Bringing you the latest research & events news from the science Industry RESEARC NEWSH& events by Heather Hobbs Young Scientist Receives Award for Protein Phosphorylation Research


Dr Judit Villen of the University of Washington, Seattle, has been presented with the renowned American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) 2011 Research Award of $35,000 to further her studies in mass spectrometry (MS). Sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific for more than 20 years and administered by ASMS, the annual award recognises and supports breakthrough academic research by young scientists and has propelled many past recipients to leadership positions in MS research. Dr. Villen received the award during a ceremony at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver during the 2011 ASMS conference.


An independent and anonymous ASMS committee chose Dr. Villen based on her research on the MS-based analysis of protein phosphorylation in single cells. Her goal is to understand the complex cellular signaling networks that impact the expression of cancers such as human breast cancer. The early-stage research, which the award will support, focuses on the development of a novel interface for single-cell MS using a Thermo Scientific Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer system. Dr Villen will use her award to purchase laboratory supplies and


equipment and, if necessary, to pay graduate student or supplement post-doctoral salaries.


“Until now, MS studies measured proteins based on the average of millions of cells, completely missing the variations between individual cells that can have substantial consequences in signaling cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, all of which play roles in the expression of diseases such as cancer,” said Dr Ian Jardine, Vice President of global R&D, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Through her early-stage effort to develop an interface for single-cell mass spectrometry analysis, Dr Villen will launch an exciting new era of single-cell proteomics.”


Dr Villen joined the University of Washington as an assistant professor in the Genome Sciences Department in June 2010. Her accomplishments include contributions to numerous scientific publications, invitations to speak at meetings and conferences such as ASMS, and industry patents. Dr Villen also received the 2009 Howard Termin Pathway to Independence Award in Cancer Research from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).


Dr Judit Villen receives ASMS Research Award TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. Active Genes in Mammalian Brain Mapped


UK regulators have approved Europe’s first clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody produced from genetically modified plants. This landmark decision sets the stage for the testing, in humans, of an anti-HIV product made from genetically modified tobacco plants. It will open the door for trials of additional plant-derived medicines treating a range of diseases.


The trial will test the safety of a plant-derived antibody designed to stop the transmission of HIV between sexual partners when applied directly to the vaginal cavity. If proven safe in the 11 participants, the researchers can then go on to test the effectiveness of the product. The clinical trial marks the culmination of the EU Framework 6 Pharma-Planta project, which was launched by a consortium of 30 academic and industrial partners in 2004 with €12 million in funding from the European Union. The primary goal was to develop an approved manufacturing process for recombinant pharmaceutical proteins made in plants and take one such product through all the development stages including the pivotal clinical trial.


Most biopharmaceuticals are currently made at great expense in fermentation vats containing bacteria or mammalian cells, but the mass production of medicines in genetically modified plants could reduce costs and therefore make an important contribution to global health, by improving access for the poor in developing countries where diseases such as HIV are a huge problem. In addition, the simple manufacturing process could be transferred to developing countries allowing production ‘in the region for the region’. The approval granted by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is a significant step forwards because it means a plant-based production system can comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice, the strict


standards used in the industry to ensure medicine quality and consistency. Professor Julian Ma, scientific coordinator for Pharma-Planta and Professor of Molecular Immunology at St George’s, University of London, said: “This is a red letter day for the field. The approval from the MHRA for us to proceed with human trials is an acknowledgement that monoclonal antibodies can be made in plants to the same quality as those made using existing conventional production systems. That is something many people did not believe could not be achieved.”


The clinical trial – which is being carried out at the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre – will test a topically-applied anti- HIV microbicide. The active ingredient in the microbicide is a monoclonal antibody called P2G12. If successful, the investigators envisage that P2G12 will be used in combination with other HIV-neutralising antibodies, also produced in plants, to create a broadly protective vaginal microbicide product.


