Pitt researchers reveal mechanism to halt cancer cell growth, discover potential therapy

Public release date: 4-Feb-2013
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Contact: Jennifer Yates
yatesjc@upmc.edu
412-647-9966
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4, 2013 University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have uncovered a technique to halt the growth of cancer cells, a discovery that led them to a potential new anti-cancer therapy.

When deprived of a key protein, some cancer cells are unable to properly divide, a finding described in the cover story of the February issue of the Journal of Cell Science. This research is supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

"This is the first time anyone has explained how altering this protein at a key stage in cell reproduction can stop cancer growth," said Bennett Van Houten, Ph.D., the Richard M. Cyert Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at UPCI and senior author of the research paper. "Our hope is that this discovery will spur the development of a new type of cancer drug that targets this process and could work synergistically with existing drugs."

All cells have a network of mitochondria, which are tiny structures inside cells that are essential for energy production and metabolism. Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) helps mitochondria undergo fission, a process by which they split themselves into two new mitochondria.

In breast or lung cancer cells made to be deficient in Drp1, the researchers observed a huge network of highly fused mitochondria. These cancer cells appear to have stalled during a stage in cell division called G2/M. Unable to divide into new cells, the cancer growth stops. Those cells that do try to divide literally tear their chromosomes apart, causing more stress for the cell.

The cover of the Journal of Cell Science includes a colorful image of a breast cancer cell deficient in Drp1 that is stuck during the process of separating its chromosomes into two identical sets to be divided among two new cells. Lead author Wei Qian, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Van Houten's laboratory, captured the image using a confocal microscope at Pitt's Center for Biologic Imaging run by Simon Watkins, Ph.D., a co-author of this study.

"Once we revealed this process for halting cancer cell growth by knocking out Drp1, we began looking into existing compounds that might utilize a similar mechanism," said Dr. Van Houten. "Now that we know affecting mitochondria in this manner inhibits cell growth, we could target drugs to this biological process to treat cancer."

The researchers found a compound called Mdivi-1 that makes cancer cells behave much the way they do when deficient in Drp-1. When used in combination with cisplatin, a drug already used to treat many solid cancers, rapid cell death can be induced in a wide range of cancer cells. This means that Mdivi-1 makes cisplatin work better.

Mdivi-1 is being tested in cancer cells in a laboratory setting. Those tests show that, while the compound acts as though it is depriving cancer cells of Drp1, it is actually using a different mechanism.

"To me, that's the serendipity of science, and it's really exciting," said Dr. Van Houten, who hopes eventually to move his laboratory tests on Mdivi-1 to clinical trials. "We were on the hunt for a drug that could make cancer cells deficient in Drp1 and, instead, we found a new cancer therapy that seems to work really well."

###

Additional co-authors include Serah Choi, Gregory A. Gibson, and Christopher J. Bakkenist, Ph.D., all of the University of Pittsburgh.

This work was funded in part by a grant with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, PA CURE. It also was supported by funding from NIH grants R01CA148644, P30CA047904, P50CA097190, and P50CA121973.

About UPCI

As the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in western Pennsylvania, UPCI is a recognized leader in providing innovative cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment; bio-medical research; compassionate patient care and support; and community-based outreach services. UPCI, a partner with UPMC CancerCenter, investigators are world-renowned for their work in clinical and basic cancer research.

http://www.upmc.com/media

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Public release date: 4-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jennifer Yates
yatesjc@upmc.edu
412-647-9966
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4, 2013 University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have uncovered a technique to halt the growth of cancer cells, a discovery that led them to a potential new anti-cancer therapy.

When deprived of a key protein, some cancer cells are unable to properly divide, a finding described in the cover story of the February issue of the Journal of Cell Science. This research is supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

"This is the first time anyone has explained how altering this protein at a key stage in cell reproduction can stop cancer growth," said Bennett Van Houten, Ph.D., the Richard M. Cyert Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at UPCI and senior author of the research paper. "Our hope is that this discovery will spur the development of a new type of cancer drug that targets this process and could work synergistically with existing drugs."

All cells have a network of mitochondria, which are tiny structures inside cells that are essential for energy production and metabolism. Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) helps mitochondria undergo fission, a process by which they split themselves into two new mitochondria.

In breast or lung cancer cells made to be deficient in Drp1, the researchers observed a huge network of highly fused mitochondria. These cancer cells appear to have stalled during a stage in cell division called G2/M. Unable to divide into new cells, the cancer growth stops. Those cells that do try to divide literally tear their chromosomes apart, causing more stress for the cell.

