IMMB, Faculty of Medicine, UiTM

Journal Club

2011-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Assalamualaikum w.b.t. and Good Day

Dear Dato' / Prof. / Assoc. Prof. / Dr. / Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB Journal Club session that will be held as follow:

Title : RADIATION-THERAPY: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?

Synopsis :

Ionizing radiation is widely used as a tool in medicine and dentistry for diagnosis and treatment for various diseases. It is also extensively used in various cancer patients as an effective therapy to cure. However, the numerous side effects of radiation therapy are very crucial for the cancer patient`s survival, especially breast, head and neck, stomach and lung cancer patients. Moreover, if there is any radiation terrorism or accident occurs, we have to be prepared to mitigate the possible tissue damage of the victims. It is very unfortunate that till date that there is no effective mitigator known for effective mitigation against the radiation-inducedvon, Genistein a – a salen manganese SOD-catalase mimetic /antioxidant in radiation induced animal models as simulated.

These compounds showed very low toxicity. This work is based on the hypothesis that inflammatory cytoki and consequent ROS production play a major role in the development of lung damage. We gave 12 Gy of whole lung X-ray irradiation to SD and Fisher rats and studied for 36 and 48 weeks. We tested their efficacy as protect for radiation-induced DNA damage, pulmonary function improvement, anti-fibrotic action, lipid peroxidation, tokine production and possible drug interaction by crossing over and combination of drugs in our long term study model. We have successfully demonstrated that these two drugs can stand as candidates as effective itigators against radiation-induced tissue damage. We also proposed the possible interaction with reactive oxygen species (ROS) and renin angiotensin mechanism in radiation-induced tissue damage with some new drug cons to discover their roles in possible molecular mechanism of radiation-induced tissue damage. We hat our findings will also benefit the survival and prognosis of cancer patients with radiation therapy.

Presenter : ASSOC. PROF. DR. JAVED MAHMOO

Chairperson : MRS. NORITA SALIM

Date : 30 MARCH 2011 (WEDNESDAY)

Time : 12:30 P.M.

Venue : MEETING ROOM 2, LEVEL 1, INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY (IMMB), FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UiTM SUNGAI BULOH CAMPUS

All are invited.

Thank you

Journal Club

2009-12-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Cytogenetic : Conventional Versus Modern Technology "

Presenter : Mrs Norita Salim &Mrs Juriah Togeman
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 23 December 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

Refreshment will be provided.
All are invited.
Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-12-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " A Comparative Analysis of The Serum Proteome
of Oral Cancer Patients "
Presenter : Mr. Mohd Yusri Idorus
Chairperson : Mr. Abu Thalhah Abdul Aziz
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 16 December 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.
Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-12-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : Live Cell Imaging of Normal Human Osteoblast Cells using confocal Laser

Scanning Microscope

Presenter : Ms. Salina Othman

Chairperson : Mrs. Norita Salim

Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building

Date : 9^th December 2009, Wednesday

Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-11-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : “Antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of Murraya Koenigii leaves extracts

and essential oil. “

Presenter : Mrs. Wan Nor I’zzah Wan Mohd Zain

Chairperson : Ms. Zuraini Dollah

Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building

Date : 2^nd December 2009, Wednesday

Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-11-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Development of A Cryo SEM Method for Ultrastructural Investigation of Murine Embryos at Different Developmental Stages."
Presenter : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abdul Rahman
Chairperson : Ms. Salina Othman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 25 November 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-11-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " A time course study on the Effect of restraint stress exposure on the embryos development mice."
Presenter : Dr. Nasibah Azme
Chairperson : Mr. Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 18 November 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-11-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " The Effects of Vitamin E supplementation on Bone Proteomics in Ovariectomised rats"
Presenter : Mr. Patrick N. Okechukwu
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Yusri Idorus
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 11 November 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.
Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-11-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : “Phylogenetic relationship of Nontypeable Heamophilus influenza isolated in Malaysia."
Presenter : Ms. Nurul Hamirah Kamsani
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Yusri Idorus
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 4 November 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-10-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Networking of differentially expressed genes in human cancer cells resistant to methotrexate."
Presenter : Mr. Mohd Ros Sidek
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 28 October 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.
Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-10-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Elucidation of Cryotolerance in murine preimplantation embryos using confocal microscopy and development studies."
Presenter : Mr. Razif Dasiman
Chairperson : Mrs. Nor Shahida Abdul Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 21 October 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-10-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Aminal Handling Technique"
Presenter : Mrs. Yuhaniza Shafinie Kamsani
Chairperson : Ms. Salina Othman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 14 October 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-10-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Effect of palm Oil Tocotienol (TriE) on Lipid profilr Enzime Antioxidant and Oxidative Stress Among Healthy Older Adults Individual. "
Presenter : Mr. Mohammad Johari Ibrahim
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 7th October 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.

