From Brookhaven Lab: “Lights, Chemistry, Action: New Method for Mapping Brain Activity”

Brookhaven Lab

PET scans monitor brain circuits activated by light, opening new window to brain diseases

April 10, 2013
No Writer Credit

” Building on their history of innovative brain-imaging techniques, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators have developed a new way to use light and chemistry to map brain activity in fully-awake, moving animals. The technique employs light-activated proteins to stimulate particular brain cells and positron emission tomography (PET) scans to trace the effects of that site-specific stimulation throughout the entire brain. As described in a paper published online today in the Journal of Neuroscience, the method will allow researchers to map exactly which downstream neurological pathways are activated or deactivated by stimulation of targeted brain regions, and how that brain activity correlates with particular behaviors and/or disease conditions.

Peter Thanos

‘This technique gives us a new way to look at the function of specific brain cells and map which brain circuits are active in a wide range of neuropsychiatric diseases — from depression to Parkinson’s disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and drug addiction — and also to monitor the effects of various treatments,’ said the paper’s lead author, Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, a neuroscientist and director of the Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Section — part of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Laboratory of Neuroimaging at Brookhaven Lab — and a professor at Stony Brook University. ‘Because the animals are awake and able to move during stimulation, we can also directly study how their behavior correlates with brain activity,’ he said.”

See the full article here.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. The Laboratory’s almost 3,000 scientists, engineers, and support staff are joined each year by more than 5,000 visiting researchers from around the world.Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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From Argonne APS: "Protein Structure Could Lead to Better Treatments for HIV, Early Aging"

News from Argonne National Laboratory

APRIL 9, 2013
No Writer Credit

“Researchers have determined the molecular structure of a protein whose mutations have been linked to several early aging diseases, and side effects for common human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) medications. This breakthrough could eventually help researchers develop new treatments for these early-aging diseases and redesign AIDS medications to avoid side effects such as diabetes. The research was carried out at the Southeastern Regional Collaborative Access Team(SER-CAT) facility at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory.

Ribbon diagram of the Ste24p protease.

The researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry determined the molecular structure of the enzyme Ste24p. Their Membrane Protein Structural Biology Consortium is funded by the National Institutes of Health Protein Structure Initiative, which supports the determination of molecular structures of biomedically important target proteins. Their findings were published March 29 in the journal Science.

Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science

The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is one of five national synchrotron radiation light sources supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science to carry out applied and basic research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels, provide the foundations for new energy technologies, and support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security.

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From Brookhaven Lab: “Structure Helps Yield Drug ‘Hypersensitivity’ Tests for Patients”

Brookhaven Lab

April 8, 2013
Laura Mgrdichian

“From a patient’s point of view, one of the unsettling things about taking a new drug is the possibility of unwelcome side effects or worse, dangerous allergic reactions. As drugs are being developed and then enter clinical trials, these issues play a huge role in the process, increasing costs and sometimes determining whether a drug will get to market at all.

In this “ribbon diagram,” the HIV/AIDS drug abacavir (orange, blue and red spheres) interacts with a protein (grey) made by a particular gene that causes a hypersensitivity to the drug. The protein “shows” the body’s immune system a peptide (light blue) it has never seen, causing an allergic reaction. No image credit.

One type of severe reaction is ‘hypersensitivity,’ in which the immune system over-reacts to a substance that is foreign but not infectious, producing symptoms that can be mild (such as rashes) to severe (organ failure, even death). In this study, researchers studied an antiviral drug known to cause hypersensitivity in patients who carry a particular gene. Using x-rays at Brookhaven Lab’s National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), they were able to ‘see’ how at the molecular level, the drug binds to the protein created from the gene, triggering the immune response. Their work has produced new ways to predict whether a drug is likely to induce a gene-based allergic reaction.”

See the full article here.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. The Laboratory’s almost 3,000 scientists, engineers, and support staff are joined each year by more than 5,000 visiting researchers from around the world.Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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From Argonne APS: “Antibody evolution could guide HIV vaccine development”

News from Argonne National Laboratory

“Observing the evolution of a particular type of antibody in an infected HIV-1 patient has provided insights that will enable vaccination strategies that mimic the actual antibody development within the body. Spearheaded by Duke University, the multi-institution study included analysis from Los Alamos National Laboratory and used high-energy X-rays from the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

The evolution of the viral protein (green) from 14 weeks through 100 weeks post-transmission is compared with the maturation of the human antibody.

The kind of antibody studied is called a broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibody, and details of its generation could provide a blueprint for effective vaccination, according to the study’s authors. In a paper published online in Nature this week titled Co-evolution of a broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibody and founder virus, the team reported on the isolation, evolution and structure of a broadly neutralizing antibody from an African donor followed from the time of infection.