The cover of the Journal of Cell Science includes a colorful image of a breast cancer cell deficient in Drp1 that is stuck during the process of separating its chromosomes into two identical sets to be divided among two new cells. Lead author Wei Qian, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Van Houten's laboratory, captured the image using a confocal microscope at Pitt's Center for Biologic Imaging run by Simon Watkins, Ph.D., a co-author of this study.

"Once we revealed this process for halting cancer cell growth by knocking out Drp1, we began looking into existing compounds that might utilize a similar mechanism," said Dr. Van Houten. "Now that we know affecting mitochondria in this manner inhibits cell growth, we could target drugs to this biological process to treat cancer."

The researchers found a compound called Mdivi-1 that makes cancer cells behave much the way they do when deficient in Drp-1. When used in combination with cisplatin, a drug already used to treat many solid cancers, rapid cell death can be induced in a wide range of cancer cells. This means that Mdivi-1 makes cisplatin work better.

Mdivi-1 is being tested in cancer cells in a laboratory setting. Those tests show that, while the compound acts as though it is depriving cancer cells of Drp1, it is actually using a different mechanism.

"To me, that's the serendipity of science, and it's really exciting," said Dr. Van Houten, who hopes eventually to move his laboratory tests on Mdivi-1 to clinical trials. "We were on the hunt for a drug that could make cancer cells deficient in Drp1 and, instead, we found a new cancer therapy that seems to work really well."

###

Additional co-authors include Serah Choi, Gregory A. Gibson, and Christopher J. Bakkenist, Ph.D., all of the University of Pittsburgh.

This work was funded in part by a grant with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, PA CURE. It also was supported by funding from NIH grants R01CA148644, P30CA047904, P50CA097190, and P50CA121973.

About UPCI

As the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in western Pennsylvania, UPCI is a recognized leader in providing innovative cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment; bio-medical research; compassionate patient care and support; and community-based outreach services. UPCI, a partner with UPMC CancerCenter, investigators are world-renowned for their work in clinical and basic cancer research.

http://www.upmc.com/media

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/uops-prr020113.php

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AP PHOTOS: Best images from the Super Bowl

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones celebrates after returning a kickoff for a 108-yard touchdown. San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis looks around a dark stadium after the lights go out. Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams reunite at the halftime show and dance in a circle of flames.

Here are some of the best images from the Super Bowl XLVII:

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-best-images-super-bowl-031931265--spt.html

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French army launches more strikes in northern Mali

PARIS (AP) ? French troops launched airstrikes on Islamic militant sites around Kidal and Tessalit in Mali's far north, just a few hours after a triumphant visit by France's president, defense officials said Sunday.

French planes pounded extremist training camps as well as arms and fuel depots from Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday, according to French army Col. Thierry Burkhard.

"It was an important aerial operation to the north of the town Kidal and in the Tessalit region where we targeted logistical depots and Islamist training camps ... some 20 sites," said Burkhard.

"Here, there's still various Islamist groups like the MUJAO, and Ansar Dine," he said. The Islamic extremist group the Movement for Unity and Oneness of the Jihad, is known as MUJAO.

The aerial assaults come three weeks after France unilaterally launched a military intervention to stem the advance of the al-Qaida-linked fighters in Mali. Since then French troops have succeeded in ousting the rebels from the three main northern cities they occupied, including the fabled city of Timbuktu.

The continued attacks also came hours after French President Francois Hollande left Mali. On Saturday, he visited Timbuktu to a liberator's welcome. Thousands of people stood elbow-to-elbow behind a perimeter line in downtown Timbuktu, hoisting the homemade French flags they had prepared for Hollande's arrival to the northern desert city that French troops liberated last week after 10 months of control by al-Qaida-linked groups.

He then flew to Bamako, the capital, where he spoke before boarding a plane back to Paris. He stressed the successes of the French intervention, but warned that threats of extremism will continue.

"Terrorism has been rejected. It has been chased, but not yet beaten," Hollande said.

France has said that it eventually wants to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Malian army and other African counterparts.

In an interview with the Sunday's French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Tieman Coulibaly, expressed the government's hope that the French military operation carry on until the Islamists have no more weapons left.

"Faced with seasoned fighters whose arsenal must be destroyed, we wish the mission to continue," Coulibaly said. "Especially given how important the aerial dimension is."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-army-launches-more-strikes-northern-mali-150833376.html

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What caused power outage at Super Bowl: Is 'abnormality' the whole story?

'What caused power outage' may be the biggest mystery of Super Bowl XLVII. The local energy company cited an 'abnormality in the system,' but the root cause for that is still unknown.

