November 2011

SCIENCE VOICES ON THE HILL NEEDS ADVOCACY TOOLKIT YOU LOOKING AHEAD Also inside: More Annual Meeting Coverage

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

AT1111_C2C1.indb 1 10/27/11 2:34 PM ANNUAL REVIEWS Global. Mobile. Relevant Research.

NOW AVAILABLE Annual Review of Biochemistry ON MOBILE DEVICES! Volume 80 • July 2011 • Online & In Print • http://biochem.annualreviews.org Editor: Roger D. Kornberg, Stanford University School of Medicine

The Annual Review of Biochemistry, in publication since 1932, sets the standard for review articles in biological chemistry and molecular biology. Since its inception, these volumes have served as an indispensable resource for both the practicing biochemist and students of biochemistry.

Access this and all Annual Reviews journals via your institution at www.annualreviews.org Personal copies available at a reduced rate. Institutional site license options available. Contact Annual Reviews for details.

PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS: • Biochemistry of Mobile Zinc and Nitric Oxide Revealed • From Serendipity to Therapy, Elizabeth F. Neufeld by Fluorescent Sensors, Michael D. Pluth, Elisa Tomat, Stephen J. Lippard • Journey of a Molecular Biologist, Masayasu Nomura • Development of Probes for Cellular Functions Using Fluorescent • My Life with Nature, Julius Adler Proteins and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer, • Protein Folding and Modifi cation in the Mammalian Endoplasmic Atsushi Miyawaki Reticulum, Ineke Braakman, Neil J. Bulleid • Reporting from the Field: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent • Mechanisms of Membrane Curvature Sensing, Bruno Antonny Reporters Uncover Signaling Dynamics in Living Biological • Biogenesis and Cargo Selectivity of Autophagosomes, Systems, Sohum Mehta, Jin Zhang Hilla Weidberg, Elena Shvets, Zvulun Elazar • DNA Replicases from a Bacterial Perspective, • Introduction to Theme "Membrane Protein Folding and Insertion", Charles S. McHenry Gunnar von Heijne • Genomic and Biochemical Insights into the Specifi city of ETS • Assembly of Bacterial Inner Membrane Proteins, Ross E. Dalbey, Transcription Factors, Peter C. Hollenhorst, Lawrence P. McIntosh, Peng Wang, Andreas Kuhn Barbara J. Graves • ß-Barrel Membrane Protein Assembly by the Bam Complex, • Signals and Combinatorial Functions of Histone Modifi cations, Christine L. Hagan, Thomas J. Silhavy, Daniel Kahne Tamaki Suganuma, Jerry L. Workman • Transmembrane Communication: General Principles and • Assembly of Bacterial Ribosomes, Zahra Shajani, Lessons from the Structure and Function of the M2 Proton Michael T. Sykes, James R. Williamson Channel, K+ Channels, and Integrin Receptors, Gevorg Grigoryan, • The Mechanism of Peptidyl Transfer Catalysis by the David T. Moore, William F. DeGrado Ribosome, Edward Ki Yun Leung, Nikolai Suslov, Nicole Tuttle, • Mass Spectrometry in the Postgenomic Era, Brian T. Chait Raghuvir Sengupta, Joseph Anthony Piccirilli • Advances in the Mass Spectrometry of Membrane Proteins: • Amyloid Structure: Conformational Diversity and Consequences, From Individual Proteins to Intact Complexes, Nelson P. Barrera, Brandon H. Toyama, Jonathan S. Weissman Carol V. Robinson • AAA+ Proteases: ATP-Fueled Machines of Protein Destruction, • Quantitative, High-Resolution Proteomics for Data-Driven Robert T. Sauer, Tania A. Baker Systems Biology, Jürgen Cox, Matthias Mann • The Structure of the Nuclear Pore Complex, André Hoelz, • Applications of Mass Spectrometry to Lipids and Membranes, Erik W. Debler, Günter Blobel Richard Harkewicz, Edward A. Dennis • Benchmark Reaction Rates, the Stability of Biological Molecules • Emerging In Vivo Analyses of Cell Function Using Fluorescence in Water, and the Evolution of Catalytic Power in Enzymes, Imaging, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz Richard Wolfenden

For a complete table of contents for the current volume, please visit http://biochem.annualreviews.org

ANNUAL REVIEWS • Guiding Scientists to Essential Research Since 1932

TEL: 800.523.8635 (US/CAN) • TEL: 650.493.4400 (WORLDWIDE) • FAX: 650.424.0910 (WORLDWIDE) • EMAIL: [email protected]

AT1111_C2C1.indb 2 10/27/11 2:35 PM contents November 2011 On the cover: It’s the advocacy issue— in red, white and blue, of news course! Find out how to 2 President’s Message do your part. A letter to the entering class 4 News from the Hill Advocacy resources at your fingertips 5 Washington Update Translational-center plans move forward This one’s for the shutterbugs! 6 Members on Capitol Hill Find out how to get your travel 8 Maternity planning for postdocs photos featured in 9 Member Update ASBMB Today. 9 features 10 NIH Center for Scientific Review update 11 Online exclusives 12 Q&A with Laurie Glimcher Oh, how we love odes! Submit 16 Goodbye, Beaumont House to our poetry contest for a chance to win a cash prize meetings and publication of your 20 Organelle dynamics free verse. 28 21 Sugar fix 22 ‘Developing’ drugs 23 Systems biology 25 Chemical biology and biocatalysis 26 Targeting tuberculosis Our new science writer, Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay, 27 Education and Professional interviews Laurie Glimcher, Development left, the new dean of Weill Cornell Medical School. 12 departments 29 Lipid News Retrospective: Eugene P. Kennedy 31 Journal News 31 MCP: Proteomic and metabolic basis for anxiety and depression 31 JLR: Thematic review series asbmb today online highlights lipid droplet research Check out our new series of blog 32 JBC: Formation of radical for DNA generation reviews for readers who haven’t yet explored all that the blogosphere has 32 JBC: Tabor award winner to offer when it comes to biochemistry and molecular biology. Contributor 33 Education Aditi Das offers her recommendations Evaluating student gains in understanding for blogs useful in the classroom and lab. www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday 36 Open Channels

November 2011 ASBMB Today 1

AT1111_C2C1.indb 1 10/27/11 2:35 PM president’sm age A monthly publication of the American society for Biochemistry and molecular Biology A letter to the entering class Offi cers By SuZAnne pFeFFeR Suzanne R. pfeffer President jeremy M. Berg President-Elect Mark A. Lemmon Secretary Merle S. Olson Treasurer Toni M. Antalis Treasurer-Elect hat if every ASBMB member selected a mentee (a student, postdoc Council Members Wor junior faculty member) and gave him or her the gift of an ASBMB karen n. Allen Ruma V. Banerjee membership? I decided to do that for the 12 graduate students who began Benjamin F. Cravatt Michael A. Marletta David Sabatini john D. Scott training this semester in the department of biochemistry at Stanford University. Melissa Starovasnik Wesley I. Sundquist I don’t expect many ASBMB members to gift 12 memberships in one year, but jonathan S. Weissman I cannot think of a better way to welcome young scientists into our discipline. I Ex-Offi cio Members should have been doing this for years now, for all of my students, to help them Russell DeBose-Boyd hongtao yu understand from the outset that they are part of a much larger community of co-chairs, 2012 Annual meeting Program committee peter j. kennelly scientists. So with that, I share with you a letter to the entering class. chair, education and Professional Development committee joan W. Conaway chair, meetings committee Dear First-Year Students, Terri kinzy chair, membership committee I cannot think of a more exciting time to embark on a career Squire j. Booker in science. There are so many more tools available today than chair, minority Affairs committee Bettie Sue Masters ever before, and our ability to study questions on a genomewide chair, Public Affairs Advisory committee Charles Brenner scale represents a major advance both in terms of the scope of chair, Publications committee the answers that can now be obtained and the systemwide com- Martha j. Fedor, editor-in-chief, JBC plexity that we can now begin to explore. herbert Tabor, co-editor, JBC Ralph A. Bradshaw You are now a professional researcher — getting paid to do A. L. Burlingame co-editors, MCP experiments and make discoveries. The sooner you realize that edward A. Dennis students and postdocs make essentially all of the major discover- joseph L. Witztum co-editors, JLR ies, the sooner you will understand why coursework is an impor- ASBMB Today Editorial Advisory Board tant starting point but not at all the point of graduate school. We Alex Toker (chair) need to teach you how to learn what you need to learn on your Mike Bradley Craig e. Cameron A. Stephen Dahms Alex C. Drohat own. There simply is too much information and a broad swath of Ben ellington Irwin Fridovich Richard W. hanson Gerald hart history that would take too much course time to explain. Discov- peter kennelly Carol C. Shoulders eries won’t happen if you aren’t thinking hard about your sci- ASBMB Today ence and spending a great deal of time doing experiments. You Angela hopp Interim Editor [email protected] need to embrace your project as your own. The sooner you do Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay Sr. Science Writer / Editor this, the more successful you will be. [email protected] erin Salb Production Coordinator Some of you will be very lucky in graduate school: Your [email protected] research project will yield ready answers, and your proteins nancy j. Rodnan Director of Publications [email protected] will be well behaved. Others will have a more challenging time, Barbara Gordon Executive Director and those of you in this latter category will learn another [email protected] important lesson— that science is not always easy and suc- for information on advertising, contact capitol media solutions at 800-517-0610 cess requires knowing when to keep trying and, just as impor- or [email protected] tantly, when to change tack. I will worry about those of you who have easy success, because after you graduate and you face a tougher project (and it will be when and not if), you may not www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday have acquired the skills needed to deal with that challenge. All of a sudden, science may not seem as much fun anymore. It is

2 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 2 10/27/11 2:35 PM president’sm age

those of us who have struggled who appreciate approaches to tackle a question, and by collabo- most the joys of discovery. rating you can use multiple approaches and My wish for each of you is that you start technologies to obtain a much richer and deeper graduate school with a project that is extremely answer. I can think of three times in my own likely to work. This will help you gain con - lab when sending a student to another lab for dence in your experimental skills and teach a week (to David Lambright’s lab in Worcester, you to trust your data— and the discoveries Mass., and Francis Barr’s lab in Munich, Ger- your data will reveal. Then, I hope you will pick many) or a year (to Axel Brunger’s lab at Stan- a much bolder question— one that may not ford University) moved their projects forward in have been part of your research adviser’s major a quantum way. Don’t be shy to collaborate. All of grant proposal. All of us need to ask what is the us are better scientists when we work together. most important experiment we can do or the We (the faculty) have an obligation to pre- most powerful approach we can take to address pare you for the wide variety of careers that this speci c question. Every molecule and your training will qualify you for. The ASBMB process can be described and characterized, will offer four career workshops in the next 12 but only scientists who focus on the most sig- months (in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Dallas and ni cant questions will make the critical break- Raleigh-Durham) to connect alumni represent- throughs we all seek. The most important thing ing a number of career choices with students we can teach you is how to pick an important like you, who are considering all of their options. question and how to address it using a variety We offer four workshops every year in cities of approaches that will enable you to tackle across the U.S. (Let us know if you would like to whatever question you select. help plan one in your area.) Years ago, it was common for labs to study The ASBMB exists to support the pursuit of a single protein. Students could be assured biochemistry and molecular biology. We publish that the lab knew how to purify that protein three excellent journals (Journal of Biologi- and how to handle it. Today it is more common cal Chemistry, Journal of Lipid Research and for labs to study many different proteins, each Molecular and Cellular Proteomics), we organize with its own characteristics. When projects are meetings large and small, we provide student selected, a student may wish for one protein and postdoc travel awards to help you partici- and then realize that his or her exciting-sound- pate in our meetings, and we devote a large ing protein turns out to be impossible to work amount of resources toward advocating for wise with. We can’t know for sure what to expect science policy and strong and stable science until we try a project, but one way to ensure funding. Membership offers access and supports more rapid success is to team up with another these activities, plus signi cant page charge lab member on an already moving project. This discounts when you are ready to publish your kind of teamwork makes a project go faster. research ndings. Finally, membership includes Individuals can have their own parts of the a subscription to ASBMB Today, which I hope you project but share common reagents and help will enjoy, starting with this issue. Welcome to troubleshoot when something isn’t working. the world of biochemistry and molecular biology; For an adviser, this scenario is doubly reassur- welcome to the ASBMB. ing, because multiple lab members can carry out complementary experiments and duplicate ASBMB President Suzanne Pfeffer (pfeffer@ each other’s ndings at the same time. stanford.edu) is a biochemistry professor at In graduate school, I hope you will learn the the Stanford University School of Medicine. value and power of collaboration beyond your own lab. The best scientists use multidisciplinary

