UNews - biotechnology

Protein function discovery could advance antibiotic development

trevor.kenney — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 17:18:01 +0000

A new discovery made partly by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers could one day lead to more effective and efficient antibiotics, biofuels and other bioengineered products.

The discovery, partly by Dr. HJ Wieden's lab, could advance antibiotic development and everything from biofuels to laundry detergents.

The findings reveal a protein, YjjK, which helps a cell modulate protein synthesis by throttling, or pausing, the process when the cell is low on energy. Constricting protein manufacture enables a cell under these conditions to refuel with new nutrients to the point where it can restart the synthesis process.

“It’s very comparable to the energy-saver mode on a laptop computer, which shuts down energy-expensive processes when the battery is low to prevent it from crashing,” says U of L research-team lead Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, associate professor of physical biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and director of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (http://www.uleth.ca/research/alberta-rna-research-and-training-institute...).

The cellular function of YjjK was identified by research teams from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Columbia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in New York, and they have since renamed the protein energy-dependent translational throttle A (EttA).

“EttA senses the energy state of the cell and, when needed, helps it save power by slowing down protein synthesis,” says Wieden.

Illustration by Anamaria Turuk

“This is the first time to show this particular type of direct regulation of protein synthesis based on a cell’s energy level. Our research provides a detailed understanding of a novel process related to cellular function.”

This new knowledge of EttA may make it possible to develop or improve antibiotics, since about half of them target protein synthesis as part of their function. Wieden says if an antibiotic can be designed to disable the EttA protein in a harmful bacterium, it would allow protein synthesis to continue unfettered and essentially burn out the bacteria’s energy supply.

“If you lose your energy regulation, you burn and crash – that’s a potential way to harm the bacterium,” says Wieden. “The ideal situation would be to come up with a novel class of antibiotics that haven’t been used yet.”

What the researchers learned when studying EttA’s role in E. coli bacteria is that when a cell is starved of energy, the protein interacts with the cell’s ribosome, a complex molecular machine that is the main site of protein synthesis, in a process called translation. This interaction inhibits the energy-intensive process of protein manufacture by preventing the progression from the initiation stage to the elongation stage of protein synthesis. The benefit to the cell is that it can curb energy consumption until more nutrients become available to boost the cell’s energy level, ultimately enabling the cell to resume protein synthesis.

In addition to the possible benefits this research could provide in the development of future antibiotics, Wieden says it could also enhance a variety of biotechnology products – everything from biofuels to laundry detergents – that rely on the efficient production of enzymes in microorganisms.

Their findings were featured in two articles earlier this month in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology (February 2014 | doi:10.1038/nsmb.2740 & doi:10.1038/nsmb.2741).

New ULAA president looks to further engage alumni

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:50:08 +0000

The new ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Alumni Association president understands the value of a community.

“I love growth, development and opportunity. Anything I can do to make things better for my community, for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ or my neighbourhood, I try to get involved in,” explains Grant Adamson (BSc ’03), who was elected as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Alumni Association’s 26th president in July.

“Community involvement has been an unwritten part of my family philosophy forever; that goes back to growing up on a farm. Being on a farm is not a place where you can grow or develop on your own. You need community,” says Adamson. “About 10 years back we received a farm century award. It was pretty important to our family and community, but when I graduated from high school I wanted to see who I was away from the farm. Someone suggested I would be a good teacher, so I researched and found that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge had an excellent program for teachers and chose to come to Lethbridge.”

Grant Adamson, with his wife Rebecca, at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Donor Gala

Adamson, however, discovered he had no desire to teach, so in his second year he switched his studies to biology. That same year, he developed a severe case of mononucleosis and was subsequently unable to take a full course load for the next several years. It was then that he truly experienced the fellowship and support found within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

“I was a very strong student academically going into university, but when I found myself suffering academically due to my health, I relied on services provided by the U of L. I sought out help when I needed it and I found it all over the place,” he says. “I became involved with the Organization of Residence Students, the Students’ Union and the curling club. My residence experience was particularly impactful because I got to be a part of governance and make a difference, which I loved. I also met my wife Rebecca (BA/BEd ’99, MEd ’09) and her friend Janet, who would later become my sister-in-law. Being involved in extra-curricular activities was very fulfilling and kept me going until I was well enough to take on full course loads.”

