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PREMIER NEWS SOURCE FOR LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCHERS WORLDWIDE ISSN 1939-4470 Vol.19 No.4 • 7-8/2014 INTERNATIONAL Nanoparticle Created Mass Spectrometry Technology Maps Graphene Could Reshape For Cancer Therapy Chemicals as They Migrate into Skin Neurological Treatment physicist working to create a lu- mass spectrometry technique The study’s findings were pub- raphene, a two-dimensional AAminescent nanoparticle to use AAgaining acceptance for medical lished April 28, 2014, in the Journal GG(2D) crystalline allotrope of in security-related radiation detec- applications such as imaging tumor of the American Chemical Society. carbon, may lead to new advances tion may have instead developed a surfaces can also be used to analyze Stanford University (Stanford, CA, in several areas of neurosurgery, ac- new tool for photodynamic cancer the migration of small-molecule com- USA; www.stanford.edu) chemistry cording to a new topic review. Re- therapy. Wei Chen, professor of pounds applied to the skin. Because Professors Richard N. Zare and searchers at the University of Illinois physics and co-director of University skin is such a complicated organ, the Justin Du Bois, postdoc Livia S. College of Medicine (Peoria, USA; of Texas (UT) at Arlington (USA; technology could be a helpful for de- Eberlin, graduate student John V. www.peoria.medicine.uic.edu) and www.uta.edu) Center for Security veloping transdermal drugs. Mulcahy, and colleagues revealed Invision Health Brain and Spine Cont’d on page 5 Cont’d on page 6 Cont’d on page 7 Light-Activated Neurons Nature Bank Technique Restore Paralyzed Muscles Expands Horizons of new approach has been devel- AAoped to synthetically control Drug Discovery muscles using light, with the hope of restoring function to muscles par- ustralian researchers have de- alyzed by disorders such as spinal Aveloped an NMR screening cord injury and motor neuron dis- process for identifying natural ease. The technique involves trans- compounds that could lead to planting specially designed motor widespread development of inno- vative therapeutic agents. The neurons created from stem cells into process is based on investigating Cont’d on page 3 an extensive Nature Bank incorpo- rating over 45,000 samples of plants and marine invertebrates, INSIDE Latest Advances & Applications in: 200,000 semipurified fractions, 3,250 pure compounds and 600 Genomics naturally occurring fragments. Image: Prof. Ronald Quinn asserts the new technique could be used to treat Proteomics See article on page 2 a variety of conditions in the future Image: Courtesy of Griffith University Drug Discovery VISIT Biochemistry ® Benchtop Line Provides Automated Therapeutics LINKXPRESS COM Sample Decapping, Recapping READER SERVICE PORTAL Diagnostics and Identification Renew/Start your Lab Techniques Free Subscription new line of benchtop de- Industry News Avices provides flexible solu- Access Interactive tions for sample processing, Product News . 12-26 Digital Magazine tracking, and security for auto- International Calendar . 34 mated and manual liquid han- Instant Online dling workflows. VISIT Product Information: Cont’d on page 6 Identify LinkXpress ® codes of 1 Restoring Effectiveness Genetic Brain Disorder DAILY BIO RESEARCH NEWS interest as you read magazine Of Older Antibiotics Found in Humans Click on LinkXpress.com GLOBETECH MEDIA 2 to reach reader service portal ethicillin-resistant Staphylococ- newly identified genetic disorder MMcus aureus (MRSA), a complex of AAlinked to the degeneration of the Mark code(s) of interest on multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacte- central and peripheral nervous sys- 3 ® Scan with LinkXpress inquiry matrix rial strains, has proven especially prob- tems in humans, in addition to its the lematic in both hospital and community genetic cause, has been reported by re- Smartphone If your subscription settings. These bacteria have become searchers. By performing DNA se- to Access is not renewed every 12 months drug resistant by deactivating conven- quencing of more than 4,000 families your Free Subscription may be Latest News automatically discontinued tional beta-lactam antibiotics, including affected by neurologic difficulties, the Cont’d on page 6 Cont’d on page 4 Bio Research International for latest news updates visit www.BiotechDaily.com Nature Bank Technique Expands Horizons of Drug Discovery ustralian researchers have developed a new we discovered through this process has demonstrated cility and using the NMR technique trying to visu- AAtool for finding natural compounds that could a response in Parkinson’s disease cells.” alize all the small molecules which could meet the form the foundation of innovative therapeutic The findings were published online April 15, requirements for a potential new drug. “The idea agents. 