November 2011 ASBMB Today 3

AT1111_C2C1.indb 3 10/27/11 2:35 PM news from the hill Advocacy resources at your fi ngertips By juLIe MCCLuRe

ver the summer, the Offi ce of Public Affairs O revamped the ASBMB advocacy website to make Visit the redesigned site it even more accessible and helpful to our members who www.asbmb.org/Advocacy/advocacyhome.aspx are looking to break into the world of science advocacy. Here’s a breakdown of some of the items you’ll fi nd: Home page: Science policy issues arise almost daily. The “Latest News” section gives quick synopses of recent news items and links to more detailed stories in your home district (“Hosting a Meeting” section) or in reported by other news organizations that are followed Washington, D.C. (“Congressional Visits Guide”). When by people interested in science policy. Occasionally, the preparing for a meeting, be sure to use documents from “Breaking News” link is activated. This section broad- the “Congressional Meeting Materials” link and watch casts high-profi le stories that are unfolding in real time the “Meeting with your Congressman” video to see and may need immediate action from the research how a meeting should and should not be conducted. community. The “From the Policy Blog” section lists the Moreover, you can fi nd congressional biographies that most recent posts from the ASBMB Policy Blotter, the provide information on members’ backgrounds and vot- offi cial blog of ASBMB, where we report on the latest ing records on science-related issues. policy issues that affect our members. The home page Read also includes a listing of detailed policy articles written Position statements and correspondence: ASBMB’s formal position statements on issues such as for ASBMB Today. human embryonic stem cell research and maintenance Those who are interested in becoming more deeply of proper NIH grant portfolio balance as well as press involved in science policy can click on the “Getting releases detailing the offi cial ASBMB response to news Involved” button to sign up for the Local Advocates items that affect researchers. ASBMB is also part of Network. By joining the LAN, you receive the ASBMB multiple science coalitions and organizations that release Advocate, a monthly science policy e-newsletter from statements and letters in response to legislative or the Offi ce of Public Affairs, and updates on science administrative issues. policy issues that are happening in your area. You also The major advocacy event hosted by can subscribe to the ASBMB Policy Blotter RSS feed to events: ASBMB is our biannual Hill Day, when members are be updated on issues like the congressional appropria- brought to Washington to meet with lawmakers and to tions process; National Institutes of Health and National advocate for basic research. Learn what Hill Day is all Science Foundation organization; and science, tech- about by browsing photos and participant interviews nology, engineering and math education and training from past years. Upcoming events include the PAAC- issues. Finally, use the “Update on Appropriations” icon hosted science policy seminar at the annual Experimen- to track the status of funding bills in the congressional tal Biology meeting. appropriations process. related sites: Check out this extensive list of About the PAAC: Find out about the members of the websites that cover the science policy spectrum, from Public Affairs Advisory Committee and explore the various legislative and government agencies to fellow scientifi c ways in which the committee works to represent you. societies, coalition partners and organizations. Advocacy toolkit: This resource has instructions

for identifying and contacting your member(s) of Con- Julie McClure ([email protected]) is a gress and provides sample scripts you can use to voice science policy fellow at ASBMB. your opinion by email or phone. If you are interested in meeting directly with your representative, the toolkit explains how to orchestrate face-to-face interactions

4 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 4 10/27/11 2:35 PM washington t Translational-center plans move forward BY JENNIFER A. HOBIN

he proposed National Center for Advancing Trans- individual CTSAs fl exibility in cultivating strengths and Tlational Sciences is one step closer to becoming a encouraging formation of a national CTSA consortium; reality. This fall, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Com- 6. promoting training in translational science by catalyzing novel training mechanisms, providing incentives for mittee approved its fi scal 2012 spending bill for the physician-scientists to seek cross-training in human departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and biology and drug discovery, and exploring cross-training Education, which authorized the creation of NCATS as of physicians and scientists between industry, academia part of a broader restructuring of the National Institutes and government labs; and of Health that includes the termination of the National 7. reviewing administrative processes at the NIH and NCATS Center for Research Resources. to identify and overcome roadblocks to rapid and effective The bill also appropriates $20 million to activate the funding, management and termination of projects. Cures Acceleration Network, a new NIH program to be The report also identifi ed areas ripe for innovation and housed in NCATS. CAN, which was authorized but not inclusion in the NCATS portfolio. They include: funded in the healthcare reform bill signed into law in • target validation for rare and common diseases; March 2010, will make grants to biotech companies, • understanding and modeling drug toxicity; universities and patient-advocacy groups to develop • systems pharmacology and how pharmacological agents what the bill’s authors dubbed “high-need cures,” affect cellular networks and contribute to pathology; and it will help facilitate Food and Drug Administration • biomarkers and disease phenotyping; review for these therapeutics. Thus far, the draft House • new uses for established compounds; appropriations bill contains no provisions for NCATS • imaging technologies; but provides funding for CAN and the NIH Clinical and • developing more effective ways to incorporate FDA- Translational Science Award program, which would approved medical products into patient care; and move from NCRR to the new center if it is established. • opportunities to collaborate with entities experimenting with the chemical space, including clean/green chemistry, Final congressional approval of NCATS could come inorganic chemistry and combinatorial chemistry. later this year if lawmakers approve a fi scal 2012 bill providing funding for the NIH. The report emphasized that NCATS should not dupli- Despite the uncertain funding situation, NIH has been cate translational research efforts of other NIH institutes pressing ahead with plans for the translational research and centers or industry and that projects should be sup- center. NIH’s advisory committee to the director’s ported only until they attract commercial investment. NCATS working group released a report Sept. 21 noting The working group also provided advice on choosing a seven areas “ideally suited for NCATS activities”: director for the center, noting that he or she should have 1. supporting and enabling high-risk, high-reward projects “a unique blend of expertise and experience that tran- for transforming, improving and accelerating the process scends a single fi eld or discipline” and should ideally “be of discovery, development and post-market research for experienced in both academia and the private sector.” diagnostics, therapeutics and devices; NIH has formed a search committee but will not bring on 2. galvanizing and supporting new partnerships among a director until the center is established and funded. the regulatory, academic, public, private and nonprofi t Find out more about the NCATS working group and sectors to address challenges in translational sciences; read its full report at http://bit.ly/mX1JXR. 3. collaborating with the FDA on studies aimed at informing and improving the regulatory approval process; 4. encouraging collection and analysis of data about failed Jennifer A. Hobin ([email protected]) is projects to facilitate the open exchange of information associate director of scientifi c affairs for regarding scope, methods, analysis, results and lessons the FASEB Offi ce of Public Affairs. learned from research in the precompetitive space; 5. harnessing the power of the CTSA program by affording

November 2011 ASBMB Today 5

WashUp_at1111.indd 5 10/27/11 2:44 PM asbmb ws Members make their case for science on Capitol Hill BY JULIE MCCLURE

he 2011 American Society for Biochemistry and Education, which allocates funding for the National Tand Molecular Biology fall Hill Day hosted nine Institutes of Health. The invited researchers, along with investigators who live or work in the districts of seven members of the Public Affairs Advisory Committee, representatives from the U.S. House Appropriations met with more than 40 congressional offi ces to advocate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, for biomedical research.

Gerald Shadel Kathleen Collins Xian Luo Yale University School of Medicine University of California, Berkeley Loma Linda University Gerald Shadel’s Kathleen Collins studies Xian Luo’s focus is on research focuses functional complexes of cellular and molecular on mechanisms that RNA and proteins to mechanisms of radio- govern expression understand their distinct therapy-induced normal and maintenance of assembly requirements tissue reactions. mitochondrial DNA, the and their innovations of requisite signaling pathways involved in activity. Much of the lab effort is focused Michal Laniado-Schwartzman regulating these processes, and how on telomerase, an enzyme required for New York Medical College associated defects are involved in chromosome end maintenance and Michal Laniado- human disease and aging. implicated in human disease. Schwartzman’s research Wayne Frasch consists of two projects Malcolm Snead Arizona State University University of Southern California focused on the role of lipid Wayne Frasch studies ATP Malcolm Snead autacoids, more specifi - synthetase, the enzyme studies the control of cally, cytochrome- required by virtually every biomineralization using P450-derived eicosanoids, in the living organism to catalyze structural biology regulation of infl ammation and vascular the conversion of energy approaches and function in the areas of the cardiovascular from food or light into ATP. interventional changes system and vision. in gene structure via modifying the Laszlo Prokai mouse genome. University of North Texas Health Science Center PAAC Members who attended Laszlo Prokai uses mass Mark Quinn spectrometry to identify Richard Eckert Montana State University novel proteins associated University of Maryland Mark Quinn’s research with aging and neurode- Mark Lively is focused on under- generation. His broad Wake Forest University standing microbicidal interests are biological Bettie Sue Masters mechanisms utilized by phenomena that can be explained with, University of Texas Health Science innate immune cells in elucidated through and made useful by Center at San Antonio defense of the host the principles of chemistry. Lee Gehrke against pathogens, specifi cally Harvard University/Massachusetts Bernard Roizman investigating the molecular and Institute of Technology biochemical basis of phagocyte University of Chicago John Kyriakis oxygen radical production as well Bernard Roizman studies Tufts Medical Center as the role of phagocyte-generated the mechanism through oxidants in the tissue damage which the herpes virus William Merrick Case Western University associated with infl ammatory infects a cell. diseases in humans and livestock. Ronald Bach Minneapolis VA Medical Center

6 ASBMB Today November 2011

HillDay_at1111.indd 6 10/27/11 2:46 PM asbmbnews

“I had an amazing day I felt that from both sides of the “Two important aspects of visiting with my congressional aisle there was a great appreciation these exchanges… were 1) the representatives… I was amazed at for biomedical research and opportunity to clarify the difference the process and how willing every understanding that support for NIH between basic and translational office was to listen to our comments is conducive to economic growth research and the critical need about the importance of biomedical and job creation.” to fund both going forward and research and NIH funding. I was —Michal Laniado-Schwartzman, 2) their recognition of the enormous pleased to hear the support for NIH New York Medical College social and economic impact of evident across the many offices we funding science in the U.S. and “The fascinating experience… made visited, regardless of political party.” insight into… measures that could me realize that, as scientists, we —Mark Quinn, provide more bang for the taxpayer Montana State University must all speak out and reach out scientific buck, such as lowering the to politicians, who would actually “I learned that constituent voices regulatory burden on scientists. later recollect what we shared —Gerald Shadel, do get heard, but only if we ask with them when… appropriations Yale University School to be heard.” are examined. Believe or not, our of Medicine —Kathleen Collins, real-life stories are important for University of California, Berkeley “The Hill Day was a great making progress with discovery in experience that gave me the “I must say that this visit exceeded scientific research, especially when opportunity to convey to lawmakers my expectations in terms of what NIH funding is being cut… And if our society’s message with my I learned and what we achieved… we do not express the need for such personalized touch and ask for their We were welcomed and received fiscal support and the importance support of biomedical research and the highest respect… I truly believe of those considerations repeatedly, related matters important to the that this forum is well worth our politicians may not realize and scientists in our country.” time and effort and appreciated prioritize these needs.” —Laszlo Prokai, the bipartisan positive feedback —Xian Luo, University of North Texas regarding the NIH budget. Also, Loma Linda University Health Science Center

November 2011 ASBMB Today 7

AT1111_C2C1.indb 7 10/27/11 2:35 PM featurestory maternity planning for postdocs By kAThLeen FLInT ehM

lanning to start a family can be a challenge for early options, and advice for keeping research going during preg- Pcareer researchers, who oft en wonder when the “best” nancy and leave. Below are some highlights from the guide. time might be. During graduate school? While on the tenure track? Aft er tenure? Th ose considering the postdoctoral pregnancy safety years can be constrained by multiple short-term appoint- Postdoc women considering pregnancy should think about ments and the general uncertainty of a job market that off ers requesting an evaluation of workplace hazards to those of no guarantees of stable, long-term employment. child-bearing age prior to conception. Such an evaluation Recent focus groups conducted by the National Post- can allow a postdoc to identify hazards without declaring a doctoral Association spotlighted these concerns among pregnancy earlier than needed. current and former postdoc women. A key concern expressed by participants was how to balance the “postdoc clock” versus the biological clock. One postdoc charac- terized the uncertainty this way: “You know, having a baby during grad school: maybe not the best idea. Basic right to maternity leave Having your baby while you’re tenure-track: maybe not the Under Title IX, women at federally funded institutions, best idea. So does that mean that I have to get pregnant right including postdoc women, should be entitled to take, at the now because my postdoc is 24 months long, and that’s it?” minimum, job-protected, unpaid leave for a “reasonable” Underscoring this uncertainty is the fact that postdocs amount of time. In practice, the details of how leave is taken, oft en experience a lack of defi ned status at their institutions, for how long and how it might be paid depend solely upon an or, as described by focus-group participants, a feeling of institution’s policies. Postdocs should talk to their institutions’ being “in limbo.” As neither students nor faculty members, postdoc and/or human-resources offi ces about their options. postdocs can feel isolated at institutions that lack infrastruc- ture to support their positions, such as family-responsive keeping your research going policies like paid maternity leave. Most postdocs cobble Postdocs planning family leave should begin making arrange- together combinations of annual leave, partially paid dis- ments early for needed research accommodations. A written ability insurance and unpaid leave. Moreover, the details of research plan can help lay out milestones and expectations for how such benefi ts apply to postdocs can be confusing due this period and provide a mechanism for discussing leave with to the variety of postdoc employment classifi cations and a postdoctoral supervisor or collaborators who may be able to funding sources. help keep a project going. To demystify the process of maternity planning, the National Postdoctoral Association recently published “A Kathleen Flint Ehm is the NPA ADVANCE Postdoc’s Guide to Pregnancy and Maternity Leave” (www. project manager at the National Postdoctoral nationalpostdoc.org/publications/563-maternity-guide). Association. NPA ADVANCE is supported by It provides an overview of planning issues for women who the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant dur- fi ndings, and conclusions or recommendations ing their postdoc and for their partners, including safety expressed in this material are those of the author and do not during pregnancy, understanding paid- and unpaid-leave necessarily refl ect the views of the NSF.

8 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 8 10/27/11 2:35 PM asbmb member update

CERIONE HONKANEN HAMMOND WEIBEL BASS CLEMONS

Cerione, Honkanen Hammond, Weibel Bass, Clemons get win NIH awards for among winners of NIH ‘Pioneer’ awards transformative work NIH innovator prizes for their proposals Richard A. Cerione of Cornell University Ming C. Hammond, the Chevron profes- Brenda L. Bass at the University of Utah and Richard E. Honkanen at the Univer- sor of chemistry at the University of and William M. Clemons at the Califor- sity of South Alabama School of Medi- California, Berkeley, and Douglas B. Wei- nia Institute of Technology received the cine were among the 2011 recipients bel, an assistant professor of biochem- National Institutes of Health Director’s of the Common Fund’s NIH Director’s istry and biomedical engineering at the Pioneer Award for 2011. The Pioneer Transformative Research Award. The University of Wisconsin, Madison, each Awards are designed to support indi- initiative, previously the Transformative received an NIH Director’s New Innova- vidual scientists of exceptional creativity Research Project, supports unconven- tor award. The awards aim to stimulate who propose pioneering and potentially tional and innovative research projects cutting-edge research done by excep- that potentially could create or overturn transforming approaches to major tional new investigators. The program fundamental paradigms. These projects challenges in biomedical and behavioral is different from traditional NIH grants, tend to be inherently risky and may not research. Bass received her award for because it supports new investigators fare well in conventional NIH review. her proposal titled “Cellular double- The initiative supports research projects who have highly innovative and unusu- stranded RNA as a signal of stress, rather than individuals. Cerione is part ally creative research ideas but may lack immunity, and aging.” Clemons’ project of a team that got the award for the the preliminary data required for an R01 will focus on novel approaches to study project “Succinylation and malonyl- grant. Hammond won hers for a project membrane proteins. ation as novel protein modifi cations in called “A chemical biology approach cancer.” Honkanen received his award to tagging RNAs in live cells.” Weibel Please submit member- for his “Methods to enable cholesterol received his award for the project “Revis- catabolism in human monocyte derived iting the bacterial cell wall as a target for related news and accolades macrophages” project. new antibiotics. to [email protected].

