The method involves detecting human leukocyte antigens in the blood and analyzing them to see which kinds of peptides are attached. HLA molecules “ferry peptides from inside the cell to the cell surface,” Admon says.

Once the peptides are anchored to the cell surface, T cells check to see whether the peptides are normal or not. Normal cells release a small amount of HLAs into the bloodstream, but cancer cells release larger amounts — which slows down and confuses T cells. Admon and his team discovered that not only are peptides from cancerous cells being released to the cell surface and into the bloodstream, but that HLA molecules are still bound to those peptides. “It’s like a memory of a protein in the blood,” Admon says. “And with our new method, we can actually purify these HLA molecules from the blood and get enough material to purify the peptides that are bound to these molecules.”

After drawing a small amount of blood from a cancer patient, Admon and his postdoc Michal Bassani-Sternberg — who devised the method and was first author of the study published in PNAS in October — used immunoaffinity purification methods, passing the plasma through a column covalently bound with antibodies that attract HLA molecules. Once they washed the column to remove serum proteins, Admon and Bassani-Sternberg injected the peptides into an Orbitrap mass spectrometer to identify them. They were able to identify thousands of HLA peptides, some of which were cancer related, including tumor testis antigens, embryonic cancer antigens, and tumor-associated protein products. According to Admon, another advantage of this method is that immunoaffinity purification of the HLA molecules and their bound peptides provides researchers with an enrichment of five orders of magnitude of the biomarkers in the blood serum. The number of HLA molecules in the blood no longer matters, nor does the noise created by the other proteins in the blood.

The usefulness of the peptides as cancer biomarkers is not yet entirely clear, Admon notes. Although much work remains to be done, he is optimistic about this method’s potential in the clinic. “We think it’s going to be a universal method for finding cancer and other diseases,” he says. Before that can happen, however, the same research has to be repeated in large cohorts of patients and in healthy control subjects. Admon and his team are continuing their work and expanding beyond multiple myelomas and leukemias. The growing ubiquity — and falling cost — of mass spectrometry analysis could help make the team’s approach like this a common diagnostic test. “I envision it as a routine blood test, something rather simple,” Admon says. “But until it’s implemented in the clinic, there’s still a lot more work to do.

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This article discribes how it should be and raises some interesting questions.

And here is the comics describing how it is, at least somewhere, sometimes…

So what do you think? What is the meaning of academic integrity for you personally?

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When people look back on the beginning of the 21^st century, they might think this was the time of the antioxidants. Antioxidants supplements are being sold everywhere, usually without a doctor prescription, as a way to halt aging, heart diseases and whatever else is promised on the label. But current research, published online in the medical journal Stem Cells, reveals antioxidants also have their downside, possibly causing genetic abnormalities in cells.

The researchers attempted to counter the oxidation problem of cells growing in a Petri dish culture, by adding high doses of antioxidants directly to the cells. “That’s when we made the serendipitous discovery that there is a ‘danger zone’ for the cells exposed to antioxidants to develop genetic abnormalities that predispose to cancer.” Says Eduardo Marban, M.D., Ph.D., one of the authors of the study.

What does this actually mean for the healthcare industry (or perhaps the nutritional supplements one)? Not much… yet. The study was performed invitro, so the translation into clinical conclusions is by no means automatic. However, this study joins previous ones which showed evidence of harmful effect of antioxidants when taken in large doses. Most sane persons do not swallow more than one multivitamin pill a day, but this information might have benefit for the ‘supplemental junkies’ or even athletes. Should antioxidants be monitored more carefully by the government? I’m not quite sure that’s necessary. After all, Acamol isn’t monitored in any way, and people are not prone to poisoning themselves with overdoses. All the same, if you want to learn more about the legislation of drugs (at least in Europe), there’s a seminar about the “Europe Legislation for Oncology Drugs: From Research to Market” given by Beatrice Janin Jacquat, Medican Director, Includeconsulting, Switzerland, in the ILSI-BioMed Week next month.

 Source: Eurekalert

The paper online

The program of ILSI-BioMed Week 2010

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One year ago, a group of researchers at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem reported a sharp rise in the diagnoses of a certain metabolic disorder. To those of us who live in Jerusalem, fear not. Other than the Holyland story, nothing really happened in the Israeli capital in the last year. The only change is that the lab at Hadassah changed the supplier of its pipette tips. No more, no less.

