MABS SPECIFIC TO METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS

DESCRIPTION (adapted from applicant's abstract): Glutamate is the major fast excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain and mediates many nervous system functions by its interaction with specific neuronal receptors. Physiological, pharmacological, and molecular cloning studies have identified two major classes of glutamate receptors, called ionotropic(GluR) and metabotropic (mGluR). These receptors are important in learning and memory, in neuronal development, and in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The molecular cloning of mGluR provides a great understanding of the structure and function of these pharmacologically important receptors. Detailed knowledge of the anatomy and subtype specificity of glutamate receptors is important both in understanding the normal physiology and the pathological changes occurring in diseases. A better understanding of the localization and regulation of mGluRs may lead to development of receptor specific drugs. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are not available to different mGluR subtypes. Using peptides and recombinant proteins as immunogens mAbs will be made to mGluR subtypes. Antibodies will be screened for their utility in immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The applicant claims that monoclonal antibodies to the mGluRs will be valuable tools for immunolocalization and regulation studies. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 483 --PROJECT NUMBER......2 R44 NR03864-02 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 UMAN, GWEN C IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG4 VITAL RESEARCH AWARD AMOUNT......... $346,227 LOS ANGELES, CA 90069 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: VITAL RESEARCH TITLE QUALITY OF LIFE NH SYSTEMS ABSTRACT: The measurement of resident and family satisfaction with life in the nursing home is vital if nursing home care is to be improved. We have demonstrated in a Phase I proposal that we can successfully collect satisfaction information from 79% of nursing home residents using simple questions within an interview strategy that considers the dementia and frailty of the nursing home population. Furthermore, we have developed a decision rule based on Minimum Data Set data that identifies those residents who are able to provide accurate descriptions of care activities that occur. We estimate that 48% of the nursing home population is accurate. This Phase II proposal extends this research in several important ways. First, we will work with 1OO nursing homes so as to analyze the stability of the satisfaction data over time and to establish the foundation for bench marking. Second, we will determine how the responses of both accurate and inaccurate residents relate to other measures of nursing home quality. Finally, we will develop a technological base that will permit us to efficiently collect data and sell our system to large numbers of nursing homes. We have support from a national nursing home professional association to increase the commercial viability of our system.