Keystone Symposium on Antibodies as Drugs: March 27–April 1, 2009, Whistler,BC CA

The symposium on Antibodies as Drugs, organized by Keystone Symposia and chaired by J. Marks, (University of California Los Angeles, USA), E.S. Ward (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA) and L. Weiner (Georgetown University Medical Center, USA), was held in Whistler, British Columbia. This Canadian Rockies village, which will host the 2010 Olympic Games, served as an enchanting backdrop to the meeting. The more than 350 speakers and attendees included scientists from major pharmaceutical firms, e.g., Abbott, MedImmune/Astra Zeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co., Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Hoffmann LaRoche, Novartis, Wyeth, and biotechnology companies, e.g., Ablynx, Medarex, Morphosys, GenMab, Amgen, Genentech, ImmunoGen, Agensys, Domantis, Biogen Idec, Centocor, LFB, Micromet, PDL Biopharma, Borean Pharma, Dyax Corp., Symphogen and Syntonix. Academic research groups at Imperial College London, University of Oxford, ETH Zürich, Scripps, Institute Cochin, Karolinska Institute, Utrecht University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Baylor College, Paul Ehrlich Institute, University of California San Francisco, University of California San Diego, University of Nantes, University of Tours and Ludwig Institute were also represented, as were regulatory authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada). The meeting was very interactive and included thoughtful exchanges during the different sessions and networking events.     

Oxidative Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Disorders. Proceedings from a satellite symposium, Guilin, China, 7-11 February 2004

This special issue of Molecular Neurobiology presents a series of mini-reviews resulting from an ISN satellite symposium entitled Oxidative Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Disorders Held at the Guilin Park Hotel, Guilin, China on February 7-11, 2004. The timely topics in this symposium were contributed by more than 20 internationally acclaimed scientists and attended by more than 100 participants interested in this subject matter. This satellite symposium was also part of the 6th Biennial Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN) meeting held in Hong Kong, China. Organizers included Dr. Piu Chan (Capital University of Medical Sciences and Beijing Institute of Geriatrics) Dr. Albert Y. Sun and Dr. Grace Y. Sun (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO). The satellite meeting was hosted by Xuanwu Hospital of Capital University of Medical Sciences and Guilin Medical College, and was generously supported by the following: the International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN), National Institutes of Health (USA) (1 R13 NS047414), the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA, The Chinese Society of Neuroscience, Chinese Medical Association, Chinese Journal of Neurology, Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd., and Beijing QuiXave United Technology Ltd. Corporation.     

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics 2015: The Antibody Society's annual meeting December 7–10, 2015, San Diego,CA

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics, the annual meeting of The Antibody Society, will be held in San Diego, CA in early December 2015. In this meeting preview, the chairs provide their thoughts on the importance of their session topics, which include antibody effector functions, reproducibility of research and diagnostic antibodies, new developments in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), preclinical and clinical ADC data, new technologies and applications for bispecific antibodies, antibody therapeutics for non-cancer and orphan indications, antibodies to harness the cellular immune system, overcoming resistance to clinical immunotherapy, and building comprehensive IGVH-gene repertoires through discovering, confirming and cataloging new germline IGVH genes. The Antibody Society's special session will focus on “Antibodies to watch” in 2016, which are a subset of the nearly 50 antibodies currently in Phase 3 clinical studies. Featuring over 100 speakers in total, the meeting will commence with keynote presentations by Erica Ollmann Saphire (The Scripps Research Institute), Wayne A. Marasco (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School), Joe W. Gray (Oregon Health & Science University), and Anna M. Wu (University of California Los Angeles), and it will conclude with workshops on the promise and challenges of using next-generation sequencing for antibody discovery and engineering from synthetic and in vivo libraries and on computational antibody design.     

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics 2015: The Antibody Society's annual meeting December 7–10, 2015, San Diego,CA

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics, the annual meeting of The Antibody Society, will be held in San Diego, CA in early December 2015. In this meeting preview, the chairs provide their thoughts on the importance of their session topics, which include antibody effector functions, reproducibility of research and diagnostic antibodies, new developments in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), preclinical and clinical ADC data, new technologies and applications for bispecific antibodies, antibody therapeutics for non-cancer and orphan indications, antibodies to harness the cellular immune system, overcoming resistance to clinical immunotherapy, and building comprehensive IGVH-gene repertoires through discovering, confirming and cataloging new germline IGVH genes. The Antibody Society''s special session will focus on “Antibodies to watch” in 2016, which are a subset of the nearly 50 antibodies currently in Phase 3 clinical studies. Featuring over 100 speakers in total, the meeting will commence with keynote presentations by Erica Ollmann Saphire (The Scripps Research Institute), Wayne A. Marasco (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School), Joe W. Gray (Oregon Health & Science University), and Anna M. Wu (University of California Los Angeles), and it will conclude with workshops on the promise and challenges of using next-generation sequencing for antibody discovery and engineering from synthetic and in vivo libraries and on computational antibody design.     