By Mark Trumbull,?Staff writer / February 4, 2013

Fans and members of the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers wait for power to return in the Superdome during an outage in the second half of the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game, Sunday, in New Orleans.

Charlie Riedel/AP

Enlarge

Super Bowl XLVII leaves its share of mysteries in its wake, and one of the biggest is unrelated to football tactics or the inner workings of the Harbaugh family: What caused the power outage just as the second half was getting started?

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An electric power outage left the game in limbo for more than half an hour, baffling commentators and setting the stage for the dramatic near-comeback of the San Francisco 49ers.

Was it a ploy by Chinese hackers to exhibit their capabilities at a moment that had the attention of some 50 million Americans?

Did Beyonce?s flashy half-time show overtax the Superdome?s circuitry?

Those questions sprang naturally to mind for many an average viewer. But so far the hard evidence that?s emerged is more mundane.

The company Entergy, which supplies power to the Mercedes Benz Superdome, says a sensor discovered an ?abnormality? in the electric load, triggering the shutdown.

?Shortly after the beginning of the second half of the Super Bowl in the Mercedes Benz Superdome, a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system,? says a joint statement from Entergy and SMG, the management company for the Superdome.

?Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue,? the statement continues. ?Backup generators kicked in immediately as designed. Entergy and SMG subsequently coordinated start up procedures, ensuring that full power was safely restored to the Superdome.?

The obvious follow-on question is, what caused that abnormality?

The statement said Entergy and SMG are continuing to investigate for an answer on that ?root cause.?

The fault-sensing equipment, the companies added, operated right where Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed of incoming power.?An FBI special agent, quoted by the Associated Press, said terrorism didn't cause the power problem.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/F6852OEFPk4/What-caused-power-outage-at-Super-Bowl-Is-abnormality-the-whole-story

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Source: http://nikhilpatil.in/index.php?do=/blog/26316/marketing-net-on-the-web-possibilities-to-discover/

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How US military can be 'band of brothers and sisters'

IDF

Arielle Werner, 21, originally of Minnetonka, Minn., is a combat soldier with Israel's co-ed Caracal Battalion. "Women in combat can only bring good things," she said. "Two halves of a whole together can only be good."

By F. Brinley Bruton, Staff Writer, NBC News

Even before she moved to Israel, Minnesota-born Cpl. Arrielle?Werner was certain she possessed what it took to fight on the front lines.?

"I realized that I couldn't be the passive Minnesotan," said the 21-year-old member of Israel's?majority female Caracal Battalion, a combat unit which patrols the volatile border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.?"I knew this was the place for me.?My friends back in the States are shocked ? now I?m the wild combat soldier."

The self-described "peace keeper of the family" said she is prepared to "give everything" on the battlefield.?

That's the sort of gung-ho attitude that military brass appreciate in any soldier -- but it isn't an attitude many expect from a woman.

There have long been barriers to women?at war, never mind those assigned to fight at the tip of the spear. But the U.S. government's announcement on Jan. 24?that it was dropping?its ban on women in combat units changed everything. (While not officially in combat units, American women have long served side-by-side with male?service-members -- in fact, 152 women died while being deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Despite living in a country "where some still think women should stay in the kitchen," Werner feels accepted by male colleagues.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's decision to lift the 20-year ban on women serving in combat will open some 237,000 combat-related positions to women. Initially, women will be assigned to combat communications, logistics and drivers. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

"There is a little bit of a glass ceiling (but) ... you see women every day getting higher and higher," said Werner, who is originally from Minnetonka, Minn. "As long as you want to succeed and want to get stronger ? you?re able to handle everything."

While many worry whether society has the stomach to accept women being killed, and being killers, Werner is in no doubt about her place on the battlefield. ?And she doesn't mince words about her fellow females in the co-ed Caracal Battalion.

"These girls are tough," she said.

Werner, who has been on stationed on the border since October, admitted that she has noticed differences between the sexes.

"Guys are able to really to put a tough face on things (while) girls really take time to put emotion into something," she added.?"Women in combat can only bring good things. Two halves of a whole together can only be good."

Not practical or not relevant?
As the U.S. military implements its?new and controversial policy ahead of a January 2016 deadline, it will be seeking lessons from Israel and the handful of other countries that currently do not bar women from front-line combat. They include all of Scandinavia, Australia, Eritrea, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Poland and Romania.

Despite examples set by these countries, one of the biggest worries remains that integration will undermine the essential cohesion of the so-called band of brothers that has long defined the?camaraderie?among fighting men.