As he began to take more advanced theoretical courses, Adamson could not imagine himself being confined to working in labs for the rest of his life. He began to wonder if it was time to take a small turn in his academic direction once again.

“After exiting from the C-stairwell on 7th, I’d always turned left toward the bio-tech labs. One day, I felt drawn to the geography labs so I turned right instead! I sat there for about an hour reading the presentation boards about the projects and research going on in the department. I saw displays about things I cared about and it played to my roots. That fall, I switched my program to geography. Finally, I could look to the future and visualize what my life would look like.”

Adamson graduated in 2003 and began his career in the oil industry, working in environmental sciences. After the project he was working on shut down, he spent several years pursuing an interest in real estate investment, but his agricultural heritage always beckoned. In 2007, everything came together when Adamson began working with hybrid canola seed production at Monsanto Canada Inc. It was the perfect combination of biotechnology and agriculture all in one. Three years later, Adamson accepted a position at Dow AgroSciences where he continues to work as their lead agronomist for canola seed production in southern Alberta, the Pacific Northwest and Chile. One of his secondary duties is liaising with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, recruiting students to work with Dow AgroSciences as summer interns and potentially as long-term employees.

“The hybrid canola seed industry relies heavily on student interns in the summer, as it is extremely busy during this season,” says Adamson, who is happy to support students through his work and as a member of the ULAA. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is a great supplier of excellent students who have a background in, or knowledge of, agriculture, or who are willing to learn about it.”
Adamson became involved with the ULAA in 2005. He has served as a director, treasurer and vice-president and was elected as president in July.

“I got involved with the association because I missed the connection with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Participation with the ULAA is a great way for alumni to foster and maintain that link. As part of the executive, I have seen the association become increasingly involved in the community and take on a more formal role. My goal is to lead the maturation and formality process. With 36,480 alumni coming of age in the workforce, we are at a tipping point. I encourage alumni to reconnect and get involved. We want to hear about your stories, your successes and your adventures.”

GET THE FACTS

• Adamson is very proud of his family connection to the U of L – his wife Rebecca (BA/BEd ’99, MEd ’09), sister-in-laws Janet Adamson (BA/BEd ’00), Lauren Adamson (BSc ‘ 04) and brother Lowell Adamson (BSc ’04) are all a part of the alumni family

• Adamson has been a member of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Senate since 2011

• A former member of the board of directors for the Youth Federation of Canada, Adamson also serves as a construction volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, of which his wife is the organization’s local vice-chair

• The 2013 ULAA Executive consists of Adamson as president, vice-president Randy Kobbert (BMgt ’86), past president Kathy Lewis (BN ’83, MEd ’99), treasurer Jason Baker (BMgt ’02) and secretary Sharon Malec (BEd ’73)

Research dollars continue to flow

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:15:12 +0000

The business of research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge keeps growing and, like any other business, needs people and resources to keep the wheels of innovation turning.
Recent rankings which place the U of L's research efforts at the top and near to the top of influential listings of Canadian research universities, show and tell the U of L's research achievements based on numbers.

But there are more than numbers to this success – there are people who, through very diverse projects, demonstrate the unique ways in which the U of L is, as described by the editors at Maclean's magazine, "…Alberta's rising research star."

Dr. Paul Hayes is part of a team of U of L researchers to receive significant funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Recent funding announcements by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chair program have brought to the U of L new or renewed funding in excess of $2.4 million. Many of the funding awards are eligible for matching funds, or can be used to lever additional resources which further advance the U of L's research agenda. As more research funding is confirmed, other U of L researchers will be profiled.

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk, a researcher at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience who studies the development of avian brains, will use his Canada Foundation for Innovation funding to purchase a sophisticated slide scanner, microscope and related equipment which will allow his research team to create what are known as virtual slides. ($131,000)

From these virtual slides, he will be able to perform a myriad of measurements and analyses to better understand how the brain is organized and how brain damage arising from exposure to environmental toxins occurs in various bird species. In addition to these direct research uses, Iwaniuk has amassed the largest collection of bird brains in the world, which at present includes over 500 specimens representing more than 150 different species from North America, Australia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

One of his aims over the next several years will be to digitize this entire brain collection and make it available to researchers, educators and students worldwide. By creating a virtual museum within which anyone will be able to look at virtual slides and photos of entire brains, researchers from around the world can more readily collaborate and provide information to educators and the general public on how the brain has evolved among birds.