Looking beyond the post-genomic era

A report on BioMed Central’s fourth annual Beyond the Genome conference held at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay Conference Center, USA, 1–3 October 2013.     

Medical women of the West.

The presence in the West of women physicians with degrees from regular medical schools spans a period of approximately 130 years. Women''s Medical College of Pennsylvania graduated many of these early women physicians. The first woman medical graduate of a western school was Lucy M. Field Wanzer, who finished in 1876 at the Department of Medicine, University of California in San Francisco. Soon thereafter, schools that would become Stanford University and the Oregon Health Sciences University schools of medicine, as well as the newly founded University of Southern California, were contributing to the pool of women physicians. The University of Michigan Medical School, the first coeducational state medical school, also educated some of the western women physicians, who by 1910 numbered about 155. This regional account of the progress of women physicians as they strove to become an integral part of the profession emphasizes the familiar themes of altruism, ingenuity, and perseverance that characterized their efforts.     

心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除造成新生大鼠心脏结构异常

目的通过对心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠进行磁共振分析及病理学分析,探究心肌特异性敲除Isca1对大鼠心脏结构影响。方法繁育心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠,PCR技术鉴定大鼠基因型及基因敲除效率,对新出生0.5d及2.5d心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠进行核磁共振影像分析,对新出生2.5d心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠心肌组织进行H&E染色及透射电镜分析。结果心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠敲除效率大于78%;与野生型相比,0.5d心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠心脏未见显著扩张;2.5d心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠心脏右室呈扩张趋势;2.5d心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除大鼠肌纤维排列不齐,出现排列紊乱,无层次或极向,部分心肌纤维出现溶解断裂,肌节和Z线模糊,出现肌膜损伤,线粒体嵴断裂,肿胀明显。结论心肌组织特异性Isca1敲除造成新生大鼠心脏结构异常。     

Proceedings of the Barrels II Workshop: sensorimotor loops

Rodents use their whiskers to explore their environment and to make very fine discriminations in textures and sizes of objects. Exploratory "whisking" movements consist of large amplitude, rhythmic whisker protractions that occur at characteristic frequencies of 5-10 Hz. Rodents likely whisk to move their receptor surface over the object they are touching. A fundamental understanding of this important motor behavior and the sensorimotor loops that control it were the focus of the final session of the Barrels Workshop. This session began with talks from David Kleinfeld (University of California San Diego), Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University), and Jonathan Rubin (University of Pittsburgh). These talks were followed by short presentations from Steven Leiser (Drexel University), Marcin Szwed (Weitzman Institute), Ford Ebner (Vanderbilt University), Charles Pluto (Medical College of Ohio), and Elisabeth Foeller (Washington University).     

Proceedings of the Barrels II Workshop: sensorimotor loops

Rodents use their whiskers to explore their environment and to make very fine discriminations in textures and sizes of objects. Exploratory “whisking” movements consist of large amplitude, rhythmic whisker protractions that occur at characteristic frequencies of 5–10?Hz. Rodents likely whisk to move their receptor surface over the object they are touching. A fundamental understanding of this important motor behavior and the sensorimotor loops that control it were the focus of the final session of the Barrels Workshop. This session began with talks from David Kleinfeld (University of California San Diego), Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University), and Jonathan Rubin (University of Pittsburgh). These talks were followed by short presentations from Steven Leiser (Drexel University), Marcin Szwed (Weitzman Institute), Ford Ebner (Vanderbilt University), Charles Pluto (Medical College of Ohio), and Elisabeth Foeller (Washington University).     