"(In the British military) the argument always comes down to the pure practicalities of the effectiveness of the unit rather than if a woman can't do it," said Amyas Godfrey, a former infantry officer and associate fellow at British security think tank the?Royal United Services Institution (RUSI).

Atef Safadi / EPA, file

Israeli female soldiers take positions during clashes with Palestinian protesters from the West Bank village of Nabi Salah on Dec. 28.

The United Kingdom is almost alone among Western European countries in not allowing women into?front-line?combat roles.

"It comes down to 18-to-22-year-old boys not being able to ignore the fact that there is a woman in their midst," he said. Integrating combat units and concentrating on making space for women also "doesn't fit with the practicality of closing with and killing the enemy," he said.

Norwegian Brigadier Odin Johannessen, who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan and commanded military units for 12 years, disagreed with the idea that men and women could not be trained to serve together.

"In mixed units, what is most important is to become a soldier," said the 51-year-old who formerly ran the Norwegian Army Academy in Oslo. "That you are a good soldier tends to be the most prized factor of all, if you are a male or female doesn?t matter."

"It's called a band of brothers. I would rather rephrase it to a band of brothers and sisters," he added.?

Johannessen's exposure to military women colored the rest of his career.

"My first day in the military I met Sgt. Bente Karlsen and she has been present in my mind for my entire service for the professional way she led us," he said. ?

Karlsen had the essential ability to convey instructions and orders, but also clearly cared about the young men under her command, Johannessen said.?

"She was a brilliant sergeant?and showed me that it matters not if you are male of female," he said.?

Norway has no official restrictions on women joining any of its?operational?units, although no women are members of its special forces. Nine percent of combat roles in Norway are made up of women, and the?armed forces' aim to increase that the proportion of females in military positions to 15 percent.

'Masculine warrior culture'
With its "no-exclusion policy," Canada is also recognized internationally as one of the few militaries to have officially removed all barriers to women. Canadian women have served and died on the front line in Afghanistan, and make up four percent of the roles in Canada's so-called combat arms divisions, and 14.8 percent of military roles overall.?

Getty Images, file

Canadian Master Corporal Tera Avey of Edmonton, Alberta, a mother of two and one of three female combat soldiers, wakes up on March, 2002 in the rocky Shahi Kot mountains in Afghanistan. Hundreds of American and Canadian troops were lifted into the mountainous region at high altitude to search and destroy Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

Karen Davis, a gender integration expert for Canada's armed forces, acknowledges?that women have to adapt to the "masculine warrior culture" of combat units.

But when Canadian men and women were sent to fight on the front lines in Afghanistan, fears that women's presence would hurt all-important unity did not bear out, she said.

"What we learned when we went into Afghanistan is that Canadian soldiers are trained to do a job, no matter if they were men or women," Davis said, adding that proper and rigorous training before deployment helped make this happen.

Whether women can or should be treated and tested differently from their male counterparts is at the heart of any discussion on how to integrate military operations, especially front-line combat troops.

In Israel, where women have formed part of the military since before the founding of the state and face?conscription, the training process "accepts differences between men and women and just deals with them," according to Capt. Eytan Buchman, a spokesman for the?Israel Defense Forces.

"Everybody comes in with their own baggage and?physiological?differences," he added.

Johannessen, for his part, advises trainers and commanders to not give women under their command special treatment.?

"Say there are two females in the unit. If you want to do it wrong, pay special attention to them," he said. ?

To this end,?gender-neutral physical standards?are also essential, he said.

According to Davis, Canada's success at integrating women also came about as a result of a rigorously enforced non-fraternization policy. And the onus for making sure relationships don't happen lies not just on the women, but also the men throughout the chain of command, she says.

But beyond policies and rules, Norway's Johannessen says that more women make militaries better and smarter.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

View images of the women deployed as the second Female Engagement team in Afghanistan

"Men and women are looking at a problem from different positions," he said. "Having the?possibility?for a different view is many times better."

While integrating women into combat can be down to well-thought-out polices, effective leadership and rigorous training -- natural attributes for any well-run military organization -- an important lesson is that change will most likely not come quickly or implemented uniformly.

Gender integration expert?Davis?admits that even her own thinking changed radically from the time she joined an all-female land-bound unit in the Canadian Navy in 1978. At the time, she agreed that women did not belong in many roles in the military. But in 1985 that changed: Davis was asked to be one of two women to go to sea for 12 days on a formerly all-male ship.

"I came back questioning everything," Davis said. "I had joined and completely accepted everything I had been told, but in fact none of it was rational, it could all be dismantled."?

Related:

Female veterans cheer new era: 'It's about time!'