Dear world-traveling scientists, Whether at meetings in Milan or work- shops in Warsaw, you are bound to leave the confi nes of the conference room to take in the sights. Send your best travel photos to [email protected], and we will publish them here and online. Exceptional shots will be considered for the cover, and you may be interviewed about the meeting you attended. Thanks, The ASBMB Today team phOTO: F. peTeR GuenGeRICh / VAnDeRBILT unIVeRSITy SChOOL OF MeDICIne

The church of Sant’Anna in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Taken by journal of Biological Chemistry Associate editor Fred Guengerich while he was a visiting professor at the university of Cagliari in February. The quarter of Stampace is the oldest quarter of Cagliari and known as the Quarter of the Seven Churches, because each street has its own house of worship.

November 2011 ASBMB Today 9

AT1111_C2C1.indb 9 10/27/11 2:35 PM feature try Scarpa retires and Nakamura steps in at NIH Center for Scienti c Review BY RAJENDRANI MUKHOPADHYAY

ntonio Scarpa retired in is impact and signi cance. If the answer A September as the direc- is yes, then you ask the second question: tor of the Center for Scienti c Can they do it? In the past we were asking Review at the National Institutes those questions in reverse,” he said, adding of Health. Scarpa, who was that peer reviewers soon saw the bene ts appointed to the position in of the changes. “People can see that focus- 2005 by then-NIH Director Elias ing on impact and signi cance is probably Zerhouni, played a key role in the way to go.” helping NIH develop and imple- Current NIH Director Francis S. ment the rst major changes Collins has appointed Richard Nakamura to its peer-review system in to take the helm of the CSR a er Scarpa’s 65 years. CSR receives all and departure. Nakamura had a 35-year reviews most of the more than tenure at the National Institute of 80,000 grant application submit- Mental Health, where he served ted to the NIH every year. as both scienti c director and “My six years at CSR were deputy director. He also served exhilarating,” Scarpa said in as acting director from 2001 to Antonio Scarpa a statement announcing his 2002. Nakamura’s expertise covers retirement. “I was privileged to several areas, including cognitive serve in a period of unprecedented changes and opportuni- and comparative neuroscience, ties in peer review.  anks to a dedicated sta and reviewers, science policy and funding, and ethics CSR excelled during this time, reviewing 50 percent more in science. He has 30 peer-reviewed scienti c journal applications in addition to 40,000 applications for federal articles, most related to neurocognition in primates. He is a stimulus funds two years ago.  is was only possible due to a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of shared passion and unfailing commitment to the quality and Science and has won leadership awards from the Federation e ciency of peer review.” of Behavioral Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Scarpa spearheaded e orts to shorten applications, imple- the International Society for Behavioral Neuroscience. ment new scoring schemes and accelerate review cycles. He “I look forward to working with the many dedicated also reorganized CSR’s review groups into ve divisions to individuals engaged in this great enterprise,” Nakamura maximize e ciency and make sure the study sections covered said in a statement that announced his appointment. “It’s a evolving elds of research. privilege to help NIH identify research with the most promise In an interview with Nature News a er his retirement for making our world more healthy and productive.” was announced, Scarpa said that he thought the changes he implemented were successful. He explained that as a result Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay (rmukhopadhyay@ of shortening grant applications from 25 to 12 pages, peer asbmb.org) is the senior science writer for reviewers were able to focus on the impact and signi cance ASBMB Today and technical editor for JBC. of the proposed research. “Peer review is simple — I think it should ask only two questions. First: Is it worth doing?  at

10 ASBMB Today November 2011

NIHnews2_at1111.indd 10 10/27/11 2:48 PM online cv BMB blogs in brief his month marks Tthe launch of an occasional series of blog reviews for readers who haven’t yet explored the reportage and commen- tary that the blogosphere has to o er when it comes to biochemistry and molecular biology. ASBMB Today contributor Aditi Das is on the NIH news hunt for blogs that might be of use in the class- isit asbmb.org/asbmbtoday regularly to get updates on the latest room and lab and will share her recommenda- Vhappenings at the National Institutes of Health and other relevant tions with readers in the coming months. In federal agencies. Here are highlights of the online coverage we’re o er- her  rst post, Das reviews “A Blog around the ing this month. Visit our homepage for details: Clock” by Bora Zivkovic, a science blogging • Knockout Mouse Project enters second phase of phenotyping pioneer who today runs Scienti c American’s • Junior investigators skip postdoctoral training under new program blogging network. Visit www.asbmb.org/ • NIH, DARPA and FDA team up for novel chip technology, asbmbtoday to  nd out more. drug safety ‘Enzyme Puri cation Blues’ ou’ve probably found your- Yself, at some point or other in your research life, waiting for an experiment to come to fruition and asking yourself, “How long do I have to wait?” Stephen W. Ragsdale of the  e song is based on the tune University of Michigan Medical “How Long Blues” made famous School poses that very question in in 1928 by performer Leroy Carr his tongue-in-cheek song “Enzyme and brie y chronicles the ups and Puri cation Blues,” which was downs of Ragsdale’s experience recently uploaded to the Ameri- with the enzyme Hydrogenase. can Society for Biochemistry and Visit our YouTube channel, Molecular Biology’s YouTube www.youtube.com/user/ASBMBio, channel. to have a listen.

November 2011 ASBMB Today 11

OnlinePromos_at1111.indd 11 10/27/11 2:49 PM featurestory Laurie Glimcher: New dean for Weill Cornell Medical School By Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay

n Jan. 1, Laurie Glimcher of Harvard Medical School Q: What are some of the opportunities Oand Harvard School of Public Health will become the first woman to serve as dean of Weill Cornell Medical College you see for WCMC? in Manhattan. Glimcher is a practicing physician and has an Glimcher: I want a place that is committed impressive track record in biomedical research. Her laboratory both to the basic biomedical sciences and the exploits biochemical and genetic tools to elucidate the molecular translation of discovery into the clinical pathways involved in lymphocyte development and activation care delivered to patients. WCMC is in the immune system. In recent years, Glimcher’s research inter- perfectly positioned to be on the ests have expanded into skeletal biology. She also has experience forefront of academic medicine in the pharmaceutical industry and sits on the board of Bristol- thanks to the fantastic work Myers Squibb and has collaborated with Merck Co. of the current dean, Antonio The awards Glimcher has won over the years include the Grotto; Sanford Weill, who is FASEB Excellence in Science Award (2000), the American the chair of the board of over- Society of Clinical Investigation Outstanding Investigator Award (2001) and the American College of Rheumatology Distin- seers; the board of overseers; guished Investigator Award (2006). She is a fellow of the Ameri- and the president of Cornell, can Academy of Arts and Sciences and belongs to the National David Skorton. A new research Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the building, for which Tony Gotto, National Academy of Sciences. Glimcher is also a member and Sandy Weill and the others have past president of the American Association of Immunologists. raised $1.3 billion so far, is going ASBMB Today spoke with Glimcher to find out about her up with the intent of making it into a goals for Weill Cornell Medical College, her vision for the first-rate biomedical research center. It future of the biomedical research enterprise, her management has one of the best hospitals in New York style, and her ideas to help women take on more prominent City, outstanding medical education, an excel- roles in science and medicine. Below are edited excerpts from lent graduate student program and, clearly, a history the interview: of greatness in the biomedical sciences. My feeling is that with this brand-new research building under Q: What made you decide it was construction, WCMC is poised for pre-eminence in the time to make a career move? biomedical sciences, which it has already achieved in Glimcher: I was ready to spend more of my clinical medicine. energy and effort in thinking about the health of WCMC has several key advantages. It’s got strong biomedical research in this country. As a physician-sci- ties to other New York City institutions. It has the tri- entist, I thought leading an academic medical institu- institutional graduate-student program, which it shares tion, which was involved in basic biomedical research with Rockefeller [University] and with [Memorial and translation of the research into the clinic, was the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]. There are collabora- ideal place. This job came up, and I was asked to put in tions that are already ongoing between these three, but my CV. I spent a lot of time interviewing and thinking I think there could be more opportunities for collabo- about [the job] and decided it was exactly what I was ration in interdisciplinary science. looking for. Another key connection is WCMC’s close alliance

12 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 12 10/27/11 2:36 PM featurestory to tighten it further. It’s a big challenge for all of us to support ourselves in this cur- rent financially constrained environment. We have to be thinking creatively about how to support biomedical research by private foun- dations, philanthropy and appropriate partnering with the private sector. WCMC has academic excellence and an attractive location, and I think it’s going to be possible to recruit first-rate senior and junior faculty in a variety of disciplines. I also think its relatively small size makes it a perfect laboratory for developing innovative approaches to medical educa- Laurie Glimcher will be the first female dean in the 114 years of tion, translational research, Weill Cornell Medical Center’s existence. clinical care and academia- private sector collaborations. with its outstanding parent univer- sity, whose president, David Skorton, Q: What steps will you take to is a physician-scientist. One of Cornell foster more collaboration University’s strategic goals is to increase fac- between academia and industry ulty excellence. I share President Skorton’s belief that and between physicians and this is the central mission of the next dean. WCMC researchers? is a part of Cornell University, and I look forward to Glimcher: I think the dean needs to be deeply strengthening that bond through shared interests and involved in both basic biomedical research and interactions among the current and to-be-recruited clinical translational research. It’s a real opportunity biomedical scientists. I think it’s an enormous oppor- to strengthen research in both and to get the clini- tunity for enhanced collaboration between the parent cians collaborating with the scientists. There is also university and the medical school. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, of course, and I’m very eager to maintain and expand the excellent Q: What are some of the challenges relationship that the current dean has established you anticipate? between the medical college and the hospital. Glimcher: A big challenge for all American I really believe that the private sector is essential to biomedical research institutions is funding. The translational research. We have to leverage the talents [National Institutes of Health], I am sure I don’t of everybody but always, always, always shine a bright have to tell you, has tightened its belt and is going light on any potential conflict of interest. There is an

November 2011 ASBMB Today 13

AT1111_C2C1.indb 13 10/27/11 2:36 PM featurestory continued old saying, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” You to figure out how to tackle these diseases. Another have got to keep everything above board, open and area of huge unmet medical need is metabolic syn- transparent. dromes: the triad of obesity, diabetes and cardio- We had a wonderful collaboration with Merck for vascular disease. These diseases are going to be an three years. We serendipitously had isolated a new enormous drain on our health-care system. gene that controls adult bone mass. We established I am very interested in skeletal biology. Before I a real partnership with [Merck]. It wasn’t as if they joined this field, I had no idea that osteoporosis is wrote us a check and said good-bye. We met with the most common disease worldwide. One out of two Merck project leaders and scientists on a monthly women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis or will basis to review our joint progress. We helped design develop osteoporosis, and it’s one out of five for men. a high-throughput drug screen that Merck scien- There’s major mortality from fractures. The numbers tists could use to screen their chemical libraries. are startling: 25 percent of individuals who sustain They identified some compounds, and we looked at a fracture are dead within a year. The Hospital for them in cultures of osteoblasts to see if they actually Special Surgery is closely aligned with Weill Cornell. activated osteoblasts. Their funding allowed me to They are interested in expanding their biomedical establish a presence in the field of skeletal biology, research, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity which I had never been in before. I built a team of to do that. really superb postdocs who had come to me originally to work in immunology and instead became skeletal Q: How do you describe your biologists. This is a field that is underpopulated and leadership style? ripe for expansion and recruitment of bright young Glimcher: I have developed my leadership and scientists. This funding [from Merck] allowed me to management style both from my many years of super- make good progress, but it also allowed me to train vising a large lab and my years on corporate boards. some talented young people for the field. I could have My own management style is very relaxed. My door never done that with NIH funding alone. is always open. If postdocs and graduate students get a result they are excited about or have a question, Q: In an environment of financial they are welcome to pop their heads in. If somebody belt-tightening, how will you wants to meet with me, they don’t have to go to my identify research directions? secretary and say “I need to arrange a meeting with Glimcher: First of all, I’m going to be doing a Laurie” and be told “That will be four days from now.” lot of fundraising. We will have some resources, but Absolutely not. If they need to speak to me, I will find there is always a need for more. time to speak to them right away. Period. But you’re right, it’s a small place. We can’t do I have no problems with making tough decisions, everything and need to focus. One area WCMC has but I think one always has to be respectful of one’s chosen to focus on is neurodegenerative diseases. colleagues. That’s not just the people who are your WCMC received a wonderful gift from one of the peers or your superiors but, most important, the members of the board of overseers, Robert Appel, to people who report to you. I judge myself and other fund a center for neurodegenerative disease. WCMC people by the quality of their interactions with indi- recruited Steven Paul from Eli Lilly [and Co.] to head viduals below them in the pecking order. it. The intent is to do more recruiting in that area. I make the decision I think is right and best for the Neurodegenerative diseases are going to take down institution. Then I explain why I made that decision our health-care system if we can’t figure out how to to people who might not agree. That’s going to be deal with them. As the population ages, we’re going really important as dean, because you can’t always get to have many millions of people over the age of 80 everyone on board. You can’t get consensus all the who have Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. It’s our time, but people have to understand how you reached responsibility as biomedical scientists and physicians a decision.