Initiation and ultrastructure of a reptilian fibroblast cell line obtained from cutaneous fibropapillomas of the green turtle,Chelonia mydas

Summary Two fibroblastic cell lines were established from explants of fibropapillomas of each of two different green turtles (Chelonia mydas). These cells, designated GTFP (Green Turtle Fibropapilloma), were subcultured approximately 30 times at 30°C in Eagle’s minimal essential media supplemented with 2 to 10% fetal bovine serum. The ultrastructural morphology of the cultured fibroblasts is described. The cells contained abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum, polyribosomes, and mitochondria; collagen fibrils were visible in the extracellular space. No viruslike particles or evidence of other pathogenic agents could be demonstrated by electron microscopy in any of the cultured cells examined. Supported in part by a grant from Sea World Research Institute, Hubbs Marine Research Center, San Diego, California 92109, and the Chelonia Institute, Arlington, Virginia 22209. Published as University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Journal Series no. 192.     

Transgenic animals as models for human diseasereport of an EC Study Group

ContributorsThis report results from the discussion of an Expert Group convened in Edinburgh on 29–30 October 1992 for a workshop on that subject sponsored and organized by the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate General XII (CEC-DG XII). The experts taking part in the workshop were: R. Lathe and J.J. Mullins, Coordinators (AFRC Centre for Genome Research, University of Edinburgh); G.N. Fracchia, Secretary (Medical Research-Pharmaceuticals, CEC-DG XII, Brussels); and the participants; C. Babinet (Dept d'Immunologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris); P. Eliard (EFPIA, Brussels); C. Benoist (LGME du CNRS/INSERM, Strasbourg); G. Bianchi (Ospedale San Raffaele, Universita di Milano, Milan); E. Boncinelli (DIBIT, Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan); G. Brem (Universitat München); G. Cossu (Institute of Histology, School of Medicine, University of Rome); N. Dillon (MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London); V. Episkopou (Dept of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London); M. Evans (Wellcome/CRC Institute, Cambridge); R. Forster (Italfarmaco Research Centre, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan); D. Ganten (Max-Delbrück-Zentrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin); A. Gossler (Max-Delbrück-Laboratorium in der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Köln); J. Gray (Dept Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London); R. Hammer (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas, Dallas, USA); A. Hobden (Genetics Unit, Glaxo Group Research Ltd, Middlesex); G. Kollias (Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens); D. Lamy (Transgène SA, Strasbourg); D. Lincoln (MRC Reproductive Biology Unit, Edinburgh); J. Mallet (CNRS/LNCM, Gif-sur-Yvette); D. Melton (ICMB, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh); J.M. Moalic (U127 INSERM, Hôpital Laraboisire, Paris); S. Mockrin (Dept Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA, USA); J. Ottesen (Biopharmaceuticals Division, Dept of Gene Technology and Virology, Novo Industrie, Denmark); D. Porteous (MRC Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh); P. Rae (Pharmaceutical Division, Miles, West Haven, USA); F. Theuring (Schering AG, Pharmaceutical Research, Berlin); G. Tremp (Rhone-Poulenc Rorer SA, Centre de Recherche de Vitry-Alfortville, Vitry-sur-Seine); H. Van der Putten (Dept Biotechnology, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel); R. Wolf (ICRF Molecular Pharmacology Group, Biochemistry Dept, Edinburgh). Further supporting documentation and commentary were received from P. Dement (Amsterdam), U. Habenicht (Berlin), P. Grüss (Gottingen), M. Lyon (Oxford), C.C.J. Miller (London), W.-D. Schleuning (Berlin) and R. Williamson (London) and their contributions are gratefully acknowledged.     

树鼩PSEN1全长编码序列的克隆及分子特征分析

目的 获取树鼩早老素蛋白-1(PSEN1)的全长编码序列并进行分子特征分析。方法 以树鼩脑组织总RNA为材料,通过RT-PCR、RACE-PCR扩增和序列拼接获得PSEN1基因全长编码序列,进而通过DNAMAN、MEGA等生物信息学软件对其序列和分子特征进行分析。qRT-PCR和Western Blot进一步分析PSEN1在树鼩各个组织的表达模式。结果 克隆鉴定了树鼩PSEN1基因,其cDNA的开放阅读框全长1128 bp,编码375个氨基酸。通过系统发育谱系树、氨基酸序列对比分析,发现树鼩PSEN1与小鼠、大鼠等相比更接近人类和非人灵长类动物。qRT-PCR和Western Blot的结果表明,树鼩PSEN1在脑组织的表达量明显高于其他脏器组织。结论 通过克隆树鼩PSEN1基因序列并进行分析,为今后进一步深入研究该基因功能和建立相关疾病动物模型提供理论基础。