Women in the infantry? Forget about it, says female Marine officer

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/02/16751945-how-the-us-military-can-become-a-band-of-brothers-and-sisters?lite

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White House photo shows Obama skeet shooting

In this photo released by the White House, President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. The White House released a photo of Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control. In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said yes when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza)

In this photo released by the White House, President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. The White House released a photo of Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control. In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said yes when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza)

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 1994 file photo, George W. Bush looks to the sky during a dove hunt in Hockley, Texas during his first Texas gubernatorial campaign. Anticipating some dove hunting on a 100-plus degree day during Sept. 2000, Bush explained that the birds could be marinated, but "I'm probably just going to throw them right on the grill." (AP Photo/File, David J. Phillip, file)

FILE - In this April 25, 1994 file photo, President Bill Clinton holds a Colt AR-15 rifle during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, where he launched efforts to pass the assault weapons ban. Dayton, Ohio Police Lt. Randy Bean, whose fellow officer Steve Whalen was gunned down with an AR-15 in 1991, looks on at left. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 1992 file photo, U.S. President George H. Bush displays a rifle given to him as a gift, in Billings, Mont., as his chief of staff James Baker, left, watches during the campaign stop. Bush will continue campaigning at morning on Monday in Montana. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 1944 file photo, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied invasion chief, fires a Browning light machine gun using his hip as a mount, during an inspection of an infantry unit in England. (AP Photo/file)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two days before President Barack Obama's first trip outside Washington to promote his gun-control proposals, the White House tried Saturday to settle a brewing mystery by releasing a photo to back his claim to be a skeet shooter.

Obama had set inquiring minds spinning when, in an interview with The New Republic magazine, he answered "yes" when asked if he had ever fired a gun. The admission came as a surprise to many.

"Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," Obama said in the interview released last weekend, referring to the official presidential retreat in rural Maryland, which he last visited in October while campaigning for re-election. Asked whether the entire family participates, the president said: "Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there."

Obama never mentioned skeet shooting prior to that interview.

The White House photo released Saturday is dated Aug. 4, 2012. The caption says Obama is shooting clay targets on the range at Camp David. Obama is seen holding a gun against his left shoulder, his left index finger on the trigger and smoke coming from the barrel. He is wearing jeans, a dark blue, short-sleeved polo shirt, sunglasses and earmuffs.

The National Rifle Association, which has rejected Obama's proposals, scoffed at the photo.

"One picture does not erase a lifetime of supporting every gun ban and every gun-control scheme imaginable," said Andrew Arulanandam, the organization's spokesman.

The NRA opposes Obama's call for Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and says requiring background checks for all gun purchases would be ineffective because the administration isn't doing enough to enforce existing gun laws.

Asked at Monday's press briefing how frequently Obama shoots skeet and whether photos existed, White House press secretary Jay Carney said he didn't know how often. Pictures may exist, he said, but he hadn't seen any.

"Why haven't we heard about it before?" Carney was asked.

"Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs," Carney said.

Obama is accompanied almost everywhere by at least one White House photographer.

Carney declined to comment on the decision to release the photo, which he had announced on Twitter. The release appeared to be part of a strategy to portray Obama as sympathetic to gun owners and opponents of his gun-control measures who argue the proposals would infringe on an individual's Second Amendment right to bear arms.

A top official with the National Skeet Shooting Association said the photo suggests Obama is a novice shooter.

"This isn't something he's done very often because of how he's standing, how he has the gun mounted," said Michael Hampton, executive director of the San Antonio-based association.

Hampton said Obama's remark about "skeet shooting all the time" and the White House photo would have met less skepticism had the president spoken about his hobby months before this new debate over guns in the U.S.

"Once it becomes controversial and there's problems, to talk about it then, that's where it becomes very debatable and is not being received as well as if he would have done this six months ago," Hampton said.

In interview, appearing in The New Republic's Feb. 11 issue, Obama said gun-control advocates should be better listeners in the debate over firearms, which was sparked by the December killing of elementary school pupils in Connecticut. He also declared his deep respect for the long tradition of hunting in this country.

"I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake," Obama said. "Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas. And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that."

"So it's trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months. And that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes," Obama said.

His gun control measures also have met resistance on Capitol Hill.

In Minneapolis on Monday, Obama plans to make remarks and discuss his proposals with local and law enforcement officials during a stop at the police department's special operations center. He's also expected to hear from community members about their experiences with gun violence.

Obama announced his proposals in mid-January, about a month after the Dec. 14 shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-02-US-Obama-Guns/id-b3d6bdfd9b7c4927a5b6e9d692664249

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