Thank you.

WORKSHOP Announcement

2009-10-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

Whole genome based association studies for SNP and CNV based approaches

Research Instruments in conjunction with the Institute of Medical Molecular Biotechnology and Faculty of Medicine invites you to our workshop:

Venue: Institute for Medical Molecular Biotechnology (IMMB)

            Lecture Hall 1, Level 5, Faculty of Medicine,

           Tower 1, Science & Technology Complex

           University Technologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam

           Date: 12 October 2009

            Time: 9.00am – 5.30pm

NEWS - Scientist at Berkley Lab decipher missing piece of first-responder DNA repair machine.

2009-10-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Scientist at Berkeley Lab decipher missing piece of first-responder DNA repair machine.

BERKELEY, CA — Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the role played by the least-understood part of a first-responder molecule that rushes in to bind and repair breaks in DNA strands, a process that helps people avoid cancer.

for more info follow the link below:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2009/10/01/dna-repair-uncovered/

Do you want to get your papers publish?

2009-10-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

Genome Technology - October 2009

The Journal Perspective

By Meredith Salisbury

All scientists are well-versed in the "publish or perish" fear — but what about when publishing a paper is so difficult that you feel like the very process may do you in? Researchers looking to get their results into a highly regarded journal for all the world to see have no easy task ahead of them. One way to get through the process unscathed: get familiar with the journals you're interested in, and make friends with editors.

Before you do anything with that manuscript you're sitting on, take a few minutes to peruse the websites of the journals you're thinking about submitting to. They'll all have a page with information for authors; this can help you make sure your paper matches the scope of the journal, and it also includes helpful guidelines about formatting and other details of the submission process. Ignore these at your peril: formats are chosen for a reason, and failing to conform to them can send a couple of bad messages — that you simply don't care enough to check guidelines, or that your manuscript was formatted for another journal and that wherever you're sending it this time wasn't your first choice. Also, pay attention to data requirements; different journals (especially ones that are open access) can have different rules about where data must be deposited for the paper to be published.

Once you're familiar with the guidelines, it can be worthwhile to contact an editor at the journal with a simple note to gauge interest level. "It can be good to send a pre-submission inquiry," says Clare Garvey, editor at Genome Biology, who adds that these inquiries are usually answered very quickly. It's a simple, fast way to see if the paper fits well with the research scope of the journal.

When you do send your manuscript in, be sure the cover letter is tailored to the publication you're targeting. Garvey says a common mistake she sees is sending letters intended for other journals that have been copied and pasted on a paper that was perhaps sent somewhere else first.

If your manuscript is sent out for review and accepted, you're in great shape — and interactions with the journal should be straightforward. But what happens if the paper is rejected — or, worse, rejected without review? While most scientists will beat themselves up or fume over this, very few feel comfortable following up on it. Garvey says it's quite acceptable to contact the editor to say you're not happy with the decision and ask for advice or feedback. "We're perfectly open to being called or emailed" when this happens, she says. "If we can help authors by being as transparent as we can, then that's good for everyone."

Make new friends

The time to think about publishing is not just when you have a manuscript ready to go, though. You'll be in better shape to submit a paper or to ask an editor about a review decision if you've already gotten to know the editor ahead of time. Garvey says that conferences are a great place to take this step — editors routinely attend meetings, and it's their job to get acquainted with scientists in the field and get a sense of the latest research.

