1998 Research Grants Awarded

Thanks to your generosity, we were able to award a record $80,000 in research grants this year. This total includes donations, memorials, yard sales, raffles, a concert, a benefit cabaret, and a major gift from the Rasmussen family in Minnesota. We are hopeful that these two grants will further our knowledge of the function of the VHL gene so that we will understand better how to intervene in the process and make a difference in the outcome.

Let’s do it again! Give what you can, and send brochures to others. Join Jay in going that extra mile. Together we will find a way to control VHL.

VHL Control of VEGF Expression

Dr. James R. Gnarra, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans, $40,000

In this project, Dr. Gnarra proposes to continue his studies on how the VHL protein regulates the expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the growth of blood vessels. The proposed studies are a continuation of those presented last year, for which he was awarded funding. His hypothesis, which is shared by many researchers within the VHL scientific community, is that altered regulation of VEGF expression in individuals with a mutated form of the VHL gene is critical for the development of VHL disease. Therefore, understanding how VHL regulates VEGF is very important, since it may allow the identification of targets for therapeutic intervention. Modulating the activity of these targets could prevent or lower VEGF expression, and hence the development of VHL tumors. The regulation of VEGF expression by VHL is believed to be carried out through binding of certain proteins to the mRNA that encodes VEGF. He seeks to identify these factors and study how they work.

Studies on the VHLp18(MEA) protein

Dr. Robert D. Burk, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, New York, $40,000

Dr. Burk proposes to study how VHL functions normally in the cell. Based on the type of proteins that interact with VHL, it has recently been postulated that VHL may participate in the elimination by degradation (‘proteolysis’) of certain cellular proteins. Dr. Burk plans to investigate this possibility further by determining the precise location of VHL within the cell, identifying the proteins that interact with VHL and establishing the cellular structures that VHL associates with. In addition, he has reported that another protein, identical to VHL but slightly smaller, is in fact the most abundant form of VHL in the cell. He plans to compare the function and subcellular distribution of each form of the VHL protein.

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 6:3, September 1998.  For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.

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