14 ASBMB Today November 2011

GlimcherQ+A_at1111.indd 14 10/27/11 2:54 PM featurestory continued even more challenging with the arrival of two more children over the next several years. Ideally, postdocs who are primary caregivers should have access to another pair of hands to help level the playing fi eld. I’m not saying they shouldn’t do the experi- ments themselves, and of course they should direct the research. But, realistically, they may not be able to put in the long hours during the week and weekend that their peers Glimcher with her three children in 2008. can. I started a program when I was president of the AAI, the PCTAS Q: You are only the second woman program at [the National Institute of Allergy and to be named dean for a major Infectious Diseases], which stands for Primary Care- medical school. Th e fi rst was giver Technical Assistance Supplements. It provided Nancy Andrews for Duke technician salaries. It was a small program. I wish it University School of Medicine in had more funding, but I did get a number of letters 2007. What needs to be done for from young women who said it made a real diff erence female scientists and physicians to in their careers for them to have a technician. take on more prominent roles? Glimcher: It is a tough problem. You have Q: You have received numerous biology intersecting with a time when you need to be awards. Which one makes you devoted to your career. It’s not easy, and I know that. most proud? I’ve lived through it with three kids. I remember when Glimcher: Th e award that I’m the most proud I was a postdoc at the NIH. Th e guys — at least some of is the American Association of Immunologists’ of them, not all — would sit around, schmooze and Excellence in Mentoring award [in 2008]. Th at, to me, talk science. Th ey didn’t have to think about picking is the major task of the senior scientist. It’s to train up a child at day care. I barely ever saw the cafeteria at the next generation. I think it’s a huge responsibility. NIH. I would make lunch and bring it in a paper bag. I It’s going to be one of my emphases as dean to make didn’t have time to have coff ee and chat with the other sure the mentoring programs at WCMC are as good as postdocs. I had to work, work, work, because I had to they should be. pick up my daughter at 5 o’clock from day care! When I was home while she was still awake, I spent time with Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay (rmukhopadhyay@ her, but I would be up late working. I didn’t want to asbmb.org) is the senior science writer for spend my entire weekend in the lab. Yes, I would go ASBMB Today and technical editor for JBC. into the lab for a few hours [on weekends] but couldn’t and didn’t want to do that all the time. Th is became

November 2011 ASBMB Today 15

AT1111_C2C1.indb 15 10/27/11 2:36 PM featurestory Goodbye, Beaumont House BY Ralph A. Bradshaw

olorful fish on the tiles and 50 volumes of the Journal of started with the society in 1972), took me on a poignant CBiological Chemistry to peruse (while otherwise occu- tour of some of the more obscure corners of the building, I pied) in an upper floor bathroom, a winding grand entrance was struck by the many meetings and activities of historical hall and staircase, elegant marble fireplaces (and a decora- interest that had transpired there and the myriad scientists tive half-round window) in some of the offices and meeting of renown who had been involved with them. During the rooms, and beautiful gardens and grounds, gloriously in society’s occupancy, biochemistry and later molecular biology bloom with dogwood and azaleas… all this is a part of Beau- experienced nearly exponential growth, becoming arguably mont House, the mansion and grounds that were the home of the central sciences of biological research (1). the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol- Beaumont House was also the home of the Journal of ogy for over 50 years and that I visited on the last Saturday in Biological Chemistry during all those years, and it enjoyed April. In the following week, the moving vans rolled up to the the same growth and expansion as the society. Indeed, it was, front door, and the society decamped for more modern digs in the end, a need for more room that really necessitated a few miles farther north on Rockville Pike, leaving the only the move to a space designed for modern office practices permanent home it had ever known. and needs. Nostalgia aside, the old house and outbuildings As Barbara Gordon, executive director and by far the were built for residential purposes, and converting them to member of the ASBMB staff with the most memories (she office space had produced some interesting compromises

Beaumont House

16 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 16 10/27/11 2:36 PM featurestory

that sadly no longer suited the society’s needs. As we wandered down the narrow back staircase originally intended for use by ser- vants or stuck our heads in various closets and crawl spaces, it was much easier to imagine it as a setting for some “dark and stormy night” thriller than the home of a learned society.

The Acquisition of the Hawley Estate by APS The Hawley mansion was the centerpiece of a nearly 40-acre estate located on Rockville Pike less than a mile north of the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md. It was designed by Irwin S. Porter and erected in 1929. The purchase of the Hawley Professor R.H. Chittenden, the first president of the ASBMB, at the Beaumont Memorial at Lebanon, estate and its conversion to Conn. (Coleman’s Photo Service, New Haven.) p. 83, History of the American Physiological Society: The a campus home for societ- Third Quarter Century 1937-1962, by Wallace O. Fen. 1963. Photo courtesy of the American Physiological Society ies with biological and biomedical interests were mainly due to the efforts of Milton However, after Lee and members of the committee viewed O. Lee, an individual prominent in the history of both the the Hawley estate in Bethesda, a 38-acre property with a field- American Physiological Society and the Federation of Ameri- stone mansion and outbuildings, the possibilities were clearly can Societies for Experimental Biology (2). evident to most. Ultimately, it was bought outright by the APS Lee was hired by APS in 1947 as the managing editor of at a price of $225,000, with most of the money coming from publications and as executive officer of that society. At the the APS publication reserves. same time, APS and the federation moved their offices into A part of the land was then sold to the state (for widening space at the National Academy Building on Constitution Ave- Rockville Pike) and to a developer, who used the land to build nue at no cost, due largely to the generosity of Detlev Bronk, residential housing. Subsequently, the APS Board of Publica- president of the academy and a member of APS. As a result, tion Trustees sold the remaining 12 acres and buildings to Lee also became executive secretary of FASEB. the federation and loaned it money to close the deal. It cost However, the academy soon decided to collect rent the federation, then composed of only six societies, $100,000, ($12,000/year), and this concerned both organizations. which was raised from its reserve fund and a mortgage from Accordingly, the APS formed a Committee on Society Head- the Riggs National Bank of Washington. K.K. Chen, then quarters and began to look for a permanent home elsewhere. president of the federation, also raised more than $24,000 It apparently was the intention of the committee to locate the from industry and a few private donors who assisted in the offices in central Washington (convenient to Union Station purchase and in the renovations that followed. The APS and and eventually National — now Reagan — Airport), but it was federation took occupancy in August 1954. The first federation largely stymied by limited options and high prices. board meeting was held there in January the next year.

November 2011 ASBMB Today 17

Beaumont1_at1111.indd 17 10/27/11 2:56 PM featurestory continued

Online exclusive They say family makes a house a home. But what can be said for a house converted into a workplace? In a series of interviews with longtime ASBMB employees it was revealed that, in fact, quite a bit can be said! Visit our website, www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday, to read online-only Q&As with ASBMB veterans Jeanne Gladfelter, Joan Cuthbert, Ed Marklin, Ned Maher and Barbara Gordon and former staffers Muriel “Mickey” Korn and Chuck Hancock. Have a thing or two to say about the ASBMB’s old stomping grounds? Join the discussion by leaving a comment online or by sending a missive to [email protected] for publication on our new Open Channels page.

Gladfelter Cuthbert Marklin Maher Gordon korn hancock

The eponymous William Beaumont in these matters. In a letter dated Nov. 2, 1953, Wilson noted, Th e name of the building was changed soon aft er to Beau- “I believe last year [1952] the Federation was talking about mont House for physician and pioneering physiologist and buying property.” He went on to say, “I think probably the biochemist William Beaumont (3). Beaumont was born in Biochemists will be up against a proposition in the near future Connecticut in 1785 and received medical training as an because I doubt if Universities will agree to donate space for apprentice in Vermont. It was while serving in the army at the Journal’s Publication Department.” He raised the possibil- Fort Mackinac that he was serendipitously called on to treat a ity that the ASBC might wish to consider being fi nancially trapper, Alexis St. Martin, who had suff ered a shotgun wound involved in the Hawley deal. in the stomach. Handler replied that he had just discussed the Hawley To the surprise of Beaumont, St. Martin survived his estate purchase with Milton Lee, who wanted to know his injuries but with a fi stula in his stomach that never completely opinion. Handler noted that he had expressed personal healed. Beaumont seized on this opportunity to conduct a interest but thought that as long as Rudolf Anderson was the series of experiments over several years on digestion and the managing editor of the JBC, “we… should not want to make a nature of gastric juices, which established that this process was change.” However, he also said that aft er Anderson, a “perma- basically chemical, not mechanical. Beaumont died in 1853 nent editorial offi ce might be a valuable thing to have.” and is buried in St. Louis; St. Martin lived until 1880. Not stated in these remarks was the totally autocratic con- Hanging in the conference room of Beaumont House trol that Anderson exercised over the journal and its fi nances in what was once the living room is an oil sketch by Dean and his unwillingness to consider any change in the way they Cornwell of Beaumont treating St. Martin. Th e original, were managed. Th us, it was the location of the journal activi- larger painting is on permanent display at a museum devoted ties at Yale University and Anderson’s position as managing to Beaumont on Mackinac Island. Cornwell’s rendition has editor that eff ectively kept the ASBC from being more directly looked down on many a meeting as the plans and aspirations involved in the purchase of the Hawley estate. However, these of the society were discussed and re-discussed in this room for events undoubtedly contributed to bringing the Anderson 50-odd years. editorship to an end a couple of years later. In 1955, the ASBC Council, noting the purchase and enter the ASBC occupancy of Beaumont House by APS and the federation During the fall of 1953, as the APS committee was consider- was complete, resolved to explore the transfer of its pertinent ing possible locations for the moving of its headquarters, documents and materials to a fi reproof vault to be housed in Phil Handler and D. Wright Wilson, secretary and president the new federation headquarters (1). Th e next year, the ASBC of the American Society of Biological Chemists at that time, Council, now wrestling more directly with the complicated exchanged several letters about the possibilities for the ASBC problems engendered by the fi nances of the journal on the one

18 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 18 10/27/11 2:36 PM feature try continued

hand and those of the society on the other and confronted with the realization that “the burden of this o ce [Secre- tary] has grown to such an extent that the Society no longer has the right to impose upon one of its members to the extent now demanded,” resolved that when a new managing editor was appointed, the headquarters of the society should be located at Beaumont House, including the publication activities, and that “the possibility should be explored of a combined Managing Editor and Executive Secretary” (1). Indeed, Anderson retired in 1958, and John Edsall of Harvard University became editor of the journal. Edsall ASBMB ANNUAL made it quite clear that he didn’t care for the business MEETING end of running the JBC, and Bob Harte was hired shortly April 21-25, 2012 therea er as the  rst executive o cer and managing edi- 2012 San Diego, CA tor of the journal in part to relieve Edsall of those chores. With those changes, the society set up its permanent o ce at Beaumont House. When it  rst moved in, it shared the Travel Awards space with the federation as well as other societies, but ASBMB will award several travel awards this changed quickly when it became clear that more space and grants to assist first authors presenting would be needed to meet the growing demands on the abstracts at the ASBMB Annual Meeting federation facilities. from April 21-25 in San Diego.  us, the Milton O. Lee building was erected and opened Only one application will be accepted per applicant. in 1962. Eventually, the ASBC became the sole occupant of The application site opens this month. the original buildings, as all other FASEB and non-FASEB • Child-Care Grant societies relocated to the more recently constructed build- ings on the FASEB grounds, a trend that continued into the • Graduate Minority Travel Award Funded through the FASEB MARC Program next century.  e Beaumont House is now more than 80 years old, • Graduate or Postdoctoral Travel Award and it is beginning to show its age. Although solidly built, • Undergraduate Affiliate Network (UAN) chipping paint, water stains and other signs that some Outstanding Chapter Award serious maintenance and even some restoration is sorely • Undergraduate Affiliate Network (UAN) needed are all too evident. Indeed, there were carpenters Travel Award and painters banging and scraping away as we took our For chapters to designate their chapter or stroll through the halls of Beaumont House one last time. regional meeting travel award winners only At the risk of being overly palaeolatric, it has served the • Undergraduate Faculty Travel Award ASBC (and ASBMB) well, and one can only hope the next Faculty applicants must be the first authors on tenants will grow and prosper during their residency as the the abstracts associated with the travel award society did. applications. Students submitting travel award applications and/or participating in the poster competition must submit unique abstracts on Ralph A. Bradshaw ([email protected]) is which they are the first authors. co-editor of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics and the ASBMB historian. • Undergraduate Student Competitive Travel Award

REFERENCES Travel Award and 1. R. A. Bradshaw, C. C. Hancock, and N. Kresge (2009) The ASBMB Abstract Submission Deadline: Nov. 8 Centennial History: 100 Years of the Chemistry of Life, ASBMB, Bethesda, www.asbmb.org/meeting2012 Md., 91 – 92. 2. J. R. Brobeck, O. E. Reynolds, and T. A. Appel (eds) (1987) History of the American Physiological Society: The First Century 1887 – 1987, APS, Bethesda, Md., 79 – 84. 3. http://www.james.com/beaumont/dr_life.htm

November 2011 ASBMB Today 19

Beaumont1_at1111.indd 19 10/27/11 2:58 PM biogenesis. Yoshimori also will describe how autophago- somes form to combat intracellular bacteria. Thomas Langer (University of Cologne) is exploring how mitochondrial proteases control mitochondrial dynamics. The processing and stability of the dynamin-like GTPase OPA1 is emerging as a central mechanism to monitor mito- chondrial integrity. Using yeast and mice, Langer’s group examines the relevance of stress-induced degradation of OPA1 for mitochondrial quality control and neuronal survival. Gia Voeltz (University of Colorado–Boulder) will describe mechanisms regulating the three-dimensional structure of the endoplasmic reticulum. She’ll focus on how three fac- Organelle dynamics tors — membrane shaping proteins, cytoskeletal dynamics BY BEN GLICK AND DAVID CHAN and interactions with other organelles — work together to distribute the endoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm and t has become increasingly clear that eukaryotic cells have generate the complexity of ER functional domains. I highly dynamic organelles. The four exciting sessions in the 2012 annual meeting’s organelle dynamics theme will Organization of the secretory pathway highlight state-of-the-art approaches aimed at understand- The third session will focus on how compartments of the ing how the dynamic behavior of organelles is linked to secretory pathway are generated and maintained. Ben Glick their functions. These sessions will focus on mitochondrial (University of Chicago) will describe how the ER export dynamics, organelle quality control, the organization of the domains known as transitional ER sites are established secretory pathway and endomembrane system dynamics. within the rough ER. Transitional ER sites are defi ned by a dynamic balance between growth and export-mediated Mitochondrial dynamics shrinkage. His group is studying how a protein called Sec16 The fi rst session will feature the mitochondrion as an organ- controls tER dynamics by regulating ER export. elle whose dynamic properties are central for its function. Nava Segev (University of Illinois at Chicago) stud- Jodi Nunnari (University of California, Davis) will discuss ies molecular switches and cascades regulating protein how the fusion and fi ssion of mitochondria are regulated. traffi c in yeast. She focuses on the roles and interactions Her group has developed in vitro assays that allow for the of small GTPases of the conserved Ypt/Rab family, which identifi cation of regulatory factors. regulates multiple steps of transport in the secretory and David Chan (California Institute of Technology) is examin- endocytic pathways. Her group is investigating how vari- ing how the dynamic behavior of mitochondria regulates ous Ypt/Rab GTPases cooperate to specify compartment their function. Dysfunction of mitochondrial dynamics is identity and turnover. associated with neurodegenerative disease. His group has Adam Linstedt (Carnegie Mellon University) studies developed mouse models to investigate the link between the mammalian secretory pathway with an emphasis on mitochondrial dynamics and cell physiology. the Golgi apparatus. His work includes structure-function Hiromi Sesaki (Johns Hopkins University School of Medi- studies of tethering proteins, which have multiple roles in cine) will discuss the molecular mechanisms and physiologi- the capture of transport vesicles and the establishment of cal functions of mitochondrial fusion and fi ssion. Golgi structure.