Because editors have a broad perspective on research across many fields, Garvey says it's important to remember that they can be "a huge resource" to bounce research ideas off. Editors might "even suggest additional experiments that might help that paper get into that journal," she adds.

And if you're not getting out to conferences as much as you'd like, Garvey says outreach is considered so important that some journals even send editors on lab visits when there's enough interest in how the editorial process works.

Journal Club

2009-09-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Radiation Protection Procedures
Presenter : Mr. Tuan Muhd Hafiidz Tuan Kamauzaman
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 9th September 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are invited.
Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-08-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : " Skim Akreditasi Makmal Malaysia (SAMM)
Presenter : Miss Zuraini Dollah
Chairperson : Miss Nurul Ashikin Mohamed Rawi
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T
Building
Date : 26 August 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title       : The Beneficial Experiences Obtained Through 15th weeks of Internship
Presenter : Mohd- Al' Hafiz bin Ab Halim

Title       : Antioxidant Activity and Cytotoxicity Potential of Tinospora Crispa
Presenter : Nurul Ashikin bt Zainurdin

Title       : A study on Atherosclerotic Lession Development from Rabbit Aorta by Molecular and Histomorphology
Presenter : Noraisah bt Majiri

Title       : Effect of UV Light on Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Presenter : Vaneesha a/p Vasudarajan

Title       : Effect of UV Light on Staphylococcus
Presenter : Nor Marina bt Mohamed

Chairperson       : M r. Mohd Shahir Ab Rahman
Venue       : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date       : 19th August 2009, Wednesday
Time       : 12.30 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-08-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title       : Immuneresponse to Heamophilus Influenza Type B Infection
Presenter : Ms. Nurul Asyikin Mohd Rawi
Chairperson       : M s. Noraisah Majiri
Venue       : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date       : 12 August 2009, Wednesday
Time       : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club/ Seminar

2009-08-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you that IMMB weekly journal club tomorrow will be held as follow:

Title : "Widescreen Assay for the Multiplex Detection and
Quantitation of Cell Signaling Proteins and Serum
Biomarkers"
Presenter : Ms Anita Wan (Msc)
Application & Sales Manager (Asia-Pacific region)
EMD Chemicals, San Diego, USA
Venue : Lecture Hall Level 6, Block 2, Faculty of Medicine,
UiTM
Date : 5th August 2009, Wednesday
Time : 2.45pm - 4.45pm

Journal Club

2009-07-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : Multiplex Branch DNA for Parallel Quantitative Gene
Expression Profiling
Presenter : Mrs . Norita Salim
Chairperson : Ms. Salina Othman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 29th July 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-07-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:
Title : Role of miRNA in Hematopoiesis stem cell development
Presenter : Mrs Sharifah Izwan Binti Tuan Othman
Chairperson : Mrs Norita Binti Salim
Venue : Level 13, IMMB
Date : 22nd July 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45noon - 1.30pm

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-07-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Scanning Probe Microscopy: An Essential Platform for Full Spectral Measurements in Life Science "
Presenter : Dr. Sun/ Mun Kok Lim
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 15th July 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.30noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you

IMMB Workshop

2009-07-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Dear IMMB Fellow, IMMB staff, Postgraduate Students & RAs,

Title: REAL TIME PCR WORKSHOP ON SNPs GENOTYPING APPLICATION

SPEAKER : MS SRINDA NATHAN, APPLIED BIOSYSTEM APPLICATION SPECIALIST

DATE : 9 -10 JULY 2009.

VENUE : LECTURE SESSIONS AT IMMB MEETING ROOM, LEVEL 13 IMMB
HANDS-ON SESSION AT LEVEL 5, IMMB LAB.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-07-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "TaqMan Chemistry for SNP Assay"
"HRM Method"
" When to Use One Over Another"
Presenter : Ms. Srinda Nathan, Analisa Scientific
Chairperson : Nor Shahida Abdul Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 9th July 2009, Thursday
Time : 12.00noon- 1.00pm

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-06-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "MACS Technology Overview "
Presenter : Angelica Lim (Canvio Sdn Bhd)
Chairperson : Tuan Muhd Hafiidz Tuan Kamauzaman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 1st July 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Talk

