UNews - traumatic brain injury

U of L students turn research ideas into a company that's generating buzz

caroline.zentner — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 21:02:46 +0000

A group of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate students is patenting a process that harnesses the power of the body’s own cells to repair scar tissue in the brain – thereby opening up a new world of possibilities for treating stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Aubrey Demchuk and Scott Wong use a transmission electron microscope to obtain an image of a cell nucleus

The students, who just recently formed Nomadogen Biotechnologies Inc., have created a combination genetic and cellular therapy dubbed Nomadocytes, which utilizes patient-derived cells to non-invasively deliver therapeutic molecules to brain cells affected by injury or disease.

The group recently won two of three categories at the Chinook Entrepreneur Challenge presented by Community Futures Lethbridge Region, earning the top award in the Technology and Innovation Business Stream and Student Business Stream.

“This research is very exciting,” says Zak Stinson, a Regina, Sask. native who came to the U of L in 2011 to complete a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Neuroscience. He is now working on his Master of Science with a major in Neuroscience degree under the guidance of Dr. Bruce McNaughton and is based out of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California-Irvine. “Neurodegenerative disorders are devastating to patients, families and the economy. There is massive unmet need for new, better treatments for things like stroke, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease, and this need is only going to increase as the population ages.”

The beauty of Nomadogen’s technology is its relative simplicity and non-invasive nature.

“Nomadocytes are a naturally occurring type of brain cell that we can derive from bone marrow cells, modify for our own purposes, and re-administer without any invasive neurosurgical procedures,” explains Aubrey Demchuk, a Lethbridge native who recently completed a Master of Science degree with a major in Neuroscience at the U of L. “We are simply adapting a small communication vesicle produced by these cells so that they are attracted specifically to areas of the brain that are damaged, basically anything with scar tissue from either stroke or traumatic brain injury, and using them to deliver a therapeutic message.”

Zak Stinson

The cells naturally migrate to these damaged areas in the brain before releasing a vesicle that contains a specifically designed DNA molecule. This molecule is taken up by the scar tissue and, when the DNA is expressed, converts the scar tissue back into functional neurons.

The group’s pre-clinical trials in cell culture models have been extremely encouraging and, by fall 2015, testing will move into rodent models.

“If the cells behave in a living brain as we predict they will, the therapeutic potential for Nomadocytes is massive,” says Stinson.

Because the technology they have created is an easily adaptable platform, a litany of other neurodegenerative disorders could potentially be treatable and the therapy could even conceivably be used to target peripheral injuries, such as tissue damage in a limb.

Demchuk, Stinson and partners, Scott Wong and Evan Caton, met as part of the U of L’s award-winning iGEM program and quickly found a synergy in their thinking.

Evan Caton

“The four of us have different but complementary backgrounds in genetics, neuroscience, and biochemistry and together we generated a number of ideas that fit together very nicely,” says Demchuk. “At the end of the iGEM season, we had collectively invested a lot of time and thought into this project and wanted to pursue it further, if only because the research seemed promising. The company was kind of an accident that came out of it.”

She admits that, as scientists, they never thought about the business side of their technology but were encouraged by faculty members within the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) to incorporate and then patent their technology. With guidance from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ-Industry Liaison Office and assistance from technology advisor Bill Halley and the Regional Innovation Network Southern Alberta (RINSA), among others, Nomadogen is generating significant industry buzz.

“It is very exciting because we are already much more successful than we had ever hoped,” says Demchuk. “We came in with very low expectations and so far we have had a lot of people interested and invested in our idea.”

U of L iGEM team earns gold in Boston competition

caroline.zentner — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 18:23:22 +0000

On the strength of a project that may one day lead to a new cell therapy to repair damaged neurons in the brain, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge iGEM (international genetically engineered machine) team was awarded a gold medal at the iGEM Giant Jamboree 2014 in Boston from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3.

Known as the Lethbridge Brainiacs, the iGEM team chose an ambitious project that involved using the brain’s own immune cells to facilitate recovery following a brain injury such as stroke.

The U of L iGEM team, sporting thier signature bow ties and suspenders, participated in the 10th annual Giant Jamboree in Boston at the end of October. Pictured here, from left to right, are Dennis Bettenson, Scott Wong, Zak Stinson, Aubrey Demchuk, Evan Caton, Suneet Kharey, Rhys Hakstol and Graeme Glaister. Missing from the photo are Dustin Smith, Kelsey O'Brien, Billy Cowitz, Rachael Chan and Harland Brandon.

“I was dumbfounded and exhilarated,” says Evan Caton, a doctoral student in biomolecular sciences. “This is my first year at iGEM and there were some other really amazing teams there. It was pretty awesome just to be in Boston and be rewarded for the work that we’ve done over the past year.”

“It was satisfying because we worked quite hard this summer and the gold medal is one of the higher standards of achievement at iGEM, so it’s nice to be recognized for that,” says Zak Stinson, a master’s student in neuroscience.

The team picked a neuroscience project that involves engineering immune cells to identify astrocytes (cells that play a role in the scarring process) and reprogram them to become normal neurons.

“When you have a stroke your neurons die and they don’t grow back. By this system, we would be able to replace those lost neurons and hopefully enhance functional recovery after a stroke and traumatic brain injury,” says Stinson. “We were able to take some pretty big steps towards getting this targeting and delivery system built. We weren’t able to test it fully because it was a really ambitious project for one summer, but we got quite a long ways towards showing that we could package these genes in these cells and send them over to astrocytes.”

The project involved inter-disciplinary collaboration. Individual members brought their respective expertise in biochemistry, biology, art and neuroscience to the team.

“The students are actually integrating expertise we have at the U of L into that design project. The students are the force that allows us to integrate existing strengths into a new application,” says Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, a team supervisor and Alberta Innovates Technology Futures Research Chair in Bioengineering in the chemistry and biochemistry department.

More than 220 teams from post-secondary institutions around the world participated in the 10th annual jamboree, with the U of L team being one of two from Alberta and one of 10 from Canada.

“Alberta has actually made up a large portion of the iGEM teams from Canada and they’ve done really well in the past because we have really good support from the provincial government,” says Stinson.

With the Jamboree now complete, team members are busy getting ready for the fourth annual Brick by Brick charity dinner and silent auction Saturday night at the Dr. Foster James Penny Building.

“This year the charity is 5th on 5th Youth Services,” says Caton. “They are facing funding challenges and are at risk of losing a number of programs which could affect thousands of young people.”

The iGEM team has hosted a charity event for the past three years as a way to give back to the community that has supported them throughout the year. As far as Stinson and Caton know, the U of L iGEM team is unique in hosting such an event.

"We got silent auction items from all over the community so the community has been really open to helping us,” says Caton.

All proceeds from the Brick by Brick event will go to 5th on 5th. Although tickets are sold out, anyone wanting to help the organization can donate online through the 5th on 5th Youth Services website.

UNews - traumatic brain injury

U of L students turn research ideas into a company that's generating buzz

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U of L iGEM team earns gold in Boston competition

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