The genetically modified tobacco plants producing P2G12 were grown in state-of-the-art containment greenhouses at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, IME in Aachen, Germany, and the antibody was isolated and purified in a custom-designed processing plant on the same site, the first of its kind to be granted a license to manufacture recombinant pharmaceutical products from plants in Europe. Professor Rainer Fischer, Pharma-Planta coordinator and Fraunhofer IME Director, said: “We now have a facility in Europe for producing modern medicines in transgenic plants that is unique in the world, although this has taken many years and much investment to establish. This approval is a springboard for European plant biotechnology and will enable many important medical products to be realised.”


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. Fast Clinical Adoption of TrueBeam in Europe


Hospitals across Europe have been among the earliest global adopters of the TrueBeam radiotherapy and radiosurgery system, introduced last year by Varian Medical Systems, reports the company.


patients clinically, ten are in Europe, where thousands of patients have already received advanced treatments.


“We have seen an unprecedented adoption for a new linear accelerator platform and we are delighted that hospitals globally are using TrueBeam to treat a greater number of patients while pushing back the boundaries of advanced radiotherapy treatments, enabling difficult to treat tumours such as lung and liver to be treated


effectively by radiotherapy and radiosurgery,” said Rolf Staehelin, head of international marketing for Varian’s Oncology Systems unit.


Of the first fifty TrueBeam systems to begin treating


Two TrueBeam devices are treating up to 100 patients a day at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and according to department head Dr Ben Slotman, the devices have become a vital part of their stereotactic body radiotherapy program. “From a clinical perspective, TrueBeam enables better integration between imaging and treatment delivery, much faster dose output using the flattening filter free mode, and a much shorter time is needed for pre-treatment setup due to the user- friendly nature of the equipment,” he said.


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Spanish Researchers Discover a Novel and Potent Antioxidant


A team of researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMCP) – a joint centre of the Universitat Politècnica de València and CSIC, the Spanish National Research Council – have identified a novel and potent natural antioxidant* occurring in tomato plants. It is a phenolic substance that is synthesised by the tomato plant when it is subjected to biotic stress. Until now, it was completely unknown - the UPV and CSIC have registered the national and international patents of the new antioxidant and the laboratory procedures used to isolate and synthesise it chemically. IBMCP researchers said


that the


antioxidant power of the new compound is much higher –14 times higher, to be precise– than, for example, that of resveratrol, a well- known antioxidant, found in red wine, which can delay cellular aging. In addition, it is 4.5 times more potent than vitamin E and 10 times more potent than vitamin C. This substance could


herefore have


multiple applications such as a preservative in food for human consumption and in animal fodder, because of its action as a retarder of lipid oxidation; in the pharmaceutical industry as antioxidants have beneficial health properties, such as helping to prevent coronary heart disease and cancer; also as a skin care product, given its possible properties related to the prevention of aging.


Other possibilities


include use in the petrochemical industry, as a preservative of gasoline, and in the polymer industry,


where it could be used in the


manufacture of fibres, rubber products, geotextiles and others as a stabiliser in the production process.


The IBMCP research team explains that when a plant is stimulated by a stressor, the plant reacts and activates mechanisms that alter the levels of certain compounds. "Many phenolic compounds are produced by plants in response to biotic or abiotic stress; these compounds have multiple effects, including antioxidant activity," said Vicente Conejero, the Director of the research group. It was while studying these anomalous circumstances – stress – of plants that they discovered the induction of this compound. "We all know that as fever is an alarm associated with defence mechanisms in humans. Well, diseased plants have a similar alarm, which is the synthesising of a number of chemical compounds. One of these, so far unknown, is the compound that we have discovered, which has extraordinary antioxidant capabilities. Besides, we are able to synthesise it in our lab,” explained José María Bellés and M. Pilar López, both IBMCP researchers. In this regard, it must be stressed that the synthesis process is simple and inexpensive; therefore, IBMCP experts point out that the compound is now ready to be introduced in the market. Moreover, it presents significant advantages compared to other commercial antioxidants.


* The finding was recently published in the journal Environmental and Experimental Botany.


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