U of M News Wire: August 9, 2007

 
University of Minnesota report says early-childhood intervention improves well-being through young adulthood

~ Study is the first to show school programs have enduring impact ~

By Patty Mattern
U of M News Wire

Minority preschoolers from low-income families who participated in a comprehensive school-based intervention fared better educationally, socially and economically as they moved into young adulthood, according to a report release this week by University of Minnesota professors Arthur Reynolds and Judy Temple. The study is in the Journal of the American Medical Association's (JAMA) Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Reynolds is a child development professor in the College of Education and Human Development and Judy Temple is a professor in the department of applied economics and in the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
 
"This study is the first to show that large-scale established programs run by schools can have enduring effects into adulthood on general health and well-being," Reynolds says. "Early childhood programs can promote not only educational success but health status and behavior."
 
Reynolds' research group discovered that by age 24, children who were involved in preschool programs were more likely to finish high school, attend four-year colleges and have health insurance coverage, and less likely to be arrested for a felony, be incarcerated or develop depressive symptoms. For example, the preschool group had higher rates of high school completion with 71.4 percent finishing high school compared with a 63.7 percent finish rate among those in the non-preschool group. Those who attended preschool also were more likely to have health insurance with 70.2 percent having insurance compared with 61.5 percent of those not in preschool. Those children in the program also had lower rates of felony arrests with 16.5 percent compared with 21.1 percent and lower depressive symptoms with 12.8 percent compared with 17.4 percent.
 
The study directed by Reynolds is called the Chicago Longitudinal Study and began in 1986 to investigate the effects of government-funded kindergarten programs for 1,539 children in the Chicago Public Schools. Reynolds' group studied the long-term effects of the Child-Parent Center in Chicago. A total of 1,539 low-income minority children who were born in 1979 or 1980 and attended programs at 25 sites between 1985 and 1986 were compared with 550 children who participated in alternative full-day kindergarten programs available to low-income families. The children were tracked through age 24 using various methods, including records from schools, Medicaid and county, state and federal agencies, as well as a survey completed by the participants between ages 22 and 24 years.
 
"Early childhood interventions have demonstrated consistent positive effects on children's health and well-being," according to background information in the JAMA article. The types of programs that have received the largest growth in public funding are preschool programs for mostly at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds that provide both educational and family services in a center-based environment. One such intervention, the Child-Parent Center program in Chicago, is available from preschool through third grade and features instruction by qualified teachers, low child-to-staff ratios, health and nutrition services and an intensive parent program that includes classroom involvement, field trips and home visits.
 
Children who participated in the program during preschool and early school years also were more likely to be working full-time (42.7 percent vs. 36.4 percent), have completed more years of education and have lower rates of arrests for violent offenses (13.9 percent vs. 17.9 percent), and were less likely to receive disability assistance (4.4 percent vs. 7 percent).
 
The fact that positive results of the program extend beyond educational achievements is not surprising given the links between education, mental and physical health and behavior, Reynolds and Temple said in the study. "Because expenditures for the medical care and justice systems comprise roughly 20 percent of the gross domestic product, the potential cost savings to governments and taxpayers of early childhood prevention programs are considerable."
 
"Children who participated in this program had a greater recognition that more and higher quality schooling is the way out of poverty," Reynolds said.
 
"Children who were enrolled in the CPC program were generally more socially engaged and educationally adept," Reynolds said. "These benefits derived from the early impacts of the program on school readiness, achievement, and parental involvement in the children's schooling."
 
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, as well as by the Foundation for Child Development, the National Institute for Early Education Research, the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the University of Wisconsin, Madison Graduate School. To learn more about the Chicago Longitudinal Study, see http://www.education.umn.edu/icd/CLS/ <http://www.education.umn.edu/icd/CLS/>
 
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U of M study says normal but out-of-control enzyme may be culprit that signals some cells to become cancerous
 
~ Enzyme that regulates cell growth and other functions found to promote cell transformation in colorectal carcinoma ~

By Deane Morrison
U of M News Wire

Working with human colorectal cancer cells, a University of Minnesota team, led by cancer biologists Zigang Dong and Ann Bode, has found the potential culprit among a network of enzymes that relay signals inside cells to regulate such functions as cell growth, cancer development and programmed cell death. The work suggests that drugs designed to disable the enzyme, known as TOPK, could have anti-cancer benefits. The study appears in the July issue of the journal Gastroenterology.
 
"Colorectal [cancer] is the second leading cause of cancer mortality, and the molecular pathways [by which it develops] remain incompletely understood," said Dong, a McKnight Presidential Professor in cancer prevention and director of the university's Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn. "In this study, we provided evidence showing that TOPK promotes transformation [of normal cells to cancerous ones] in colorectal carcinoma."
 