2009-06-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

Please be informed that IMMB will be arranging a short talk this friday.
Details as below:

Date: 26th June 2009
Time: 11am
Venue: IMMB level 13
Topic: qPCR -"what normalizer should I choose"
-"How do I determine biological significant changes"
Presenter: Dr Hartmut from Lonza

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-06-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "LIVE CELL IMAGING OF NORMAL CELL LINES BY USING CONFOCAL LASER SCANNING MICROSCOPE (CLSM)"
Presenter: MR. MOHD ABDUL HALIM BIN ABDUL LATIF

Title: "GROWTH RATE PATTERN OF NORMAL HUMAN OSTEOBLAST"
Presente: MS. KHAIRUN NISA BT IBRAHIM ASRI

Title: "THE DETERMINATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES FROM TRADITIONAL REMEDIES AGAINST MRSA"
Presenter : MS. MIMI AZUANA BT WAGIMON

Title : "ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF EUGENIA AROMATICUM AND TINOSPORA CRISPA"
Presenter: MS. SITI NUR SHAFINAS BT SHAIKH ABD RAHMAN

Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue: IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 24th June 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.30 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-06-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "APPLICATION OF BIOANALYZER”
Presenter : Mrs. Norita Salim
Chairperson : Ms. Zuraini Dollah
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 17^th June 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-06-09T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "PRINCIPLES OF CONFOCAL LASER SCANNING MICROSCOPE (CLSM)"
Presenter : Ms. Rachel Lim Shu Fen (Hi-Tech Instruments Sdn. Bhd)
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 10th June 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.30 noon

All are welcome.
Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "PRINCIPLE Of SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE"
Presenter : Mr. Mohd Shahir Abd Rahman
Chairperson : Mr. Mohd Faeez Sarulan
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 3rd June 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-05-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "COPY NUMBER VARIATIONS (CNV)"
Presenter : Dr Hoh Boon Peng
Chairperson : Mr. Mohamad Ros Sidek
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 27th May 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-05-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "The Bender MedSystems FlowCytomix Technology for Multiple
Analyte Detection and Easy Data Analysis with FlowCytomixPro Software"
Presenter : Dr Birgit Osterhoff (International Distributor Coach)
Chairperson : Mrs Norita Salim
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 20th May 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-05-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Detection of Pelomerase Activity in Saliva from Oral Sqamous Cell Carcinoma Patients"
Presenter : Miss Nurul Hajar Che Ghazali
Chairperson : Miss Suhana Hamzan
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 13th May 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-05-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "To freeze or not ?"
Presenter : Dr. Nor Ashikin Mohamed Noor Khan
Chairperson : Mohd Shahir Abdul Rahman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 6th May 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you

Journal Club

2009-04-27T00:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Comparison of global gene expression of TH2 cytokines stimulated Human a Lung Fibroblasts with stimulated Bronchial
Smooth Muscle Cells"
Presenter : Assoc. Prof Dr. Gabriele R. Anisah Froemming

Title : Identification of host-regulated genes in human lung cancer cell gene expression upon infection with Newcastle
disease virus using microarray analyses.
Presenter : Mr. Mohamed Ros Sidek

Title : Usage of different methods to monitor changes in gene and protein expression of Normal Human Osteoblasts cells
(NHOst) growing on Cytodex 3
Presenter : Mrs. Norita Salim

Title : Molecular Study of Atherosclerotic Plaque development using a multiplexed Gene Expression Assay and Real time PCR
Presenter : Mrs. Maimunah Mustakim

Chairperson : Ms. Zuraini Dollah
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 29th April 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.30 noon

All are welcome. Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-04-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Mesencyhmal Stem Cell Isolation and Characterization"
Presenter : Dr Chua Kien Hui, UKM-KL
Chairperson : Mrs Norita Salim
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 22th April 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-04-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Biomarker Discovery: SELDI Technology"
Presenter : Ms Sakthi Eswari
Chairperson : Mrs. Norita Salim
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 15th April 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-04-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : "Effects of Statin Treatment on Bone Markers in Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolaemia"
Presenter : Mrs. Rafezah Razali
Chairperson : Miss Salina Othman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 8th April 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Refreshment will be provided.

Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : ‘Comparison of Weight-Loss Diet with Different Compositions of fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates'
Presenter : Miss Suhana Hamzan
Chairperson : Miss Nurul hajar Ghazali
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 1st April 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Refreshment will be provided

Thank you.

Jurnal Club

2009-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

Please be informed that there will be an IMMB Journal Club. Below are the details:

Title : "AOE activities and expression levels in the kidney during development of

hypertension in SHR".

Presenter : Prof Dr Harbindarjeet Singh

Chairperson : Mr Mohd Shahir Abdul Rahman

Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building

Date : 25th March 2009, Wednesday

Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

2009-03-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

RESEARCH NEWS OF INTEREST

New Target for Heart Failure Therapy Identified
Drug Discovery & Development -
March 18, 2009

A novel signaling pathway plays a significant role in the production of aldosterone, a hormone that promotes heart failure after a myocardial infarction, according to a study conducted by Thomas Jefferson University researchers.
The findings show that aldosterone production is mediated by a protein called b-arrestin-1. b-arrestin-1 binds to angiotensin II receptors when they are activated by angiotensin II.
Aldosterone is secreted by the adrenal cortex. Its levels are elevated in chronic heart failure, and its presence contributes to morbidity and mortality of the disease. It contributes to heart failure progression and diminished cardiac function after myocardial infarction.
The production of aldosterone was previously thought to be solely the result of the activation of G-proteins, which are also activated when angiotensin II binds to its receptors, according to Anastasios Lymperopoulos, Ph.D., a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Center for Translational Medicine and the George Zallie and Family Laboratory for Cardiovascular Gene Therapy at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

For more please use the link below

http://www.dddmag.com/news-target-for-heart-failure-therapy-031809.aspx

2009-03-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Health Protection Agency Culture Collection

Cross-Contaminated & Misidentified Cell Lines

The ECACC has published on its webpage various informations concerning cross-contaminated or mis-identified cell lines, how these cell lines can be tested for authencity etc. For the original postings and further information, please follow the following link.

http://www.hpacultures.org.uk/services/celllineidentityverification/misidentifiedcelllines.jsp

For informations on cross-contamination between cell lines found in the literature please read the two articles below. According to the ECACC survey of the scientific literature up to 20% of published work based on the use of human cell lines specifiec lines are suggested or known to be mis-identified1,2. This is not a small number. Therefore everybody who is working with cell lines should look into this matter.

1. MacLeod et al., (1999) Widespread intraspecies cross-contamination of human tumor cell lines arising at source. Int J Cancer 83(4) 555-563 (Cell line: ECV304)
2. Drexler HG et al. (2003) False leukemia-lymphoma cell lines: an update on over 500 cell lines. Leukemia, 17(2):416-426.

2009-03-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Genome Web Daily News