Organelle quality control Endomembrane system dynamics The second session will focus on how cells ensure organ- The fourth session will focus on how compartments of ellar integrity. Tamotsu Yoshimori (Osaka University) will the secretory and endocytic pathways communicate and discuss the longstanding debate concerning the origin of change. Christian Ungermann (University of Osnabrück autophagosomes, which are unique, ad-hoc organelles that in Germany) studies membrane dynamics of endosomes form transiently. Recent results indicate the endoplasmic and lysosomes (or vacuoles in yeast). He’ll cover how reticulum and mitochondria are involved in autophagosome Rab GTPases work with large tethering complexes to

20 ASBMB Today November 2011

Meetings_at1111_2.indd 20 10/27/11 3:02 PM regulate membrane fusion and endosome maturation. Pathogenesis Jon Audhya (University of Wisconsin, Madison) will Glycoconjugates often provide the key interface between describe the development of C. elegans as a model system a microbial pathogen and a host cell and are, therefore, to study how membrane traffi cking and organelle dynamics excellent targets for the development of therapeutics. The are modulated during development, cell proliferation and cell fi rst session, “Glycoconjugates in Pathogen Invasion and differentiation. His lab studies the ESCRT complex, which Virulence,” features three talks that focus on the surface promotes membrane fi ssion reactions at late endosomes glycoconjugates of bacteria and a protozoan parasite. and other cellular locations. Malcolm McConville (University of Melbourne) will Catherine Rabouille (Hubrecht Institute) will describe highlight recent advances in our understanding of cell- how her group has developed Drosophila as a powerful wall assembly in mycobacteria. The cell walls of these model system for studying the cell biology of the secretory important pathogens are composed of several classes pathway. Her work includes studies of ER export and Golgi of glycolipids, and a number of novel proteins have been organization as well as unconventional secretion mecha- shown to regulate their assembly and transport across nisms that bypass the traditional secretory pathway. the cell membrane. Lora Hooper (University of Texas Southwestern Medi- Ben Glick ([email protected]) cal Center at Dallas) will present her work on the innate is a professor at the University of immune mechanisms that promote symbiotic relation- Chicago, and David Chan ships with the vast communities of bacteria that inhabit ([email protected]) is a the intestine. She will focus on the role of a secreted professor and Howard Hughes carbohydrate-binding protein in maintaining the mutually Medical Institute investigator at the California Institute benefi cial nature of these host-microbial interactions. of Technology. Igor Almeida (University of Texas at El Paso) has identi- fi ed glycoconjugates of the Chagas-disease-causing parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that are virulence factors. He will describe recent efforts to use these glycoconjugates as targets for vaccine development.

Signaling and development The second session, “Role of Glycoconjugates in Signal- ing and Development,” further highlights the diverse roles of glycoconjugates. David Levin (Boston University Gold- man School of Dental Medicine) will present on cell-wall- integrity signaling mechanisms that enable yeast cells to respond to cell-wall stress. Hannes Buelow (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) Sugar fi x will describe his studies of the role of heparan sulfate pro- teoglycans in axon guidance and nervous-system devel- The diverse biological roles opment in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. of glycoconjugates Thomas Biederer (Yale University) will talk about his work on the SynCAM family of adhesion molecules and BY KAREN COLLEY AND ANANT K. MENON the role that glycans play in regulating adhesion mediated lycoconjugates play critical roles in recognition, by these proteins and subsequent synapse development. G adhesion, protein stability and function. Altera- tions in glycosylation frequently lead to disease. The four Glycoconjugate assembly sessions in the glycobiology theme focus on the role of Although the assembly of glycoconjugates from activated glycoconjugates in pathogenesis, signaling, development, monosaccharides is generally understood, there remain metabolism and disease. They also address novel meta- numerous gaps in our knowledge. In the third session, bolic routes of glycoconjugate assembly. “Novel Metabolic Routes of Glycoconjugate Assembly,”

November 2011 ASBMB Today 21

Meetings_at1111_2.indd 21 10/27/11 3:02 PM fiannual rstsecme ond continueding continued

Karen Colley (University of Illinois College of Medi- cine) will discuss the biosynthesis of polysialic acid, a unique anti-adhesive glycoconjugate found on only a few proteins that play roles in development and func- tion of the nervous and immune systems. She’ll offer new data that show how these proteins are selected for polysialylation. Debra Mohnen (University of Georgia) will discuss the assembly of pectin, a major plant cell-wall poly- saccharide, which functions in plant growth, develop- ment, and response to pathogens and symbionts and has diverse positive effects on human health. She will describe new results describing novel mechanisms that regulate pectin synthesis and cell-wall assembly. ‘Developing’ drugs A key feature of the assembly of many glycoconju- gates is the transbilayer movement of lipid biosynthetic If only it were that easy intermediates. Anant Menon (Weill Cornell Medical Col- By RAnDALL kInG AnD peTeR k. jACkSOn lege) will discuss recent efforts to identify the enigmatic fl ippases required for moving these complex glycolipid n the context of the early embryo or a growing child, structures across the membrane bilayer. I the term “development” implies a set of stereotyped transitions from one well-defi ned stage to another until Glycoconjugates in adulthood is achieved. In this context, the term “drug metabolism and disease development” is an oxymoron, as most drug-discovery In the fi nal session, “Role of Glycoconjugates in projects never reach maturity. This is especially true Metabolism and Disease,” Jeff Esko (University of Cali- for complex diseases such as cancer, as the diversity fornia, San Diego) will discuss his work on endothelial of disease mechanisms can make development of cell receptors and their interaction with heparan sulfate effective therapies challenging. Despite these hurdles, with respect to innate immunity. exciting progress is being made. In this symposium, John Hanover (National Institutes of Health) will we explore some recent advances in the development describe his group’s studies on the role of nutrient- of cancer therapies. The sessions will discuss the full driven O-GlcNAc in regulating gene expression by developmental spectrum of drug-discovery projects— modulating higher-order chromatin structure and from new technologies for target discovery to the multifaceted histone code. His results suggest compounds making their ways into the clinic. that O-GlcNAc directly regulates RNA polymerase II and may contribute to transgenerational epigenetic killing cancer cells reprogramming. The fi rst session, “Drug Development and Apoptosis: Lance Wells (University of Georgia) will speak on Linking Tumor Regression to Cell Death,” will feature the role of O-mannosylation in congenital muscular Junying Yuan (Harvard Medical School), who will describe dystrophy, cancer metastasis and arenavirus entry recent work in developing small-molecule inhibitors target- into cells. He will present data that highlight the novel ing autophagy, an important catabolic mechanism that protein substrates for O-mannosylation, as well as the mediates the turnover of misfolded proteins and damaged enzymes and the novel glycans they synthesize that intracellular organelles. The inhibitors have revealed an are disrupted in various pathophysiologies. important tumor-suppressor mechanism that is regulated by autophagy and the possibility of inhibiting autophagy to treat cancer. Karen Colley ([email protected]) is a professor at the University The BCL-2 family of apoptotic proteins regulates the of Illinois College of Medicine, critical balance between cellular life and death. Loren and Anant K. Menon Walensky (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) will discuss ([email protected]) his laboratory’s progress in dissecting the BCL-2 fam- is a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. ily interaction network using a novel pharmacological

22 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 22 10/27/11 2:36 PM fi rstsec ond continued

strategy, stabilized alpha-Helices of BCL-2 domains. approaches now enable the interrogation of gene function Vishva Dixit (Genentech) will discuss the state of drug at scale and how the integration of functional approaches development in apoptosis with a focus on IAP and BCL-2 with other high-throughput technologies permits the iden- inhibitors. He also will discuss recent progress on the tifi cation and validation of cancer targets. molecular basis of necrosis. While the players that medi- Cancers can show a high degree of cellular heterogen- ate apoptosis are well defi ned, little is known about what ity within tumors. Peter Jackson (Genentech) will discuss mediates necrosis, except for the recent dramatic discov- proteomic network building to discover new disease ery of the involvement of the RIP3 kinase. genes and drug targets. Finally, the ubiquitin-proteasome system represents an Targeting each person’s cancer exciting new opportunity for drug development, as inhibi- The molecular heterogeneity of cancer poses great tors of the proteasome are in the clinic. Randall King (Har- challenges for drug development, yet it also affords new vard Medical School) will discuss the use of phenotypic opportunities for developing highly targeted therapies. In screening to discover new inhibitors of ubiquitin ligases the second session, “Targeted Cancer Drug Development: and their potential role as novel antimitotic agents. Defi ning Molecular Profi les of Sensitivity,” Alan Ashworth (Institute of Cancer Research) will discuss harnessing Randall King (randy_king@hms. genetic dependencies in cancer therapy. Many tumours harvard.edu) is an associate harbour defects in their ability to maintain genomic integ- professor at Harvard Medical rity. His lab used a synthetic lethal approach to target the School, and Peter K. Jackson defect in DNA repair by homologous recombination in ([email protected]) is director of cell regulation at Genentech Inc. tumours with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. This strategy using PARP inhibitors is showing considerable promise in the clinic. Here, he will describe the approach as well as recent work defi ning determinants of sensitivity and resist- ance to PARP inhibitors. Neil Rosen (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) will discuss molecularly targeted therapies for cancer. Among these targets, the Raf kinase is activated by muta- tion in several tumors, and inhibitors of B-Raf show great promise in treatment of tumors that harbor activating mutations, such as melanoma. However, in tumors with wild-type Raf genes, the effects of Raf inhibitors are com- plex, as they perturb feedback mechanisms in the MAP kinase pathway and can induce proliferative responses. Explaining these results requires careful molecular analysis of the dynamic behavior of the pathway in tumor models, which will be the topic of the presentation. Systems biology It has been known for many years that metabolism is perturbed in cancer cells. Recently, mutations in com- Biochemical networks ponents of metabolic pathways have been identifi ed that in space and time provide exciting new opportunities for drug development. By STeVen ALTSChuLeR AnD ALeXAnDeR hOFFMAnn Scott Biller (Agios Pharmaceuticals) will discuss how metabolism informs cancer drug discovery. ith DNA sequencing costs falling faster than W Moore’s law, the challenge is less to discover Finding new molecules and targets what is in the genome but how the biological molecules Many exciting new technologies are being developed to interact to produce biological function. Molecular interac- identify new drug targets for cancer and other diseases. In tions are often multivalent to produce complex networks. the third session, “New Methodologies for Target Discov- Biochemical networks operate in time to determine cellular ery and Target Validation,” William Hahn (Dana-Farber responses to environmental changes and in space within Cancer Institute) will discuss how functional genomic and across boundaries and organelles, and they are

November 2011 ASBMB Today 23

AT1111_C2C1.indb 23 10/27/11 2:36 PM annualfi rstsecme ond continueding continued

subject to the physical laws that apply to all molecules, cesses of transcription and splicing that were previously including the fundamental stochasticity of molecular studied separately. interactions and chemical reactions. Given data quanti- ties and the potential for complexity that exceed even networks and space well-honed, intuitive reasoning, a hallmark of the systems The third session will focus on how signal-transduction biology approach is to combine experiment and model- networks give rise to behaviors in both space and time. ing to formulate and test hypotheses. The sessions below Lani Wu (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Cen- were designed to highlight approaches that derive and ter at Dallas) will address the question of how human reveal behaviors of complex networks on molecular, time neutrophils rapidly respond to environmental changes and distance scales. yet ignore irrelevant fl uctuations. Orion Weiner (University of California, San Francisco) network assembly will discuss signal-transduction networks in chemotaxing The fi rst session will address novel approaches that neutrophils and how altering cell geometries can help to allow for assembly of large network models containing identify or rule out mechanisms underlying spatial orga- many components. Trey Ideker (University of California, nization of the signaling components. San Diego) will describe strategies to combine high- Victor Sourjik (Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidel- throughput genetic and physical interaction data sets berg) will discuss the assembly and dynamics of signal as well as recent work revealing how some aspects of processing complexes used by bacteria to extract and networks change in response to DNA damage and how respond to weak signals from noisy environments. others do not. Nevan Krogan (University of California, San Fran- networks and noise cisco) will describe approaches and insights gained from The fi nal session will focus on core design principles by characterizing the physical interaction network within which biological networks can reliably give rise to cellular mammalian cells and how intruding pathogen proteins behaviors despite — or because of — the presence of harness and manipulate it. biochemical noise. Steve Altschuler (University of Texas Martha Bulyk (Harvard University) will report on inno- Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas) will discuss how vative high-throughput approaches to understanding the simple positive feedback circuits that lie at the heart of gene regulatory network in quantitative terms, such as many pattern-forming networks can make use of bio- interaction affi nities between DNA binding proteins and chemical noise to create cell polarity and how noise can their diverse cognate sequences. be used as a biomarker to discriminate different mecha- nisms of redundancy in protein interaction networks. networks and time Jeff Hasty (University of California, San Diego) will The second session will highlight recent studies of kineti- describe how synthetically designed biological circuits, cally controlled network behavior. Peter Sorger (Massa- lab-on-a-chip microfl uidic devices and mathematical chusetts Institute of Technology/Harvard University) will modeling can be brought together to understand the discuss insights gained from quantitatively measuring complexities of gene-regulatory networks in single cells. and modeling the activities of signal transducers that Chris Voigt (University of California, San Francisco) respond to death-inducing stimuli. will present recent work on developing a platform for Alexander Hoffmann (University of California, San designing biological networks that enable cells to be Diego) will report on recent work in applying parallel programmed to perform reliably complex, coordinated and experimental and kinetic modeling studies to the tasks. pathogen-responsive signal regulatory network and gene regulatory network to develop a “virtual cell” capable of predicting responses to pathogen exposure. Steven Altschuler (steven. Karla Neugebauer (Max Planck Institute of Molecular [email protected]) Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden) will address the is an associate professor at the role of kinetics in cotranscriptional splicing as a means University of Texas Southwestern to regulate the generation of alternate mature mRNAs. Medical Center at Dallas. Thus, a key step in regulating gene expression may be Alexander Hoffmann ([email protected]) is a professor understood only by integrating the biochemical pro- at the University of California, San Diego.