The observations trace the co-evolution of the virus and antibodies, ultimately leading to the development of a strain of the potent antibodies in this subject, and they could provide insights into strategies to elicit similar antibodies by vaccination.

Patients early in HIV-1 infection have primarily a single “founder” form of the virus that has been strong enough to infect the patient, even though the population in the originating patient is usually far more diverse and contains a wide variety of HIV mutations. Once the founder virus is involved in the new patient’s system, the surrounding environment stimulates the HIV to mutate and form a unique, tailored population of virus that is specific to the individual.

‘Our hope is that a vaccine based on the series of HIV variants that evolved within this subject, that were together capable of stimulating this potent broad antibody response in his natural infection, may enable triggering similar protective antibody responses in vaccines,’ said [Bette] Korber, leader of the Los Alamos team.”

Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science

The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is one of five national synchrotron radiation light sources supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science to carry out applied and basic research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels, provide the foundations for new energy technologies, and support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security.

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From Sandia Lab: “New instrument will quickly detect botulinum, ricin, other biothreat agents”

” Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a medical instrument that will be able to quickly detect a suite of biothreat agents, including anthrax, ricin, botulinum, shiga and SEB toxin.

From left to right, Sandia National Laboratories’ Matt Piccini, Chung-Yan Koh and Anup Singh lead the SpinDx team. A new National Institutes of Health-funded project will take the device to a new level and is expected to result in an instrument that can detect a suite of biothreat agents. (Photo by Jeff McMillan)

The device, once developed, approved by the Food and Drug Administration and commercialized, would most likely be used in emergency rooms in the event of a bioterrorism incident.

‘This is an unmet need for the nation’s biodefense program,’ said Anup Singh, senior manager for Sandia’s biological science and technology group. ‘A point-of-care device does not exist.’

Sandia’s work is funded by a recent grant – nearly $4 million over four years – from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. NIH has funded a number of recent projects at Sandia.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

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From ESA- “X-ray snapshots: from big black holes to tiny viruses”

European Space Agency

11 March 2013

“Cameras designed for capturing black holes are now exploring a new frontier: they are helping us to get up close to viruses on Earth, opening the door to solving medical problems.

These space cameras are opening new frontiers in life sciences by probing ultrafast physical, chemical and biochemical processes at the atomic level, gaining clearer images of structures such as viruses and proteins.

A descendant of the X-ray space camera took the first images of the Mimi virus, the largest and most complex virus currently known. Analysis of this intriguing virus may shed light on basic questions of viral evolution and, perhaps, the origins of life.

Mimi virus image

Researchers at the University of Leicester in the UK developed special X-ray cameras for ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite in the early 1990s.

XMM-Newton

Once these technologies were developed for XMM-Newton’s X-ray camera, the developers realised that the knowhow could be used in a variety of applications on Earth.

In addition to efficient mechanical cameras, XCAM also developed a new type of X-ray camera that produced better images for terrestrial applications, with smaller pixels at higher resolution.”

See the full article here.

The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 19 member states. Headquartered in Paris, ESA has a staff of more than 2,000. ESA’s space flight program includes human spaceflight, mainly through the participation in the International Space Station program, the launch and operations of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon, Earth observation, science, telecommunication as well as maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana, and designing launch vehicles. ESA science missions are based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands, Earth Observation missions at ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, ESA Mission Control (ESOC) is in Darmstadt, Germany, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) that trains astronauts for future missions is situated in Cologne, Germany, and the European Space Astronomy Centre is located in Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain.

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From Sandia Lab: “Traumatic brain injury patients, supercomputer simulations studied to improve helmets”

November 14, 2012

“Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico are comparing supercomputer simulations of blast waves on the brain with clinical studies of veterans suffering from mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) to help improve helmet designs.

These computer simulations contain a computer model of a human’s head viewed from above looking down (top row) and from the side (bottom row). The images show the deposition of compressive energy in the brain during frontal, rear and side blasts. These models combined with University of New Mexico’s clinical observations are being used to identify energy thresholds that should lead to better military and sports helmet designs. (Image courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories)

Paul Taylor and John Ludwigsen of Sandia’s Terminal Ballistics Technology Department and Corey Ford, a neurologist at UNM’s Health Sciences Center, are in the final year of a four-year study of mild TBI funded by the Office of Naval Research.

Paul Taylor, right, and John Ludwigsen, center, both researchers with Sandia’s Terminal Ballistics Technology Department, and Corey Ford, a neurologist at the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center, discuss their research on traumatic brain injuries. | Photo by Randy Montoya

The team hopes to identify threshold levels of stress and energy on which better military and sports helmet designs could be based. They could be used to program sensors placed on helmets to show whether a blast is strong enough to cause TBI.