You might find it hard to believe that the mere changing of a plastic supplier can affect the diagnosis of a medical disorder. It turns out more and more, though, that plastics can seriously influence the outcome of biomedical experiments and tests.  The most recent example was published just two days ago in BioTechniques by Lewis et al, and caught attention from Nature’s news crew who began circulating the announcement to the scientific community around the globe. It’s might important, too, as the discovery relates to protein and DNA extraction and PCR reactions, which most of the biologists do at one point or another in the research.

To sum up the results briefly, Lewis et al bring evidence that chemicals can leach out of polypropylene tubes and into the solution inside. Those chemicals absorb at wavelengths between 220 and 260 nanometers, which means they’re highly likely to distort a spectrometer reading of the amount of DNA in the solution, perhaps by as much as 300%, according to the researchers.

How to get over the problem? Lewis et al report they are using only tubes which are low in additives. This is another potential problem, obviously, since some of the additives are there for a reason: to harden the plastic, make it more heat resistant or preserving it over time. But if your research is truly important to you, I’d say it’s the right choice.

In the BioMed-ILSI week (two months from now), Prof. Daniel Cohn from the Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry in the Hebrew University will give a lecture on June 15th about Novel Biomedical Polymers and Medical Devices. It might be interesting to learn his views about this problem, and what’s more, perhaps he has an insight on the additives in question – and whether they can be found in implantable polymers as well.

The Incident in Hadassah

BioTechniques Journal

A News Article in Nature on the Matter

The Program of ILSI-BioMed week

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I like the last one most of all. It also seems to work.

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Kindly watch the below video. It opens up slow, and it goes on even slower, but… well, it’s only three minutes!

So what do we have here? Two nerdy looking scientists, having a painfully-mock argument about the virtues of the Nanodrop spectrophotometer as opposed to using the old fashioned spectrophotometer. Let me stress that I’m all for the Nanodrop device, as it truly is one of those machines that make your life incredibly easier if you’re working with DNA / RNA. I mean it. But the really interesting thing is that this excruiatingly lame commercial actually received more than 63,000 views, and I’m going to assume that most of the viewers who typed a search for ‘spectrophotometer’ were exactly the target-audience for this device. All this – from a commercial that probably took less than an hour to film, an hour more to add special effects and sound, and a day or two figuring out how to upload it to Youtube.

The lesson? Web-commercials can be quite powerful, when considered cost vs. effect. Just please make sure you hire better actors than these two lads.

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The Human Genome Project was first launched in 1990 by the US government, and a working draft of the genome was issued ten years later. At 1998, a similar venture was launched by Craig Venter and his firm Celera Genomics, who made use of a faster sequencing method to reach an initial working draft in only two years. It’s clear that genetic sequencing technology is being developed at a rapid pace, and now a new research sheds light on what may be the high-speed sequencing technology of the future: using carbon nanotubes for the diagnosis of each individual’s genetic makeup.

The new technique, as published in the current issue of Science is based on threading single-stranded ribbons of DNA through a carbon nanotube, producing voltage spikes that provide information about the passage of DNA bases as they pass through the tube. The single-stranded DNA is drawn into the opening of the nanotube and translocated from the anode side of the nanotube to the output cathode side, due to the negative charge carried by the DNA molecule.

The bright side is that this method can be used with thousands of carbon nanotubes at the same time, through which will pass millions of DNA segments, to give an accurate reading of the entire genome in less than an hour. This vision, however, is still very far from reaching home base. For one thing, carbon nanotubes are still quite costly to manufacture. For another, the entire process of threading the DNA through the nanotubes has still been demonstrated only in the lab and under carefully controlled conditions. Last but not least, even in the labs nobody has yet managed to utilize this method to actually sequence a DNA segment. In short, the future is still far, far away.

Source

The paper in Science

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Researchers from the Technion and Japan will collaborate to develop a platform for the creation of blood vessels and cells from embryonic stem cells.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyau said last week that the children of Israel should study Chinese as well as English. Personally, I would like to see more Israeli children doing the final exams, but I agree with his general approach. It’s pretty obvious that the market is heading east: to India, China and Japan. And it’s just as obvious that Israel, as a small country with almost no natural resources of its own, needs to start developing trade and business connections with that area of the world.

It is for that reason that I was quite happy to read that researchers from the Technion and from Japan are beginning the joined development of a platform for the creation of blood vessels and cells from embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (adult cells that were reprogrammed into an embryonic-like state). This is the first scientific agreement ever to be signed between Japan and Israel, and it’s quite beneficial for researchers from both countries.