24 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 24 10/27/11 2:36 PM firstsecond continued

Chiosis will highlight the potential of protein chaperones, including heat-shock protein 90, as targets with sig- nificant clinical promise for the treatment of a variety of cancers. Her small-molecule inhibitors of chaperones are proving valuable tools for the exploration of this antican- cer landscape. Chemist David Spiegel will describe his unorthodox approach to generating immune response to cancer or infectious targets. By creating bivalent high-affinity ligands that interact with specific receptors found in neoplasms or pathogens on the one hand and immune complexes on the other, he is recruiting the immune response to specific cell types. Chemical biology In “Metabolic Engineering: From Antibiotics to Biofu- els,” biochemist Michael Thomas will present his studies and biocatalysis of enzymes called polyketide synthases, which catalyze the biosynthesis of pharmacologically important antibi- By Philip A. Cole and Jason K. Sello otics. His discoveries of noncanonical mechanisms of hile it long has been appreciated that chemis- polyketide synthase catalysis inform the engineering of W try and biology are linked inextricably, scientists non-natural enzymes for drug synthesis. In a comple- working today at the intersection between these disci- mentary talk, Christina Smolke will discuss her ground- plines are providing molecular resolution descriptions breaking work in the engineering of yeast to produce new of complex biological phenomena and generating new variants of compounds normally produced by plants. tools that will transform the way we live. The symposium These compounds, known as alkaloids, have potential to “Chemical Biology and Biocatalysis” at the 2012 ASBMB treat malaria and other maladies. Finally, Jason Sello will annual meeting highlights the work of prominent sci- discuss his work on engineering soil-dwelling Strepto- entists whose work defines how chemical intuition and myces bacteria to convert plant biomass into high-value chemical tools can inform studies and applications of chemicals and fuels. biological systems. In the “Frontiers in Enzymology” session, biochem- In a session titled “Metabolomics,” geneticist Michael ist Henning Lin, a leader in the field of post-translational Snyder will describe how a comprehensive, mass-spec- modifications, will describe the molecular mechanisms trometry-based approach has revealed new insights into by which dipthamide, the target of the diphtheria toxin, metabolite-protein interactions. This work is an extension is biosynthesized. Structural biologist Chuan He will of his groundbreaking work in high-throughput transcrip- provide a molecular-resolution exposé of enzymes that tomics. Chemist Alan Saghatelian will discuss progress use peculiar catalytic logic to repair DNA damage. The in the cataloging of metabolites and pathways. His group studies of Lin and He are characterized by ingenious recently has identified monoalkylglycerol ethers as natural integration of methods from chemistry and biology. adipocyte differentiation factors and has explored the Enzymologist David Cane has provided new insights into identification of endogenous ligands of nuclear hormone mechanistic enzymology via his mining of newly available receptors using a systems approach. Plant biochemist microbial genome sequences. His analysis of novel and Anne Osbourn will talk about her work on biosynthetic peculiar terpene synthases has provided new insights pathways of natural products in oats and rice. Her stud- into startlingly sophisticated bond formations and skeletal ies have uncovered how the complex and biomedically rearrangements in the biosynthesis of medicinally and important small molecules often isolated from plants can ecologically important metabolites. be stitched together. In “Chemistry and the Service of Medicine” phar- Philip A. Cole ([email protected]) is macologist Phil Cole will describe acyltransferases as the E.K. Marshall and Thomas H. possible targets in cancer and metabolism. Using rational Maren professor at Johns Hopkins design principles, his group has obtained preclinical data University School of Medicine. that show selective synthetic agents can be identified for Jason K. Sello (jason_sello@ this difficult-to-inhibit enzyme family. Chemist Gabriella brown.edu) is an assistant professor at Brown University.

November 2011 ASBMB Today 25

AT1111_C2C1.indb 25 10/27/11 2:37 PM fiannual rstsecme ond continueding continued

state-of-the-art lectures covering our understanding of the in vivo biochemistry, how it drives the host-pathogen relationship and how this relationship may be changing as new strains of the bacterium adjust.

In vivo biochemistry of the pathogen The fi rst session, chaired by Squire J. Booker (The Penn- sylvania State University), will provide an overview of the adaptations that M. tuberculosis makes to survive in the challenging environment of the human lung. The bacte- rium faces many obstacles to replication in the face of the human immune response, obstacles that have driven unusual and distinct biochemical adaptations. A lecture by Valerie Mizrahi (University of Cape Town), titled “Mechanisms of DNA Repair and Mutagenesis in M. Tuberculosis,” will describe her laboratory’s contribu- Targeting tions to the understanding of the complex systems of DNA repair that have evolved in response to the need to tuberculosis maintain the integrity of this molecule in the face of both What we know about the the organism’s exceedingly long generation time and the continuous oxidative and nitrosative stress challenges molecular details of the mounted by the host immune system. host-pathogen relationship William R. Jacobs (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) will describe his lab’s efforts to understand the biochemi- and how the bacterium cal details of cell-envelope construction — essential for is affected by our attempts understanding the mechanism of antitubercular drugs to stop its spread and in the construction of new vaccines. Jacobs’ group made a particularly important contribution to understand- By SQuIRe j. BOOkeR AnD CLIFTOn e. BARRy III ing transport of one of the most important of the disac- charides used in cell wall biogenesis, trehalose. uberculosis kills between 2 million and 3 million Natasha Nesbitt (State University of New York, Stony Tpeople each year and continues to be a major global Brook) will present a lecture titled “Cholesterol Metabo- health concern. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etio- lism in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: Chewing through logic agent responsible, is an obligate human pathogen the Fat.” She will describe her work with Nicole Samp- that has infected mankind since the dawn of time. The son on cholesterol utilization in M. tuberculosis, which is emergence of highly drug-resistant forms of the disease important because, in the intracellular environment of the threatens to completely undermine disease-control efforts host, M. tuberculosis shifts from a carbohydrate-based and even may be shifting the fundamental pathobiology metabolism to a lipid-based metabolism. Moreover, it can of the host-pathogen relationship. utilize cholesterol as its sole carbon source in culture. The community of scientists engaged in study- ing this deadly disease has made dramatic advances Biochemical mediators of the in understanding the biology and biochemistry of this host-pathogen interaction deadly pathogen, but many important details are only The second session, chaired by Clifton E. Barry III (National now starting to be appreciated. These three symposia Institutes of Health), will feature a lecture from Carolyn in the tuberculosis theme will bring together diverse Bertozzi (University of California at Berkeley) titled “Chemi- speakers struggling to understand the molecular details cal Approaches for Probing Mycobacterial Metabolites.” of the host-pathogen relationship and how the bacte- Bertozzi will describe her lab’s chemistry-driven approach rium may be adapting to human attempts to bring the to understanding microbial metabolism and adaptation of disease under control. The subjects were chosen so that that metabolism to the host environment. the three symposia build upon each other by providing Sonia Flores (University of Colorado Denver) will give

26 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 26 10/27/11 2:37 PM fi rstsec ond continued

a talk titled “Vitamin D-Dependent Innate Antibacte- rial Responses on Tuberculous and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria.” The session will end with a lecture from Mary Jackson (Colorado State University-Fort Collins) titled “Biogenesis of Mycobacterial Cell Envelope Glycoconjugates,” in which she will elaborate on her lab’s longstanding inter- est in the biogenesis of one class of the most important mediators of the host-pathogen relationship.

Relationship of host and pathogen The fi nal session will be chaired by Jackson and will feature a lecture from Barry. In “Molecular Mechanisms of the Evolution of Drug Resistance in TB,” Barry will describe his lab’s attempts to understand the molecular evolution of resistance and subsequent fi tness adapta- Education and tions in highly drug-resistant clinical isolates. Miriam Braunstein (University of North Carolina at professional Chapel Hill School of Medicine) will deliver a lecture titled “Protein Export via the Accessory Sec System development of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.” She will describe her lab’s elaboration of the mechanisms of protein secretion Maximizing competitiveness developed by M. tuberculosis to enable survival in the during challenging times macrophage phagosome. Finally, Sarah Fortune (Harvard School of Pub- By SuZAnne e. BARBOuR AnD peTeR j. kenneLLy lic Health) will deliver a lecture titled “On the Clock: Diversity through Growth and Division in Mycobacteria,” lthough the economy shows some signs of recovery, describing her lab’s attempts to probe adaptation of A today’s college graduates continue to face a chal- extant strains of M. tuberculosis using next-generation lenging job market. Similarly, institutions of higher learning sequencing approaches to identify and understand face the challenge of maintaining economic viability while polymorphisms that are geographically or pathogeni- continuing to deliver comprehensive instruction using state- cally unique. of-the-art technologies. The three symposia also will include presentations At the faculty level, diminishing resources and increasing chosen from submitted abstracts and will be comple- time commitments have redefi ned the three major missions mented by related poster sessions. These symposia will of academia: scholarship, teaching and service. Finally, the present a unique opportunity for investigators interested emergence of strong economies and research infrastructure in the biochemistry and detailed molecular mechanisms in other countries challenges U.S. scientists to remain com- underlying the pathogenesis of this important disease to petitive and develop collaborations on a global scale. Recog- be exposed to an exciting selection of some of the most nizing these challenges, the 2012 education and professional important recent developments in this area. development theme is focused on increasing competitive- ness at the global, institutional and individual levels.

Squire J. Booker ([email protected]) Outreach and research is an associate professor The program is organized into six sessions. On Saturday, of chemistry and associate April 21, the activities will focus on education and outreach professor of biochemistry in coordination with the 16th annual undergraduate poster and molecular biology at The Pennsylvania State University. Clifton E. Barry III session, sponsored by the Undergraduate Affi liate Network. ([email protected]) is a senior investigator and chief of After the poster session, students will be invited to a speed- the tuberculosis research section at the National Institute dating-like session with representatives from various career of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. paths called “Finding Your Perfect Career Match.”

November 2011 ASBMB Today 27

AT1111_C2C1.indb 27 10/27/11 2:37 PM annualme ing continued

Undergraduate research experiences provide a unique for securing those opportunities. The last talk will focus on means for developing the technical and critical-thinking the interface between technology and networking. Lisa skills that allow graduates to be competitive in the job Balbes (Balbes Consultants) will give a talk titled “Effective market. As such, Sunday morning’s session, “Maximizing use of Social Networking for Career Development,” which Institutional Effectiveness,” will focus on approaches to bol- will focus on the advantages and potential pitfalls of this stering undergraduate research/research training. Peter J. emerging means for connecting with potential employers. Kennelly (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) will approach the issue from the perspective of a research- A competitive world intensive institution. Next, Joseph Provost (Minnesota The Monday afternoon session broadens the theme to State University Moorhead) will discuss this issue from the take on a global perspective. In the fi rst talk, Anthony perspective of a primarily undergraduate institution. Finally, James (University of California-Irvine) will present his work Cecile Andraos-Selim (Hampton University) will discuss on malaria as a model for developing collaborations on an the unique challenges to undergraduate research/research international scale. Estralita Martin (San Diego State Uni- training at a minority-serving institution. versity) will use the second talk to discuss cultural compe- tency, an emerging concept that is of growing importance Talks for teachers as our classrooms and laboratories become more diverse. On Sunday afternoon, the emphasis will shift to the class- In the last talk, Shirish Shenolikar will discuss his experi- room with a session titled “Maximizing Teaching Effective- ences at Duke and the National University of Singapore ness.” In the fi rst talk, Paul Craig (Rochester Institute of Medical School and how they can be a model for under- Technology) will discuss cutting-edge instructional tech- standing the unique challenges to science and science nologies in a presentation titled “Effective Use of Electronic education in emerging countries. Teaching Tools and Resources.” Dennis Wykoff (Villanova We realize that these presentations address only a sub- University) will discuss the unique challenges facing today’s set of the challenges facing scientists and science educa- junior faculty in his talk, “Effective Teaching and Mentoring tors in the 21st century. However, we hope that attendees While Publishing and (Hopefully) Having a Life.” In the last will come away from these sessions with a renewed sense talk, Neena Grover (Colorado College) will describe the of confi dence that they can and will be competitive during Undergraduate Affi liate Network as a means to promote these challenging times. science education and outreach. On Monday morning, the focus will be on maximiz- Suzanne E. Barbour, not pictured, (sbarbour@hsc. ing marketability through development of survival skills vcu.edu) is a professor at the Virginia for careers in academia and industry. Judith Bond (The Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine) will and Peter J. Kennelly is professor and head of discuss strategies to develop administrative and organiza- the department of biochemistry at Virginia tional skills. Her talk will be followed by Martin Rosenberg Polytechnic Institute and State University and chair of the (Promega Corp.), who will focus on opportunities in the Education and Professional Development Committee private sector and the skill sets required to be competitive of the ASBMB.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology welcomes your submissions for its Calling all poets Experimental Biology 2012 poetry contest. GUIDELINES: Entries should be unpublished free-verse poems WINNERS: The top 10 fi nalists will be invited to read their up to 25 lines long in the EB2012 “bench-to-bedside” theme. work at EB2012, if they plan to attend. Attendance is not Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but notify us immediately required for submission to the contest. The top three to withdraw your entry if it is accepted for publication elsewhere. prizes will be $100, $75 and $50. Finalists’ poems Send your poem as an attachment, without identifying informa- will be published in ASBMB Today. tion on the fi le, to [email protected]. JUDGES: The panel includes both scientists ELIGIBILITY: Members of the societies participating in EB2012 and poets. and registered attendees may enter. Each entrant is allowed only one entry, so send us your best work. DEADLINE: Dec. 31, 2011