Dr. Louise Barrett

Dr. Louise Barrett studies the social processes and behaviour of people and primates. Her research will determine how social functioning can be improved by examining connections between social environment and the development of interpersonal skills. Barrett, a Canada Research Chair in Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour, is aiming to discover how the actions of others help shape our social worlds – and therefore our psychology. She's doing so by studying the social behaviour and cognition of both humans and our primate cousins in Canada and South Africa. ($1.4 million/seven years)

Primates are known for their intense sociability, which is thought to have shaped the ways in which we think about the world. Research in this field has usually considered that social information is processed solely inside the head. However, Barrett is emphasizing how physical or bodily engagement with the world – and with other individuals – can and should be recognized as part of our psychology. In that respect, cognitive processes can be considered as both visible and social, and not just invisible and private.
In addition, Barrett is studying how various types of 'social niches' help shape psychology from infancy to adulthood, and how language and culture influence generate differences between humans and primates.

By challenging long-held beliefs about the way primates think and socialize, Barrett's work is paving the way for new forms of psychology that could improve people's social experiences by increasing the understanding of the social skills they need in a complex society.

Dr. Stacey Wetmore

Dr. Stacey Wetmore, Canada Research Chair in Computational Chemistry was recently renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair ($500,000/five years).

Wetmore uses computers to explore the reactions between DNA and various harmful chemicals in order to understand how DNA gets damaged. And in order to clarify how nature affects repairs, she studies how enzymes in our body repair our DNA by chemically removing the damaged sections of DNA.

Computers help Wetmore examine molecules that are difficult or impossible to learn about using traditional experiments. For example, it is difficult to study some molecules experimentally because they live for such a short time; using computers, however, speeds up the process so she can investigate their properties thoroughly.

Computer simulations are the tool of choice that not only allow Wetmore to study molecules quickly and cheaply but also allow her to study chemically modified DNA pieces that have applications as drugs or tools for biotechnology.

Drs. Paul Hazendonk, Michael Gerken and Paul Hayes

The trio of chemistry researchers has received substantial funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation ($400,000) to purchase a significantly more powerful NMR system, which will allow the researchers – who envision collaboration with researchers working on wide-ranging projects from the oil and gas, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries – to more accurately measure the structure of various solid and liquid compounds down to the atomic level of accuracy.

Their research – and the current NMR facility, which is also in the process of receiving a significant upgrade – is already attracting worldwide attention. With the addition of the new equipment, they expect to expand their programs, ability to work with graduate and undergraduate students, and enhance their relationships with a wide variety of collaborators. The facility is expected to take about a year to fully commission.

This story first appeared in the November 2012 issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Golsteyn on cutting edge of cancer research

trevor.kenney — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:46:18 +0000

Roy Golsteyn is an associate professor of biology and an Alberta Ingenuity faculty member at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. He is an example of the growing numbers of faculty who conduct world-class research while maintaining a teaching schedule that brings that research into the classroom.

He directs the Cancer Cell Laboratory where his team studies the problem of how cancer cells escape a cancer treatment. The majority of cancer patients in Canada will receive some form of treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation, and unfortunately these treatments are not as successful as we would like them to be.

To improve them, we need to understand all the steps that occur after a treatment. Golsteyn's research team has developed a new experimental system that uses microscopes and special biological tools to study how cancer cells react to treatments. They have found that after a treatment, cancer cells will divide one more time, a "double-or-nothing" gamble called checkpoint adaptation that may produce cells that are resistant to future treatments.

Golsteyn's laboratory studies checkpoint adaptation in collaboration with biotechnology companies and the pharmaceutical industry, with the goal of helping doctors improve treatments for cancer patients.

5 questions with . . . Dr. Roy Golsteyn

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:38:56 +0000

Roy Golsteyn is an associate professor of biology and an Alberta Ingenuity faculty member at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Roy Golsteyn directs the Cancer Cell Laboratory where his team studies the problem of how cancer cells escape a cancer treatment.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

I actually recall clearly when I first became interested in cancer research. I was a research fellow at the Institute Curie. At that time, a medical research laboratory had published the results of a clinical trial in which a new anti-cancer drug was tested. The trial was deemed to be successful, and yet upon studying the results I was stunned to learn that many of the patients in the clinical trial succumbed to the disease. It was then that I realized just how difficult the disease is, and that doctors and patients need better treatments.

