associate professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern, and staff neurologist at VA North Texas Health Care System. "For individuals with glioblastomas, this finding identified a target for the development of a drug treatment option that currently does not exist."

In the study, researchers used animal models to examine the interactions of the cell receptor EGFRvIII and RIP1. Both are used to activate NFκB, a family of proteins that is important to the growth of cancerous tumor cells. When RIP1 is switched off in the experimental model, NFκB and the signaling that promotes tumor growth is also inhibited. Furthermore, the findings show that RIP1 can be activated to divert cancer cells into a death mode so that they self-destruct.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 30 percent of brain tumors are gliomas, a fast-growing, treatment-resistant type of tumor that includes glioblastomas, astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, and ependymomas. In many cases, survival is tied to novel clinical trial treatments and research that will lead to drug development.

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Identify new targets for treatment of Sanford-Burnham researchers malignant melanoma.

Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute, scientists announced discovery of an important role in the progression of the play development of genes, enzymes, and inositol phosphorus lipid dependent kinase 1 （ PDK1) and malignant melanoma. It offers new approach to disease treatment available in an advanced online publication gene finding with this life-threatening.

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Test could identify which prostate cancers require treatment

Sep. 11, 2013 — The level of expression of three genes associated with aging can be used to predict whether seemingly low-risk prostate cancer will remain slow-growing, according to researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center. Use of this three-gene biomarker, in conjunction with existing cancer-staging tests, could help physicians better determine which men with early prostate cancer can be safely followed with "active surveillance" and spared the risks of prostate removal or other invasive treatment. The findings were published today in the online edition of Science Translational Medicine.

"Most of the 200,000 prostate cancers diagnosed each year in the U.S. are slow growing and will remain so, but the three-gene biomarker could take much of the guesswork out of the diagnostic process and ensure that patients are neither overtreated nor undertreated," said study leader Cory Abate-Shen, PhD, Michael and Stella Chernow Professor of Urological Oncology at CUMC.

"The problem with existing tests is that we cannot identify the small percentage of slow-growing tumors that will eventually become aggressive and spread beyond the prostate," said coauthor Mitchell C. Benson, MD, PhD, George F. Cahill Professor of Urology and chair of urology at CUMC.

In their search for a biomarker for slow-growing prostate cancer, Dr. Abate-Shen and her colleagues, including, coauthor Michael Shen, PhD, professor of medicine and of genetics and development, focused on genes related to aging, particularly those affected by cellular senescence, a natural phenomenon in which older cells cease to divide but remain metabolically active. Cellular senescence is known to play a critical role in tumor suppression in general and has been associated with benign prostate lesions in mouse models and in humans.

Using a technique called gene set enrichment analysis, the CUMC team, led by coauthor Andrea Califano, PhD, Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Systems Biology and chair of systems biology, identified 19 genes that are enriched in a mouse model of prostate cancer in which the cancers are invariably indolent. They then used a decision-tree learning model, a type of computer algorithm, to identify three genes -- FGFR1, PMP22, and CDKN1A -- that together can accurately predict the outcome of seemingly low-risk tumors. Tumors that test negative for the biomarker are deemed aggressive.

In a blinded retrospective study, the researchers tested the prognostic accuracy of the three-gene panel on initial biopsy specimens from 43 patients who had been monitored for at least 10 years with active surveillance at CUMC. All the patients had first been diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer (as defined by several measures, including a Gleason score of 6 or less). Of the 43 patients, 14 ultimately developed advanced prostate cancer. All 14 were correctly identified by the test.

"The bottom line is that, at least in our preliminary trial, we were able to accurately predict which patients with low-risk prostate cancer would develop advanced prostate cancer and which ones would not," said Dr. Abate-Shen.

The researchers plan to evaluate the test in a larger, prospective clinical trial, led by Dr. Benson and coauthor Sven Wenske, MD, assistant professor of urology at CUMC.

Physicians currently use several tests to diagnose prostate cancer and stage its aggressiveness. The process begins with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a digital rectal exam, or both. If these tests raise concerns, the patient is typically advised to undergo a biopsy, in which samples of prostate tissue are examined for the presence of cancer cells. If malignant cells are detected, the patient is given a Gleason score (ranging from 2 to 10), a measure of the severity of the cancer based on the cells' appearance. Patients with high Gleason scores (8 or above) are usually advised to undergo immediate treatment, while those with very low Gleason scores (5 or below) are usually advised to undergo active surveillance. "But it's not so clear what to do for patients with low (Gleason 6) or even intermediate (Gleason 7) scores," said Dr. Abate-Shen.

Men with seemingly low-risk prostate cancer currently have two basic choices. One is regular testing and monitoring, also known as active surveillance, which risks missing the window when the disease is localized and potentially curable. The other is aggressive treatment, which risks serious side effects such as urinary incontinence and impotence.

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