Both Prof. Joseph Itskovitz from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine in the Technion and researchers from the Rikan research center in Japan received a joined grant of 600,000 dollars from the Ministries of Science in Japan and Israel, for development of the unique platform. According to Prof. Itskovitz, this is a historical scientific agreement, and he hopes many more will follow. “Japan is a power in the field of stem cells and reprogramming adult stem cells into embryonic cells,” he emphasized. “Its scientists are world leaders in this field, and the unique platform we’re jointly developing with the Japanese researchers will enable a novel use of stem cells in human beings in the future.”

Source: The Technion Site

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A  novel development, which utilizes blood donation as a source for development of tissue regeneration products will be presented in the first Bildrici International Diabetes Congress

Laniado’s Research Center in the Hematological department of Laniado hospital will present in the first Bildirici International Diabetes Congress, a novel development which allows the use of a simple blood donation unit as the source for development of tissue rehabilitating products or cells that can be kept as a biological ‘insurance’ in cases of emergency. The technology, which is being developed in collaboration with BiogenCell, also allows using the patient’s blood as the substrate for the production of stem and progenitor cells often used for tissue regeneration. Further potential advances of this technology will enable treatment of degenerative disorders such as brain stroke and dementia, which are also common complications in the case of diabetes.

The technological platform is based on adult stem cells with a regenerative capability. The cells extracted from the blood of adults would serve both themselves and for treatment in other people. In order of developing these products, the research center will soon go on to clinical trials to prove their safety and cellular regenerative potential in patients suffering from difficult complications of diabetes, and later on in heart diseases and other cardiovascular disorders.

The research center’s director is Dr. Shlomo Bulwick, and the team of the department for Stem Cells Research, lead by Dr. Yael Porat, includes Dr. Hanna Vise, Dr. Michal Pearl-Yaffe and Florina Visebin. “Our vision is for the immediate treatment for patients without a cure, while at the same time developing preservation techniques for dozens of years, of cells from the blood that will be used as a personal biological bank in case of emergency,” says Dr. Porat, who also notes that the development of the products, which include a syringe containing an emulsion of cells from the patient and ready for injection, and a freezing tube where cells are kept under refrigeration in liquid nitrogen as a biological bank for emergency, is performed at a high quality level while also strictly maintaining the safety of the product and its confirmation to the requirements of the regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States.

The research center is working in collaboration with the team of specialist medical doctors from Laniado hospital, Dr. Galit Sivak director of Vascular and Trauma Department, and Dr. Mark Niven director of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Department from the Bildrici Diabetes Center, to construct a development program which will fit to the medical needs of the patients. In the future, the research center’s intention is to collaborate in various clinical trials to give leverage to the academic research and improving and expanding the variety of treatments that the hospital can offer.

The first Bildirici International Diabetes Congress will be held in Israel on December 2009, and will focus on the application of research breakthroughs and medical knowledge to the everyday practice in the field of diabetes. The congress, initiated by the center for Bildirici Diabetes Center in Laniado hospital, is designated for professionals in the medical fields, medical services managers and researchers in the field of diabetes. It is held for the first time with the support of the American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Conference site

Source: DMC, Donitza Marketing Communications

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BenchFly’s website offers many useful tips for research and labwork, from ways of doing colony PCR to the best method to keep your waterbath clean. Protocols and techniques abound!

If you’re a graduate student, doing your PhD or MSc study, you probably know by now that supervisors are not quite as useful as you would like them to be. Sure, once or twice a month you have a meeting with them, where you tell them of all the results you don’t have, and they tell you what to do next. But they will never tell you HOW to do it.

PCR? Trivial.

Counting cells? Shouldn’t have to be explained.

Calculating an Rf value? They’re offended you even have to ask.

In short, if you don’t have a labmate who has some actual experience with the methods you’re going to use, you’re in trouble. And that is where BenchFly comes in.

BenchFly is, as a matter of fact, the best labmate you’ll ever have. Their website, complete with three different blogs, has all the advice any fledgeling scientist should need, especially in the field of biotechnology and chemistry. You’re going to find protocols and techniques on various methods, from performing colony PCR to keeping a clean waterbath to weighing small amounts of materials. So if you want to have your online advisor, all for free, hit BenchFly.

BenchFly website

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