28 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 28 10/27/11 2:37 PM lipid news A report from the ASBMB Lipid Division. Eugene P. Kennedy (1919 – 2011) BY DANIEL RABEN

t is unfortunate that sometimes this column ace A. Barker. It was there that he, along with I must communicate unwanted news. Earl Stadtman, who was then a graduate Such is the case now, when I must student, studied the ability of soluble share the sad news that the lipid extracts of Clostridium kluyveri cells community has lost another icon. to produce short-chain fatty acids Eugene Patrick Kennedy passed from ethyl alcohol. away Sept. 22. It’s unlikely that In 1950 Kennedy did a brief there’s anyone working in the lipid stint with Fritz Lipmann at Har- field today who doesn’t know of vard Medical School to work on his work. The Kennedy pathway mitochondrial energetics. for the synthesis of some of the He re-joined the University major phosphoglycerides remains of Chicago a year later after one of the hallmarks of lipid bio- obtaining a joint appointment in chemistry. the department of biochemistry Kennedy was born in 1919 in and the Ben May Laboratory for Chicago. He enrolled at De Paul Cancer Research and began his University in 1937 to pursue a degree groundbreaking work on phospholipid in chemistry and in 1941 began his biosynthesis. That work eventually led to graduate studies in organic chemistry at the the formulation of the now famous Ken- University of Chicago (1). nedy pathway, which remains true to this day. To pay for school, Kennedy worked during those It should be no surprise that Kennedy was selected war years at the meatpacking facility Armour and Co. to become a Hamilton Kuhn professor and head of the to obtain pure bovine serum albumin, which at the time department of biological chemistry at Harvard Medical was thought to be useful for treating shock in wounded School in 1959. He continued his research on phos- soldiers. The effort was abandoned by 1942, at which pholipid biosynthesis and outlined a detailed picture of time the Red Cross began collecting blood from human phosphoglyceride and triacylglycerol biosynthesis. But volunteers. Kennedy transferred to Armour’s new Fort his contributions are not limited to these discoveries. Worth location in 1942 to focus on fractionation of Kennedy went on to make significant discoveries regard- human blood. He worked there until 1945. ing the biogenesis and function of membranes, trans- The experience sparked an interest in biochemistry, location of phospholipids, periplasmic glucans and cell which Kennedy continued to pursue upon returning signaling in bacteria. to the University of Chicago. It was then that Ken- Kennedy served on the editorial board and as an nedy started working with a new assistant professor in associate editor for the Journal of Biological Chemistry. the department of biochemistry, Albert Lehninger, and He was also the president of the American Society of developed an interest in lipid biochemistry. Despite some Biological Chemists in 1970. He received numerous reservations (1), Kennedy began to study fatty-acid awards and honors throughout his career, including oxidation for his thesis work in 1947. It was during this election to the National Academy of Sciences (1964), the work that Kennedy made one of his seminal discoveries Gairdner Foundation International Award (1976), the Uni- that, in addition to oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid versity of Chicago Distinguished Service Award (1966), oxidation and the reactions of the Krebs cycle occurred the Boehringer Ingelheim Heinrich Wieland Prize (1986) in the mitochondria. and the Pasano Award (senior laureate, 1986). After completing his graduate work, Kennedy went to We tell our graduate and post-doctorial students that the University of California, Berkeley, to study with Hor- the job of a scientist is to discover new knowledge and

November 2011 ASBMB Today 29

AT1111_C2C1.indb 29 10/27/11 2:37 PM filipid rst ws n continued make signifi cant contributions to his or her fi eld of study. Kennedy has set a very high bar indeed— one ASBMB LIPID DIVISION that we all should strive to achieve. His accomplish- Get exciting research news and ments go well beyond what can included in a brief communicate with your colleagues outline of his work. Kennedy will be missed, but his work always will remain infl uential. and peers in the lipid field. www.asbmb.org/lipidcorner Daniel Raben ([email protected]) is director of the ASBMB Lipid Division and a professor in the department of biological chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

REFERENCE 1. Kresge, N., Simoni, R.D., and Hill, R.L. (2005) J. Biol. Chem., 280, e22.

University of Kentucky College of Medicine CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY The Department of Molecular and Cellular Bio- the College. The Dean is committed to providing the chemistry invites applications and nominations Chair with access to resources and space appropriate for the position of Chair with a potential starting to the goals for the future of the Department. Can- date of July 1, 2012. didates must have a PhD and/or MD degree or The Department’s research focuses equivalent, a record of sustained scientifi c on the molecular mechanisms of accomplishment and extramural fund- fundamentally important life pro- ing in any area of modern biochemis- cesses and in technology develop- try, and a demonstrated commitment ment for functional studies of these to academic and educational leadership. processes. The faculty’s research programs encompass a Salary will be commensurate with qualifi cations and experience. number of areas with particular excellence in signaling, bio- Information regarding the Department, membranes, and structure biology. Extramural funding places the University, and Lexington are found the Department among the top 25 public institutions, and the at www.mc.uky.edu/biochemistry/. Department is located in the College’s newest, state-of-the- The review of applications will begin on October 17, art research building. 2011 and will continue until the position is fi lled. This recruitment is an excellent opportunity for an outstand- ing scientist to lead a robust and intellectually exciting depart- Please send a letter of application or ment with 32 faculty in a College committed to developing nomination, with curriculum vitae, to: Chair, Search Committee collaborations across clinical and basic science departments. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry The College takes pride in interdisciplinary programs in neuro- College of Medicine sciences, cancer, toxicology and cardiovascular disease and University of Kentucky welcomes opportunities to strengthen these ties to the Depart- 741 S. Limestone St. ment. The Chair reports directly to the Dean of the College of Lexington, KY 40536-0509 Medicine and has important interactions with associate deans email: [email protected] and other chairs and center directors. Candidates must articulate a scientifi c vision for the Depart- The University of Kentucky is an equal opportunity/affi rmative action employer. We encourage applications from individuals with diverse experiences and ment’s future and its role in a multidisciplinary environment within backgrounds.

30 ASBMB Today November 2011

LipidNews_at1111.indd 30 10/27/11 3:08 PM journalnews More ASBMB journal highlights at www.asbmb.org.

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PROTEOMICS THE JOURNAL OF LIPID RESEARCH Proteomic, metabolic basis for anxiety Thematic review and depression series highlights lipid By RAjenDRAnI MukhOpADhyAy droplet research Psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression, By MARy L. ChAnG have complicated molecular foundations that involve dys- Lipid droplets are functionally important in the human functional neural circuits. body. The components contained within lipid droplets in “The characterization of these altered networks and liver cells can be turned into lipoproteins. Lipid droplets of neural circuits will be critical to get a better understand- epithelial cells of the mammary gland fi gure into the nutri- ing of psychiatric disorders and, in turn, make it possible tional value of breast milk. On an immune system level, to defi ne targets for the development of more specifi c it is hypothesized that lipid droplets play a role in mac- medicines,” explains Chris Turck of the Max Planck Institute rophage function during phagocytosis. Even hormones of Psychiatry in Germany. He adds there presently aren’t and transcription factors may get their start from what is any biomarkers for psychiatric illnesses that could help with enclosed in these interesting and biologically vital units. accurate diagnosis, tracking treatment effi cacy in various When lipid droplets accumulate in an excessive way, types of psychiatric patients, and improving drug develop- common diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and ment efforts. metabolic syndrome can occur. Lipid droplets are even To address this issue, Turck and colleagues recently com- implicated in the pathogenesis of bacteria and viruses pared the proteins and small molecules expressed in two such as hepatitis C, which infects approximately 3 percent mouse models to identify potential biomarkers. Their results of the world’s population. were published in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. One The November issue of the Journal of Lipid Research mouse strain was selectively bred to be a high-anxiety marks the start of a new thematic review series on this model while the other was a low-anxiety model. very topic, titled “From Lipid Droplet Storage and Metabo- For the proteomic analysis, Turck and colleagues fed lism: from Yeast to Man.” The series is being coordinated a diet that was laced with a stable isotope to these mice. by Karen Reue of the David Geffen School of Medicine at After the animals’ phenotypes had been determined by the University of California, Los Angeles. exposing them to assays to assess anxiety and depression Reue, a recognized expert in the fi eld, also penned a characteristics, the researchers analyzed brain sections and special editorial for the issue that serves as a great intro- plasma molecules from the mice that were now labeled with duction to the series. In the editorial, Reue explains why the stable isotope by quantitative mass spectrometry. lipid droplet research is so hot right now: There has been Turck and colleagues identifi ed a number of proteins and increased recognition that lipid droplets are implicated in small molecules that belonged to several metabolic, signal- health and disease. ing and neural pathways. For example, the researchers The series is unique in that it will explore lipid droplet found that some proteins and metabolites of the phospha- biology and metabolism from an evolutionary point of tidylinositol signaling pathway had altered expression levels view, examining the topic in yeast, nematodes, plants, fruit in the high-anxiety mouse model. fl ies and mammals. The group has also extended the stable-isotope meta- “GPIHBP1, an endothelial cell transporter for lipoprotein bolic labeling method to protein turnover analysis, which lipase,” the fi rst review in the series by JLR Associate Editor will provide more information about the pathways affected Stephen G. Young of UCLA and colleagues, discusses what in anxiety and depression. Ultimately, the researchers is known about GPIHBP1, a protein that has been shown want to use several molecules in clinical diagnostic assays to be involved with the transport of lipids and a facilitator instead of a single biomarker, because an individual mole- of lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme that makes components of cule may not be specifi c and sensitive enough to accurately lipids available for other uses in the body. monitor a disease. Mary L. Chang ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay ([email protected]) is the Journal of Lipid Research and coordinating journal manager of senior science writer for ASBMB Today and technical editor for JBC. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics.

November 2011 ASBMB Today 31

AT1111_C2C1.indb 31 10/27/11 2:37 PM fijournal rstsec newsond continued continued

Institute of Technology explain, the biosynthesis THE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY of the cluster and its main- tenance “in an active form inside the cell has been a Formation of radical major unsolved problem.” In a recent Journal of Bio- for DNA generation logical Chemistry “Paper By RAjenDRAnI MukhOpADhyAy of the Week” the duo led a team to explore how this Ribonucleotide reductases are essential in all living important iron center is organisms, because they supply the raw material for DNA formed in the β2 subunit synthesis. The class IA ribonucleotide reductases are of yeast. The investiga- iron-dependent enzymes that create deoxyribonucleo- tors suggest that there are tides from ribonucleotides. In humans, the enzymes are two proteins involved in successful targets of several chemotherapy drugs, such the process: Grx3/Grx4, a as gemcitabine and clofarabine. The enzymes have two protein complex that may contribute in some way to iron homodimeric subunits, α2 and β2. The β2 subunit con- delivery, and Dre2/Tah18, which may provide the reducing tains a di-iron cluster that generates a tyrosyl radical that equivalents. The investigators explain that understand- is essential in making deoxyribonucleotides. The cluster in ing how the Fe3+-Y· cluster forms and fi nding out whether + the resting state is a diferric-tyrosyl radical, Fe3 -Y·. The there is a pathway to regenerate the radical may provide tyrosyl radical has a fl eeting existence in humans, hanging new cancer therapeutic strategies. around for only 20 minutes. Some chemotherapy drugs target this radical to destroy it and inactivate the enzyme. But as Mingxia Huang at the University of Colorado School Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay ([email protected]) is the of Medicine and JoAnne Stubbe at the Massachusetts senior science writer for ASBMB Today and technical editor for JBC.

Alessandra Ferrari was named a Journal of Biological Tabor investigator Chemistry/Herbert Tabor Young Investigator Award chosen at lipids winner at the 52nd International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids, which was held in late summer meeting in Italy in Warsaw, Poland. JBC Associate Editor George By AnGeLA hOpp Carman attended the conference and presented Ferrari with her prize. Ferrari, 25, received her master’s degree in pharmaceu- tical biotechnology in the spring from the University of Milan (in Italian, Università degli Studi di Milano), where she works under the supervision of Maurizio Crestani. She and colleagues study the transcriptional and epi- genetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of energy metabolism with a focus on the role of histone deacetylases and nuclear receptors in the meta- bolic regulation of adipose tissues, liver and skeletal muscles under both normal and disease states. In her free time, Ferrari enjoys travel, music and photography.

Angela Hopp ([email protected]) is a science writer and handles public relations for ASBMB.