The story begins with the frequent observation by researchers that members of this enzyme network are overactive in the cells of several human cancers. The function of all these enzymes is to activate other enzymes and proteins, which makes them ideal for passing along signals.
 
For example, a cancer-causing agent or a hormone may find its way from the bloodstream to the outer membrane of a cell. After its arrival, it sets off a chain of reactions, or signals, inside the cell. Some of these signals take the form of certain enzymes activating others. Eventually, the "news" reaches the genetic material inside the cell nucleus, where changes resulting in uncontrolled growth--cancer--or some other cell behavior are made.
 
It was thought that some form of an enzyme called MEK, which belongs to the family of signaling enzymes, was the culprit. But to cause cancer, an enzyme or other agent is expected to be active all the time, like a light with no off switch. MEK, however, is never active all the time in nature; only if kept artificially active can it lead to cancer. Therefore, researchers theorized that a related enzyme was activating others in the network and keeping the signaling process going.
 
Dong and his colleagues examined the role of TOPK. This enzyme is not very active in normal tissues, but it is quite active in cancerous cells taken from blood, breast, prostate and colorectal tumors, among others. The onset of cancer could trigger the permanent turning-on of TOPK. One piece of evidence for this is that while TOPK is similar to MEK in structure, TOPK has features that suggest it is easier to keep turned on all the time.
 
The team performed several experiments to determine whether high TOPK activity could lead to cancer.
 
• When they engineered mouse skin cells to produce excessive amounts of the enzyme and then injected the cells into other mice, those mice developed tumors. Control mice had none.
 
• After they had "silenced" the gene for TOPK in human colorectal cancer cells, growth of the cells was significantly slowed compared to control colorectal cancer cells.
 
• The researchers also found that TOPK and a related enzyme (not MEK) activated each other in growing human colorectal cancer cells.
 
Taken together, these and other findings suggested that TOPK is, in effect, the key cancer-causing member of the network for which researchers have been searching, Dong said. Also, the fact that TOPK seems active mainly in cancer cells--not normal ones--means it could make a good target for chemotherapy.
 
How TOPK gets turned on is not known, but it appears to happen as a result of abnormal activity in cells that stems from genetic mutations in certain well-known genes. Such genes, called oncogenes, generally don't cause any trouble until mutations occur in them.
 
The work was supported by the Hormel Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
 
 
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Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota

Question: My mom is worried about my baby because she says he’s too skinny. I say he’s just fine, but she has this idea that a baby isn't healthy unless he's chubby.  How can I know for sure, and what can I tell my mom?

Answer: It used to be that people thought “healthy baby” and “chubby baby” were synonymous; but now we know that’s not the case.  In fact, with childhood obesity at epidemic levels in the United States (and Type II diabetes increasingly common at young ages), growing “chubby” kids is not a desirable goal. That said, babies vary greatly in size and body type, and there's a wide range of normal. Up to the age of 2 years, a baby’s weight is not very predictive of size or weight later in childhood or adulthood.
 
There are two situations in which a baby’s low weight may be cause for concern. First of all, a baby weighing less than 5.5 pounds at birth is considered a “low birth-weight baby” and may have a higher risk of developmental problems than a normal-sized baby.  Low birth weight is sometimes a result of maternal smoking or poor nutrition during pregnancy.  A second scenario is a baby whose growth proceeds at a slower rate than normal. This may indicate a physical problem or, in rare and serious circumstances, a condition called “failure to thrive,” which may result from extreme emotional neglect or hard-to-diagnose medical problems in the child.  
 
Chances are your baby is just fine. Your pediatrician can show you exactly where your baby falls on the normal growth curve for both height and weight and can track his growth over time, reassuring you and your mother that he’s on track in spite of his slender body type. Beyond looking at his growth patterns as compared to others his age, it’s also important to pay attention to other indicators of your baby’s health and well-being -- for example, skin tone, muscle tone, energy level and his achievement of major developmental milestones such as rolling, sitting, pulling up and grasping.
 
As for what to say to your mother, it’s important to let her know that you appreciate her concern about your baby’s health. Then let her know what your doctor says about your baby’s growth, perhaps showing her where he falls on the growth chart or even inviting her to go along for a well-child visit. No doubt, your mother has much to teach you, and you will have things to teach her as well. Knowledge about child development, nutrition, and parenting is changing all the time, so welcome your mother to be your partner in learning all you can about what’s most important for your child.   
 
Dr. Erickson is a senior fellow and director of the Harris Programs in the Center for Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota
 
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com