MicroRNA Profile Predicts Acute Kidney Transplant Rejection

March 17, 2009
By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – In a paper appearing online last night in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of American and French scientists identified a microRNA expression profile that can predict which kidney transplant patients will suffer acute transplant rejection and reduced transplant function.
Using arrays, the researchers identified more than a dozen miRNAs that were differentially expressed in cases of acute kidney transplant rejection compared to stable transplants. They subsequently validated six of these in a larger, independent cohort, linking miRNA levels to both acute rejection and transplant function.
Interestingly, rejection samples and peripheral blood mononuclear cells shared some highly expressed miRNAs, while miRNAs that were under-represented in rejection samples were found at high levels in primary human kidney epithelial cells. Together, the results support the idea that kidney transplant rejection occurs as recipient immune cells enter and attack transplanted tissue. Along with such insights, the team suggested that miRNAs may also serve as markers for kidney transplant or renal allograft status.
"Our studies, in addition to suggesting a cellular basis for the altered intragraft expression of miRNAs, propose that miRNA expression patterns may serve as biomarkers of human renal allograft status," senior author Manikkam Suthanthiran, a nephrology and transplantation researcher at the New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, and his colleagues wrote.
Although organ transplantation has become fairly routine, transplant recipients must continue taking immuno-suppressive drugs throughout their lives to prevent transplant rejection. Such rejection occurs when the recipient's immune system recognizes the transplant as foreign and mounts an immune response against it.
Because previous research suggests gene expression — including the expression of genes involved in immunity, cell cycle control, and metabolism — shifts dramatically during transplant rejection, Suthanthiran and his team decided to look at whether they could find miRNA expression changes that heralded acute transplant rejection.
They evaluated 33 transplanted tissue or allograft biopsies, taken from 32 adults who had had kidney transplants — a dozen from 11 individuals with acute rejection and graft dysfunction and 21 from individuals with stable transplanted kidney function.
From these, the team initially evaluated miRNA profiles in three of the acute rejection biopsy samples and four stable transplant samples using an Applied Biosystems TaqMan low-density array human microRNA panel representing 365 mature human miRNAs.
They found roughly 174 miRNAs expressed in each of the samples. But the same miRNAs were not present in all of the biopsies. The researchers identified 17 miRNAs that were expressed at different levels in the acute rejection samples than they were in the stable transplant samples. Of these, ten were under-expressed and seven were over-expressed in the acute rejection samples.
Using modified TaqMan miRNA assays, the researchers confirmed the differential expression of six of the miRNAs in an independent validation set of nine acute rejection and 17 stable transplant biopsy samples. The acute rejection samples showed increased expression of miR-142-5p, miR-155, and miR-223 and decreased expression of miR-10b, miR-30-3p, and let-7c.
All six miRNAs were also linked to the transplanted kidney's function, specifically glomerular filtration rate, though miR-142-5p and miR-10b were most strongly associated with this function.
Of the differentially expressed miRNAs, miR-142-5p and miR-155 seem to be the most promising biomarkers for predicting kidney transplant status. Both predicted acute rejection with 100 percent sensitivity and 90 percent to 95 percent specificity. The other four miRNAs, while diagnostic, predicted rejection less accurately.
When they used real-time quantitative PCR to assess messenger RNA levels in the transplant tissue, the team found that the levels of miR-142-5p, miR-155, and miR-223 correlated with the levels of mRNA for immune genes such as CD30 and CD20. Overall though, miRNA levels appeared to more accurately predict transplant rejection than CD3, CD20 or other mRNA levels tested.
Consistent with the notion that acute transplant rejection involves immune system infiltration of transplanted kidney tissue the team found that rejection miRNA profiles were more similar to normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells than to primary human kidney epithelial cells.
And miRNAs previously linked to immune system function were among those that were highly expressed in rejection samples whereas miRNAs that appear to contribute to kidney tubule function were down-regulated.
The researchers say even more research is needed to understand just how miRNA profiles are altered in the graft-infiltrating and transplant epithelial cells. But, they added, their results suggest miRNA expression patterns may be a promising tool for predicting and monitoring patients' kidney transplant status.

Invitation to Journal Club Presentation 18 March 2009

2009-03-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

Last week we had a presenter from outside of UiTM talking about how we can benefit from NUNC products related to cell culture and etc. To me it was a great presentation and we should think of inviting them again in the near future. Now lets come back to this week presentation. Thank you Prof Justin for his acceptance to be with us. Hope we can share your knowledges from the presentation and you are most welcome again to update us with the latest findings from your research. For all, the graphical form or small poster of invitation is now available. Please distribute to your colleagues. Thank you.

2009-03-14T03:26:00.000-07:00

Asthma

β2-Adrenoceptor signaling is required for the development of an asthma phenotype in a murine model

Nguyen, L. P. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 2435–2440 (2009) Article PubMed

β2-Adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonists are used in the management of asthma, but their chronic use is assoicated with loss of disease control. This paper demonstrated the paradoxical result that β2AR signalling — by constitutively active receptors — is required for the asthma phenotype in animal models. A β2AR inverse agonist attenuated asthmatic symptoms, highlighting the potential of inverse agonists in this condition.