32 ASBMB Today November 2011

AT1111_C2C1.indb 32 10/27/11 2:37 PM education and training Changing how we view and evaluate student gains in understanding BY J. ELLIS BELL

revolution is under way in educating students project “Promoting Concept-Driven Teaching Strate- A in the molecular life sciences. For a number of gies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology through years, there has been a series of reports and white Concept Assessments,” which the American Society papers talking about how the education of students for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology received fund- in the life sciences needs to be revamped for the ing from NSF to implement (5). Now in its second year, 21st century. The most recent, released earlier the project is at the center of many of the society’s this year, is “Vision and Change in Undergraduate undergraduate-education initiatives, dovetailing with Biology Education: A Call to Action”(1), a report of a the work of the Education and Professional Develop- national discussion by the American Association for ment Committee on both accreditation and revision of the Advancement of Science with support from the its curricula recommendations (6). National Science Foundation. The report is centered Two key features of the project involve developing a on several basic premises represented by the first consensus concerning: three chapters: undergraduate biology education 1. the foundational concepts from biology, for all students, cultivating biological literacy, and chemistry, mathematics and physics that student-centered undergraduate biology education. underpin the molecular life sciences as well as It concludes with two important chapters about unique foundational concepts of the molecular implementation of the ideas in the report. life sciences and the requisite skills and The principal focus of the second chapter is the competencies that a student graduating with a need for education to focus on core concepts of the degree in biochemistry and molecular biology should have, and biological sciences and core competencies and disci- plinary practice rather than simply breadth of knowl- 2. developing appropriate assessment tools that edge. The chapter, in part, emphasizes understanding can be used both formatively and summatively what students have mastered and suggests that three to determine whether a student has benefitted from his or her education, whether in a given questions (2-4) should be considered in course or class or from the curriculum as a whole. program design: 1. What knowledge and skills are relevant to the subject area? What should students know and On student assessments be able to do at the end of the unit or course? One of the goals of the Vision and Change initiative is 2. What do proficiency and mastery in the to move students away from rote memorization of facts subject area at this level in the curriculum and toward a deeper understanding of the concepts (e.g., an introductory course or capstone and processes of science to better prepare them for seminar) look like? the many challenges they face in the future. Many 3. What evidence would I accept that a student would argue, and I have myself (7,8), that this means has achieved proficiency or mastery across changing the way we educate students, but often the relevant content and skills identified in missed in the discussion is the reality that it also means item 1? What evidence would convince my changing the way we assess student outcomes. colleagues? In addition to using validated assessment approaches and instruments, I believe we need to On curricula and accreditation completely rethink when and how frequently we These questions helped inform the Research Coordi- assess student outcomes. If we are interested in stu- nation Networks— Undergraduate Biology Education dents acquiring long-term conceptual understandings

November 2011 ASBMB Today 33

AT1111_C2C1.indb 33 10/27/11 2:37 PM fieducation rst  nn continuedtraining continued of material and competency with skills, it makes no University in Massachusetts, at Hope College in Hol- sense to focus our grade giving on frequent quizzes land, Mich., and in the San Diego and Knoxville, Tenn., and tests (although students love those because they areas over the next six months or so. A virtual meeting know exactly when to study— i.e., the night before — will be held in May. and what to memorize), as these foster exactly the At the ASBMB annual meeting in April, there will be wrong type of learning. a symposium the morning of April 24 featuring talks It is far better to use a variety of forms of continual on “Defi ning Foundational Principles and Concepts,” assessment that build to give a picture not only of “Developing Assessments for Foundational Con- what a student really understands (summative assess- cepts,” and “Helping Students to Access and Assess ment) but also of where an instructor may be failing Knowledge” as well as short talks selected from sub- to get the message across (formative assessment) mitted abstracts. The symposium will be followed in over time to not only re-emphasize key points but also the afternoon by an RCN-UBE working group meeting try other strategies. Of course, in a curriculum that and workshop (open to anyone) that will focus in more really works, topics and skills can, in true Aristotelian detail on assessment-tool development. fashion (9), be introduced, developed in detail and reiterated, all with appropriate assessment. I suspect A call to action that one of the hidden premises of Vision and Change So, in the immortal words of Bob Dylan (10), “Come is that by focusing on foundational concepts and gather ’round, people”— after all, the project is all skills, we should be able to carve out time in a course about network building for a common cause— “for or curriculum to allow students to master material and the times they are a-changin’.” not simply memorize. Vision and Change is a call to action, and we need everyone interested in student-centered education in Quick recap the molecular life sciences to join the discussion. If The fi rst year of the ASBMB’s RCN-UBE project you are planning to be at the ASBMB annual meeting involved both regional and national gatherings and in San Diego, submit an abstract on your ideas of how focused on initiating network-building and discussion to assess student understanding and take the oppor- of the foundational concepts and competencies of tunity to get involved in the RCN-UBE project. the molecular life sciences. The fi rst year’s activities culminated with a workshop and core working-group J. Ellis Bell ([email protected]) is professor meeting held in conjunction with the meeting titled of chemistry at the University of Richmond. “Student-Centered Education in the Molecular Life Sciences II” sponsored by the society and held at the University of Richmond in July. After the meeting, the working group met for REFERENCES: another day and a half to assess progress and plan 1. “Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to the project’s second-year activities. The working Action,” AAAS, 2011. 2. Handelsman, J., S. Miller, and C. Pfund. 2007. Scientifi c Teaching. W. H. group consists of the primary investigators and co-PIs Freeman, New York. Hartberg, Y., A. B. Gunersel, N. J.Simspon, and V. of the grant and 12 other members: Joe Provost, Ann Balester. 2008. Wright, Kristin Fox, Ben Caldwell, Terry Platt, Cynthia 3. Development of student writing in biochemistry using calibrated peer review. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 2: 29 – 44. Peterson, Peter Kennelly, John Tansey, Teaster Baird, 4. Wiggins, G., and J. McTighe. 2005. Understanding by Design, 2nd Brenda Kelly, Jason Sello and Takita Sumter. All were edition. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia. chosen to represent different interests and geographi- 5. Bailey, Cheryl, Ellis Bell, Margaret Johnson, Carla Mattos, Duane Sears, cal diversity. and Harold B. White. “Student-centered education: commentary: biochemistry and molecular biology educators launch national network,” Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. Looking ahead 6. Voet, J.G., E. Bell, R. Boyer, J. Boyle, J.K. Zimmerman and M. O’Leary, During the coming year, fi ve physical meetings and “Recommended curriculum for a program in biochemistry and molecular biology,” 31: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2003. one virtual meeting are planned together with a sym- 7. Bell, Ellis: “Ability to recite fails to excite.” Times Higher Education: 14 posium and workshop at the 2012 ASBMB annual July 2000. meeting in San Diego. 8. Bell, Ellis. “The future of education in the molecular life sciences.” Nature Reviews, Vol. 2, 221 – 225, 2001. Regional RCN-UBE workshops will be held at 9. Aristotle. “Rhetoric.” BC 350. Moravian College in Pennsylvania, at Northeastern 10. Bob Dylan. “Times They Are A-Changing,” 1964.

34 ASBMB Today November 2011

EDU_at1111.indd 34 10/27/11 3:10 PM ASBMB ANNUAL 2 MEETING

April 21–25, 2012 San Diego, CA SCIENTIFIC THEMATIC PROGRAMS GENE REGULATION RNA CHEMICAL BIOLOGY AND BIOCATALYSIS SYSTEMS BIOLOGY METABOLISM AND DISEASE GLYCOBIOLOGY DNA REPLICATION, RECOMBINATION, REPAIR PROTEIN SYNTHESIS, TARGETING AND QUALITY CONTROL DRUG DEVELOPMENT LIPID and LIPID SIGNALING ORGANELLE DYNAMICS TUBERCULOSIS PREPARING for the FUTURE: MAXIMIZING COMPETIVENESS DURING CHALLENGING ECONOMIC TIMES Travel Award and Abstract Submission Deadline: Nov. 8 www.asbmb.org/meeting2012

AT1111_C2C1.indb 35 10/27/11 2:37 PM openchns

LETTER TO THE EDITOR READER COMMENTS ONLINE e Toxic Professor President’s Message, “Awards Syndrome in biochemistry,” October 2011 Dear Editor, Interesting commentary. Of course the one group e article of professors Hannun and Raben (August issue) that is not merely underrepresented, but essentially with the above title brings to mind Jevons’ remark that asking excluded from awards is industrial scientists. researchers about the research funding system is like asking birds BOB COPELAND about aerodynamics (1). Given the goal that Hannun and Raben aver — namely the enhancement through research of “our under- I agree... that awards should be made to deserving standing of human health and disease” — they might have begun individuals who are not previous recipient of by admitting, at least as a theoretical possibility, that the present awards, thus recognition is brought to diverse system is precisely tuned to that goal, with the existential problems group of scientists. Additionally, I suggest the to which they refer as an unavoidable consequence. And they number of supporting letters for the nomination might have demonstrated a knowledge of at least some of the exist- may be reduced to ve to six letters. VIJAY KALRA ing literature on the topic, where some of the speci c solutions that they hope for are already on the table (1–3). Decades ago, the Retrospective, “Chris Raetz,”  rst priority of the National Institutes of Health should have been October 2011 the establishment of an Institute for the History of Science with the  anks for this very personal remembrance. mandate of investigating how past discoveries were made and how DENNIS VANCE the discovery process might be optimized. Surrounding that very large institute would be the much smaller, less richly sta ed insti- tutes dedicated to cancer, infectious diseases and other biomedical Tabor award, “Harvard med subjects. Over the years, the latter institutes would probably have school investigator recognized,” grown and the former would possibly have shrunk. Perhaps there September 2011 would then be no “current crisis… of epidemic proportions” with As a recently retired AP biology and biotechnology pious calls for us only now to begin “serious study and analysis.” teacher, I am fascinated more each day of the D nl R. F rsdyk elegant way in which regulatory proteins play an Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, essential role in our everyday lives. More high department of biomedical and molecular sciences school students need to be exposed to the wonderful REFERENCES 1. Jevons, F. R. (1973) Science Observed. (Allen & Unwin, London). world of cell communication at its best. I applaud 2. Ziman, J, (1994) Prometheus Bound. Science in a Dynamic Steady State. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). Amy Walker for her well-deserved award, which 3. Forsdyke, D. R. (2000) Tomorrow’s Cures Today? How to Reform the Health comes with tremendous dedication and persistence. Research System. (Harwood Academic, Amsterdam). C. FORD MORISHITAMILWAUKIE Response: We were pleased to see Dr. Forsdyke’s response to our article on the “Toxic Professor Syndrome.” Our primary goal in writing Corrections the article was to raise an awareness of this critical issue. Despite The name of the National Postdoctoral Association’s annual the fact that this issue has prevailed for some time, as Dr. Forsdyke observance in recognition of postdoctoral scholars was erro- notes, there has been very little formal discussion and even less neously reported in the September issue due to an editing movement to address the growing crises we all recognize. To bring error. It is called National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week. new attention to this issue, we believed that posing the problem in Journal of Biological Chemistry/Herbert Tabor Award win- terms of a biomedical phenomenon would help raise awareness. ner Amy Walker received her award at the Gordon Research It appears this goal has been met, and we thank Dr. Forsdyke for Conference on Molecular and Cellular Biology of Lipids. The helping to continue the discussion. We welcome all input, as not September issue erroneously reported that she received her addressing this issue promises to seriously, and perhaps irrepara- award at a separate event. bly, damage the basic science research enterprise. We sincerely regret the errors. Yf H n Di R

36 ASBMB Today November 2011

FeedbackLoop_at1111.indd 36 10/27/11 3:13 PM Simply greater performance for all your qPCR needs

> reSULtS

> SenSitivity > Specificity > confidence > performance

USB® VeriQuestTM qPCR Master Mixes Greater sensitivity – Reliable amplification of low expressing targets for accurate expression analysis  High efficiency PCR across the full dynamic range

Greater specificity – Enzymology expertise for specificity in target amplification and carry-over contamination prevention  Accurate target quantitation with prevention of non-specific amplification

Greater confidence – Consistent and reproducible results, even from challenging templates  Robust results on a variety of templates

Greater performance – Optimized formulation for quality data analysis  Pre-assembled reactions that remain stable for 72 hours at room temperature Visit usb.affymetrix.com/simplygreater for a full listing.

USB VeriQuest qPCR Master Mixes Greater qPCR performance from a trusted source

© 2011 Affymetrix Inc. All rights reserved.

AT1111_C2C1.indb 3 10/27/11 2:38 PM

Affymetrix-USB_ExoSAP-IT-HT_ASBMB-Ad.indd 1 10/7/11 11:05 AM B:8.625” T:8.25” S:7” B:11.125” T:10.5” S:10”

In here, your cloud has you covered.

Increase flexibility and efficiency with AT&T cloud solutions. In order to keep on top of data generated in your institution’s labs, you need storage that can adjust to meet your demands. The AT&T cloud services allow you to store data in one of two U.S.-located AT&T Data Centers, on a virtualized infrastructure that’s monitored 24/7, 365 days a year, and incorporates physical and network-based security. With AT&T managing the infrastructure, your institution can pursue research opportunities cost effectively and feel confident while doing it. Visit att.com/inthecloud to learn more.

It’s the AT&T network – a network of possibilities.

©2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

AT1111_C2C1.indb 4 10/27/11 2:38 PM

This advertisement was prepared by BBDO New York Filename: P15426_ATT_GEN_V9.indd CLIENT: AT&T Proof #: 9 Path: Studio:Volumes:Studio:MECHANIC... Created: 6-13-2011 11:34 AM PRODUCT: C&EN, ASBMB Magazines Mechanicals:P15426_ATT_GEN_V9.indd Saved: 10-12-2011 3:44 PM JOB#: P15426 Operators: Casanova, Joe / Santoro, Jonathan Printed: 10-12-2011 3:44 PM SPACE: 4 col x 11.5: 4/C Print Scale: 100% BLEED: 8.625” x 11.125” TRIM: 8.25” x 10.5” Fonts Ink Names SAFETY: 7” x 10” Omnes (Light), Omnes_ATT (Medium Italic, Medium, Regular) Cyan GUTTER: None Graphic Name Color Space Eff. Res. Magenta PUBS: C&EN Magazine att_IT_kneeling.psd (CMYK; 333 ppi), att_rp_hz_cmyk_grd_pos.eps Yellow Black ISSUE: 10/11 TRAFFIC: Dottie Gallardo ART BUYER: None ACCOUNT: None RETOUCH: None PRODUCTION: Mike Musano ART DIRECTOR: Cristy Sotelo COPYWRITER: None X1A