2014, in the chemistry journal Angewandte was to look at patterns of data and identify unusual The corresponding author, Prof. Ronald Quinn Chemie. The first author Dr. Tanja Grkovic said the or unique sets. We followed one such pattern and AM from Griffith University’s Eskitis Institute for screening process involves nuclear magnetic reso- isolated a natural product with a novel skeleton Drug Discovery (Brisbane, Australia; www.griffith. nance (NMR) spectroscopy; a highly sensitive in- which has turned out to be a molecule which was edu.au/science-aviation/eskitis-institute), reported strument through which it is possible to see natural completely unknown previously.” that testing the new process on a marine sponge had products weighing as little as 20 micrograms. The Griffith Nature Bank is a novel drug discov- delivered not only validation that the system is suc- “When you are searching for nature-derived mole- ery resource based on natural products found in cessful, but also a potential lead in the fight against cules, the jackpot is finding something that nobody China, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. It com- Parkinson’s disease. “We have found a new screening has ever seen before and rather than just a variation prises more than 45,000 samples of plants and ma- method which allows us to identify novel molecules on a known theme,” Dr. Grkovic said. “We began rine invertebrates, 200,000 semipurified fractions, drawn from nature to test for biological activity,” Prof. the project by selecting 20 marine sponge samples 3,250 pure compounds and over 600 naturally oc- Quinn said. “As it happens, the first new compound randomly from Griffith University's Nature Bank fa- curring fragments. This NMR screening process provides a new way of searching all those natural samples stored in the Griffith Na- ture Bank and uncovering the potential bio- logical activity of the compounds within them. Deputy director of the Eskitis Institute and coauthor of the paper, Assoc. Prof. George Mellick, is a specialist researcher in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkin- son’s disease. He is excited by the research prospects this new molecule may provide. “What is very intriguing about this novel natural product is that, while we have found it has an effect on cells sourced from a Parkinson’s patient, it showed a different biological activity on cells from healthy indi- viduals,” Assoc. Prof. Mellick said. “This provides us with a new tool to study the fundamental biology of Parkinson’s and to get a better understanding of the cellular processes involved in the development of this disease.” The Parkinson’s response is only the be- ginning, according to the scientists. “This new research technique opens the door to unlimited opportunities, both in terms of chemistry and biology research at Eskitis, as we continue the search for new therapies against disease,” Prof. Quinn said. VISIT ® LINKXPRESS COM READER SERVICE PORTAL Renew/Start your Free Subscription Access Interactive Digital Magazine Instant Online Product Information: Identify LinkXpress ® codes of 1 interest as you read magazine Click on LinkXpress.com 2 to reach reader service portal Mark code(s) of interest on 3 LinkXpress ® inquiry matrix If your subscription is not renewed every 12 months your Free Subscription may be automatically discontinued Bio Research International LINKXPRESS COM BRI-08-14 102 July-August/2014 2 to view this issue in interactive digital magazine format visit www.LinkXpress.com Bio Research International Light-Activated Neurons Restore Paralyzed Muscles cont’d from cover created from stem cells by Dr. Ivo Lieberam of the damaged nerve branches. These motor neurons MRC Center for Developmental Neurobiology, are devised to react to pulses of blue light, allow- King’s College London. “We custom-tailored em- ing researches to customize muscle control by ad- bryonic stem cells so that motor neurons derived justing the duration, intensity, and frequency of from them can function as part of the muscle the light pulses. pacemaker device,” said Dr. Lieberam, who co-led In the study published April 2014 in Science, the study. “First, we equipped the cells with a mo- scientists from University College London lecular light sensor. This enables us to control mo- (UCL; UK; www.ucl.ac.uk) and King’s College tor neurons with blue light flashes. We then built London (UK; www.kcl.ac.uk) demonstrated the a survival gene into them, which helps the stem- Image: A new technique using light on stem cell-de- technology in lab mice in which the nerves that cell motor neurons to stay alive when they are rived motor neurons could potentially restore func- tion to paralyzed muscles (Photo courtesy of Dr. Bar- supply muscles in the hind legs were injured. transplanted inside the injured nerve and allows ney Bryson / University College London Institute of They showed that the transplanted stem cell-de- them to grow to connect to muscle.” Neurology). rived motor neurons grew along the injured nerves to connect effectively with the paralyzed muscles, which could then be controlled by pulses of blue light. “Following the new procedure, we saw previously paralyzed leg muscles start to function,” noted Prof. Linda Greensmith of the MRC Center for Neuromuscular Diseases at UCL’s Insti- tute of Neurology, who co-led the study.