Engagement in Research aims to build research capacity abroad
A
new partnership between the National
Science Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development will allow scientists from developing countries to apply and compete for support of research projects involving NSF-funded U.S. colleagues. NSF will fund the U.S. component of these projects, while USAID will foot the bill for the international researchers. Launched on July 7, the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) aims to leverage scientific knowledge and resources of U.S. scientists to build research capacity in developing countries and long-term links with the U.S. On the same day, the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their intent to work together to improve higher education and research capacity abroad. “This is a win-win partnership,” said NSF Director
Protein Regulates Sunburn Pain drug target: Chemokine CXCL5
boosts skin’s tenderness
t
he cell-signaling protein called CXCL5
plays a major role in the agony sunburn victims experience even from just a light slap on the back, according to a report in Science Translational Medicine (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002193). A team led by Stephen B. McMahon of King’s College London found that sun-scorched human and rat skin produces CXCL5 at elevated levels and that the molecule increases sensitivity to pain in the tissue. CXCL5 belongs to a family of proteins, known as chemokines, that can call inflammatory immune cells to an injured site. “This finding might be indicative of a more general role for CXCL5 in a variety of clinically relevant inflammatory pain conditions, for instance, osteoarthritis,” McMahon says. He and his team hope that their results will yield new, targeted pain medications. In their study, the researchers biopsied the skin of humans and rats that had been exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. They then studied the gene expression levels of more than 90 signaling proteins in the
Shah
Morrissey
tissue. CXCL5 stood out from the pack, suggesting that it is responsible for a majority of sunburn-induced pain in both species. McMahon’s team also administered an antibody against CXCL5 to rats that had been irradiated with UVB light. Compared with a control group, those rats had a much higher tolerance for pain in their sunburnt tissue. But what is “unique” about this work, says Ru-Rong Ji, a pain researcher at Harvard Medical School, is that McMahon’s team initially isolated the chemokine from both human and rat tissues. Traditionally, drug development programs start by identifying targets in animals and eventually moving to humans in the clinic, McMahon says. But humans and animals don’t always react to stimuli in the same way. “Our study has tried to validate an alternative approach,” he adds. “We have reversed the normal process” by starting with human biopsy to identify potential target molecules and then measuring their action in animals. “We think this might be a way of improving the drug discovery process,” McMahon says.—Lauren Wolf
www.ce n- onli ne .org
Suresh USAID
Initiative: Partnerships for Enhanced
Subra Suresh when launching PEER. “The U.S. scientific community benefits from more robust international partnerships and an increased awareness of how research can be used to address global development challenges. Our foreign partners benefit from the expertise and enthusiasm of the U.S. scientific community, the engagement of U.S. universities, and an understanding that science can build bridges.” PEER is modeled after a pilot program that funded six projects. Of those awards, the USAID grants ranged in size from $15,000 to $30,000, whereas the corresponding NSF awards provided a total of more than $8 million. The scale of support for PEER will be similar to that of the pilot program. PEER will focus on projects in the areas of water, climate change, biodiversity, renewable energy, disaster mitigation, and food safety. “We’re trying to actually change the way people think about what development is, what it could be, and how we can create the kinds of solutions that inspire others to care and to address the needs of the billions of people who live without the benefits of two centuries of science and technology,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said at the launching. “And with the success and lessons learned from our six pilot projects, and the strength and expertise of those assembled here today, one can be sure we’re well on our way.”—Susan
iStock
Promoting Global Science
San dy Schaef f er
news of the w eek
7
j uly 1 1 , 20 1 1
Beachgoers who become sensitized to pain because of too much sun can blame a protein called CXCL5.