Many TBI sufferers experience no or subtle immediate symptoms that may keep them from seeking medical attention. The sensors could alert them to a potential problem.

‘Our ultimate goal is to help our military and eventually our civilian population by providing guidance to helmet designers so they can do a better job of protecting against some of these events we are seeing clinically and from a physics perspective, said Taylor, Sandia’s principal investigator on the project. “To do that we’ve got to know what are the threshold conditions that correlate with various levels of TBI.”

See the full article here.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

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From Symmetry: “Gamma cameras see through dense tissue”

March 05, 2013
Kelen Tuttle

Gamma rays, valued by astrophysicists for conveying information about phenomena in space, are also becoming valued by doctors for their ability to uncover cancer.

Photo: Gamma Medica, Inc.

As the most energetic form of light, gamma rays are great for revealing astrophysical phenomena such as supermassive black holes and merging neutron stars.

They’re also proving excellent for detecting early stages of cancer.

‘The search for the most violent events in the universe has led to the development of the most sensitive gamma-ray detectors,’ says Gunnar Maehlum, a former particle physics researcher who is now general manager at Gamma Medica-Ideas, a company that designs integrated circuits for radiation detection. ‘Due to their superior performance, they are now being introduced into medical diagnostic equipment.’

For tumors hidden within dense tissue, traditional screening sometimes isn’t detailed enough to reveal the cancer. This is especially true in the case of breast cancer. For the 30 percent of women with dense breast tissue, traditional X-ray mammography doesn’t work well because, in an X-ray image, dense tissue appears opaque and white, just like a tumor.

Using detectors and integrated circuits designed for particle-physics experiments, a group of researchers in particle physics, nuclear medicine, medical physics and astronomy developed a compact semiconductor-based imager with high spatial resolution that reveals tumors even within dense tissue.

These gamma-ray mammography cameras use cadmium-zinc-telluride detectors and are highly accurate, says Michael K. O’Connor, a professor of radiologic physics at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.”

Cancer can be a viscous killer. Every asset we have should be brought to bear on its existence. See the full article here.

Symmetry is a joint Fermilab/SLAC publication.

From Argonne Lab: “Breakthrough could lead to drugs that better combat ‘superbugs’ “

News from Argonne National Laboratory

February 28, 2013
Jen Salazar

“In the never-ending battle between antibiotic developers and the bacteria they fight, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have made a key breakthrough that could allow for the development of new drugs to more effectively combat antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’.

NDM-1, present in a number of pathogenic bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli, is able to defeat many of the world’s most widely used antibiotics, including penicillin derivatives, cephalosporins, monobactams and carbapenems.

An Argonne team led by Youngchang Kim of the Structural Biology Center, in collaboration with researchers from the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, the University of Texas-Pan American and Texas A&M University, recently determined the structure of NDM-1, a harmful enzyme able to overcome several antibiotics. The team used a combination of X-ray crystallography at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), biochemical assays, and computational modeling using resources at two Texas universities.

‘These kinds of enzymes can recognize many different targets,’ said Andrzej Joachimiak, head of Argonne’s Structural Biology Center and the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics.

‘The next step in the research is to look for inhibitors that we can create that would block the functioning of the enzyme,’ Joachimiak said. ‘If we can stop the enzyme from cutting the ring, the antibiotics stand a much better chance of staying effective.”

See the full article here.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science

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From Caltech: “Disease Diagnosis at the Touch of a Button”

Caltech

Caltech researchers develop affordable and portable disease diagnostics for the developing world

02/25/2013
Michael Rogers

“When viruses like HIV/AIDS strike in underdeveloped regions of the world, they often spiral out of control in part because there is no easy way to bring diagnostic equipment to remote areas so that the diseases can be identified, treated, and stopped before they spread. Now, an inexpensive, portable, easy-to-use device, built by a team of Caltech engineers and biologists, promises to speed the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS and other diseases—and improve treatment—in even the most far-flung corners of the world.

No image credit

The team is led by Caltech biologist and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, president emeritus and the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology, and Axel Scherer, the Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Physics. With two recent grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Scherer and Baltimore have built a new version of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) device, which generates many copies of a pathogenic nucleic acid, allowing the infection to be detected.

The new PCR machine is small enough to stow in a backpack and is as simple to operate as a DVD player. Its inventors hope that it will make rapid molecular diagnostic techniques and the resulting health-care benefits available and affordable to all who need them.”

This is fantastic news. No matter where disease can start, it will generally spread. So, stopping the spread is of utmost importance. See the full article here.

The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering. Its 124-acre (50 ha) primary campus is located approximately 11 mi (18 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. “The mission of the California Institute of Technology is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education. We investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere, while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society.”

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