2009-03-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

The Scientist

By Steven Wiley
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Problem of Perception

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/55467/

Your interpretation of results depends on more than just the results.

Another group felt that our computer model was a poor substitute for their own scientific intuition regarding what was happening.

There is a common perception among young students that the surest path to resolving scientific controversies is to design a clever experiment, one that will definitively resolve conflicting hypotheses. However, I have found that most scientific controversies do not revolve around specific experimental data, but instead are disputes over data interpretation.

Data interpretations depend on a scientist's underlying assumptions and worldview. For example, a molecular biologist might think of protein expression as an outcome of mRNA levels, whereas a biochemist might think in terms of synthetic and degradation rates. Both are right, of course, but each might expect different reasons for a change in the amount of a protein. Our perspective and assumptions regarding how living systems work defines us as biologists, which is why arguments over interpretations can get so nasty. If another scientist disputes the validity of your viewpoint, it can impact your reputation as well as your ego.

I experienced a dispute over data interpretation in the late 1980's that turned somewhat contentious. My laboratory was investigating the role of tyrosine kinase activity in the endocytosis of the EGF receptor in collaboration with Gordon Gill at the University of California, San Diego. By using a series of kinetic measurements, we concluded that kinase activity was necessary for ligand-induced endocytosis and down-regulation, whereas a competing group thought that it was not. What was interesting about the dispute was that the primary data gathered by both groups were essentially identical. The main difference was in how the data were interpreted.

We were calculating receptor endocytosis rates on a per receptor basis whereas the other group used a per cell basis. In the case of receptors with kinase activity, EGF binding accelerated endocytosis 10-fold, which caused cell-surface receptors to drop 10-fold. Thus, the net rate of endocytosis per-cell (rate x receptors) did not change in response to kinase activity, making it appear to have no effect on receptor internalization.

It was hard to convince the other group that differences in a simple rate calculation would make a big difference in what they concluded from the data. However, we were working from a computational model of endocytosis that allowed us to try out different sets of assumptions and see how they would affect the system's behavior. The other group felt that our computer model was a poor substitute for their own scientific intuition regarding what was happening. As they stated at the time, "(Our) results are in agreement with the results of Chen et al. (Cell, 59:33–43,1989), but in conflict with their interpretation. By applying a simple mathematical model (J Cell Biol, 107:801–10, 1988), the lack of down-regulation of kinase-negative mutants was misinterpreted as an indication for reduced endocytosis." 1

Over time, our view prevailed and it is now generally accepted that the kinase activity of the EGF receptor is required for ligand-induced endocytosis. 2 Interestingly, our view was vindicated not because people came to accept our use of computational modeling, but because our hypothesis was more successful in predicting subsequent experimental results. Scientists don't generally care about who is right or who is wrong in a dispute. They want a conclusion that can help predict their own experimental outcomes. Science is built brick by brick from ideas and concepts that can lead to the next successful series of experiments and concepts. If an idea doesn't support the next brick, it is discarded. It's natural selection in science.
Scientific disputes seem inevitable in any career, but mine gave me a keen appreciation of the need for caution in accepting simple interpretations of the behavior of complex systems. In science, we do not gather facts. We make observations. Our interpretation of observations is only as good as our assumptions and conceptual frameworks.

The ability of a simple computer model to correctly interpret a seemingly non-intuitive result was also quite revealing. It convinced me that as biology becomes even more complex, we will need computational models even more to help us out. They can not only let us see past our inherent interpretational biases, but can also be used to design experiments to test our concepts—a foundation for building a truly predictive biology.

Steven Wiley is a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Fellow and director of PNNL's Biomolecular Systems Initiative.

References

1. A. Ullrich, and J. Schlessinger, "Signal transduction by receptors with tyrosine kinase activity," Cell, 61:203–12, 1990.
2. A. Sorkin, and L.K. Goh, "Endocytosis and intracellular trafficking of ErbBs," Experimental Cell Res, 314:3093–106, 2008.

2009-03-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

FREE ARTICLE

A new mechanism for Alzheimer's?