How is your research applicable in "the real world"?

I am a basic research scientist who studies cancer cells. In my laboratory, our goal is to contribute to the cure. Cancer is a major disease that touches many people, including indirectly our family and friends. We sometimes collaborate with biotechnology companies and with the pharmaceutical industry, in which case we focus on real world problems such as improving existing cancer drugs.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

The greatest honour is leading research projects that are funded by charitable donations. People generously give their money without asking precisely how it will be used. We try to meet this honour by doing the best research that we can and by sharing our knowledge as quickly as possible.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

Students are the lifeblood of research. When we train them, we quickly see the weak points in our own knowledge. When they become autonomous, they think of questions that we had not yet even imagined and thus they push at the old barriers in science. Finally, the best students have incredible energy and an open mind, something that we seem to lose as we get older. We need students in research.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

Very simple. Rather than funding an area of research, I would fund scientists who are very motivated and propose a well thought-out question. Motivated people get things done, so it seems natural to help them go to work. Our best ideas come from the imagination, not from instructions. Our knowledge about how cancer cells divide came from someone who studied cell division in sea urchin eggs. It was not expensive research, but it was amongst the most valuable and that made it an excellent investment.

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research and Innovation Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you'd like to be profiled, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca

This story first appeared in the February 2012 edition of The Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Fitzpatrick earns ASTech honour

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:02:48 +0000

Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick the U of L's former vice-president (Research), and now a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, recently received the Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) award for Outstanding Contribution to the Science and Technology community.

When Fitzpatrick arrived at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 1999 as the new VP Research, he had a mandate to create nationally recognized programs. He recognized the small university had a modest research profile and a pool of good researchers. He also knew that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta had a long history of research that overshadowed the U of L's limited resources.

ASTech award presenter Dr. Robert Haché of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, left, presents to the U of L's Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick.

"It was like opening up a corner store beside a major retail chain," says Fitzpatrick. Because the U of L was low on resources, Fitzpatrick says he had to find ways to build them.

"This was challenging in Alberta because of the province's history of funding primarily meritorious institutions," he says. "We had to find leading-edge programs to get the funding. It was like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first?"

Under Fitzpatrick's research leadership, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge evolved into a comprehensive research and instructional university with strong ties to the provincial technology community. During the last 10 years, the university's research budget has grown from $2 million to almost $24 million in 2010.

"The money increases the kinds of opportunities that impact the lives of people in Alberta, and especially southern Alberta," says Fitzpatrick. His 'think big and shoot high' philosophy is fundamental to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's success, as is his vision to deliberately focus on developing specific areas with programs of instruction and research in tandem.

Fitzpatrick's strategic, thematic approach was instrumental to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's ability to develop expertise and become a centre of excellence in the following areas: neurosciences, water resources in semi-arid ecosystem, biotechnology, genomics biochemistry, earth imaging applications for integrated resource management and imaging technology and the study of demographics and population.

"When we built the research infrastructure, we looked beyond the individual researcher's needs to see if we could create a toolbox to serve many people," says Fitzpatrick. "When developing resources in the emerging field of neuroscience, the university department included biochemistry, biology and behavioural sciences because the field has such a broad-based focus."

"We didn't build only one lab, we built 10, opening up a whole new area of expertise," adds Fitzpatrick. "These are the kinds of things that pay off. People get involved in creative research partnerships that allow them to do research in better, more sophisticated ways. We're providing bright people with a whole new set of tools so they can now do remarkable research. And we're training a new generation of scientists in ways we never anticipated."

Paramount in Fitzpatrick's mind was, and is, providing opportunities for students.

"The primary product of research and the value of a university education is highly trained students and the opportunities it creates for them," he says. "Because of our system, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has become a launching pad for students to go to graduate school and on to the rest of their careers."

This story originally appeared in the December issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue of the December Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - biotechnology

Protein function discovery could advance antibiotic development

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New ULAA president looks to further engage alumni

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Research dollars continue to flow

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Golsteyn on cutting edge of cancer research

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