Infection Detection

The Wistar Institute has a long history of medical research Students pass it every day on the way to class. Quadrangle residents wake up and face it every morning. But, what exactly is that antique orange-brick structure located at 36th and Spruce streets? It is the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, a facility dedicated to basic research, which will celebrate its centennial in May of this year. While Wistar has no official connection with the University, their histories have been intertwined from the start. "Penn grew up around Wistar," said Nancy Fogg-Johnson, executive vice president of administration at Wistar. The Institute was founded in 1892 by General Isaac Wistar, as a tribute to the anatomical collection of his great uncle, Caspar Wistar, who was chairperson of the University's Anatomy Department. According to Diana Burgwyn, Wistar spokesperson, Isaac Wistar reached an agreement with the University that allowed the Institute to locate on the University's campus while maintaining an independent status. At the same time, a nine-member board of managers was established. Six members were to be elected by the University's Board of Trustees, two were to be appointed by the National Academy of Sciences and one was to be a member of the Wistar family. According to Burgwyn, the Institute took off with the appointment of Hillary Koprowski as director in 1957. "The Koprowski years were a great time here," said Burgwyn. "There was a great group of international scientists. They took learning from here back to their home countries." During the 1960s and 1970s, vaccines for polio, rabies and German measles were developed at Wistar. And, in 1971, the Institute was designated as as one of the first grant recipients of the Conquest of Cancer Plan. This legislation expanded cancer research in the United States. By 1990, there were 84 scientists, 47 visiting and associate scientists, 33 graduate students and 88 post-doctoral trainees and fellows working at the Institute. The Institute has also expanded from its original building. In the mid-1970s a new building opened on Spruce Street that offered more research facilities and office space. While the Institute is engaged in many types of biomedical research, about 70 percent of its work is spent on cancer research, Fogg-Johnson said. The Institute, which receives a large share of its funding from the National Cancer Institute, is one of only 14 federally designated cancer science centers in the country, Fogg-Johnson said. Research at the Institute is divided up into five basic "program areas" -- Immunology, Structural Biology, Virology, Molecular and Cellular Biology. The Immunology Program at Wistar is dedicated to the study of the basic body mechanisms which regulate the immune responses to infectious pathogens, foreign antigens, tumor antigens and self-antigens. Recent research involving Interleukin-12 (IL-12), known as a Natural Killer Stimulatory Factory, has catapulted Immunology to the forefront at Wistar. IL-12 has the potential of regulating the immune system's response to bacteria and other infectious agents. These could include HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. According to Giorgio Trinchieri, the program director of the Immunology Program, IL-12 may have medical applications in the area of cancer therapy as well. Trinchieri's work concerning IL-12 and its relation to cancer will be moving into the clinical research stage over the next several months. Hoffman-La Roche Corporation, a major pharmaceutical firm based in Nutley, N.J. and The Genetic Institute of Cambridge, Mass. will be conducting phase I tests. According to preliminary data from Trinchieri's work on HIV positive individuals, a defect in IL-12 production may play a major role in AIDS. This line of research may point to using IL-12 therapeutically to improve the immune response in AIDS patients. However, according to Trinchieri, "this still needs to be proven." Trinchieri has also studied IL-12 in several other research endeavors. In collaboration with Phillip Scott of the School of Veterinary Medicine, he has shown that IL-12 exhibits a powerful ability to strengthen the vaccination against the tropical parasite, Leishmania Major. The Leishmania findings have excited many scientists because of their possible applications to treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy. Trinchieri's Italian training highlights the international nature of Wistar's faculty. Among the 300 scientists who conduct their research at Wistar, many are natives of foreign countries. "We have a strong connection with Europe," Fogg-Johnson said. "We have scientists from Germany, Poland and Italy. We also have researchers from Japan and China. Although recently, we have been recruiting many young American scientists." Another Wistar program area that has been in the spotlight lately is Molecular and Cellular Biology. Led by Meenhard Herlyn, a doctor of veterinary medicine, Molecular and Cellular Biology researchers investigate the molecular mechanisms that are involved in the differentiation and development of normal cells. They also investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in various cancers and diseases. Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Clayton Buck is currently involved in groundbreaking research in the area of cognitive heart disease. He and Beverly Emmanuel, a leader in the chromosome structure field and a researcher at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, are investigating the relationship between the deletion of chromosome 22 and cognitive heart disease. Buck's research, which involves human fetal tissue samples, takes place in the laboratories at Wistar, while Emmanuel screens actual patients at CHOP. According to Buck, Emmanuel screens the patients for congenital heart defects and then attempts to identify whether they have deletions of chromosome 22. The study will track 100 new patients each year and will involve 500 children by its completion. It will have major impacts for gene therapy and its feasibility. Buck's joint project with CHOP is a good example of Wistar's mission of basic scientific research and relationship with the outside community. While Buck handles the basic science aspects of the study at Wistar, Emmanuel runs the clinical aspects of the program. "This project is a good example of the collaborative relationship between Wistar and Penn," Buck said. That research/clinical collaboration is one of the advantages of Wistar's location on the University's campus, according to Fogg-Johnson. "If we want to move into a clinical stage, we need a collaborator," she said. "HUP's proximity to Wistar makes them a great site for clinical applications of our research." As a result of Wistar's location on campus, there is the widespread belief that it is a unit of the University. Despite the fact that Wistar is completely independent from the University, there are several links between the two institutions. "A number of scientists hold joint appointments with Penn's science departments" she said. "We also train Penn graduate students in the sciences." While the Institute has had an exciting and innovative past, it is hoping for an even brighter future. Armed with world-class scientists, facilities and a steady stream of funding from the federal government, those dreams should be translated into reality. "I think the Institute has a great future ahead of us," Fogg-Johnson said. "We will continue recruiting the top scientists available to us."