Genentech scientists have proposed a new mechanism for Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis in a recent Nature paper and have identified a trio of new AD targets. Will this work lead to a major change of focus in developing drugs for the disease?

http://www.nature.com/scibx/journal/v2/n8/full/scibx.2009.300.html

Welcome to Weekly Journal Club Presentation

2009-03-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Dear all,

This week we will have a presenter from outside of UiTM. The topic will be about NUNC product and for those who involve or plan to start doing research related to cell culture, please join us. As part of our commitment starting from this week we will send you the announcement of this event in a graphical form or small poster, so that you can redistribute to your colleagues and let them know thus allow them to join us too. Thank you.

Journal Club

2009-03-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE PLAMID OF HAEMOPHILIA
INFLUENZAE
Presenter : DR. ZAINI MOHD ZAIN
Chairperson : MR. MOHAMAD ROS B. SIDEK
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 4th MARCH 2009, WEDNESDAY
Time : 12.45 noon

Refreshment will be served. All are welcome.
Thank you.

ZD

Journal Club

2009-02-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : The genotoxic of in vivo microwave irradiation on rat peripheral
blood at difference exposure distances.
Presenter : Ms Azlina A Razak
Chairperson : Ms Nurul Ashikin Mohamed Rawi
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 18 February 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served starting from 12.15 noon at level 13.

Thank you.

ZD

Jurnal Club

2009-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

gambar hiasan: atherosclerosis tissues

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : IMMUNO HISTO CHEMISTRY OF MATRIX METALLOPROTEASES FROM ATHEROSLEROTIC TISSUES
Presenter : MRS. MAIMUNAH MUSTAKIM
Chairperson : MR. MOHAMAD ROS B. SIDEK
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 11th FEBRUARY 2009, WEDNESDAY
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thank you.

ZD

Jurnal Club

2009-02-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

synovial effusions

Dear Dato'/ Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : Electron Microscopic Examination of the Synovial Effusions in Some Arthropathies

Presenter : Prof Dr Marina Kapitonova
Chairperson : Mrs. Norita Salim
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S &T Building
Date : 4^th February 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Thank you

2009-01-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

Stem cells

Stem-cell research is en vogue — 25 years after scientists first isolated mouse embryonic stem cells, it is now possible to isolate and culture stem cells from embryos and adult tissues of many species, including humans. Despite the rapid progress in this field, several important questions in the areas of embryonic and adult stem-cell research still remain unanswered. What are the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie stem-cell renewal while conveying the potential to differentiate to different cell lineages? What combination of molecules confers differentiation to specific cell types? How can we isolate stem cells from different tissues? And how will knowledge of the mechanisms that underlie self-renewal and differentiation help us to develop patient-specific therapies?

In a Series of specially commissioned articles, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology reports on the current hot and exciting topics in stem-cell research, discusses new technologies and resources to study stem cells and explores controversial issues, such as stem-cell ethics and funding.

Find more informations under:

http://www.nature.com/nrm/series/stemcells/index.html

Jurnal Club

2009-01-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : The Impact of Next Generation Sequencing Technology on Genetics
Presenter : Mr. Muhamad Alif bin Che Nordin
Chairperson : Mrs. Suhaila Abd Muid
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 21 January 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Thank you

ZD

2009-01-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Drug Discovery & Development - January 12, 2009

Obesity Starts in the Head

Obesity is known to increase the risk of chronic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes. An international team of scientists with German participation through the Helmholtz Zentrum München identified six new obesity genes. Gene expression analyses have shown that all six genes are active in brain cells.

The international GIANT (Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Parameters) consortium works on the discovery of obesity genes. So far, the scientists have analyzed two million DNA variations in 15 genome-wide association studies with a total of more than 32,000 participants. The hereby identified candidate genes were validated in 14 further studies including 59,000 participants. In addition to the FTO and MC4R genes already known, it was now possible for six more obesity genes to be identified: TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2, and NEGR1.

Gene expression analyses have shown that all six genes are active in brain cells. Also the previously known two obesity genes, FTO and MC4R, show a similar expression pattern; in case of the MC4R gene, a genotype-dependant influence on the behavior of appetite is already established. Scientists of the German National Genome Research Network (NGFN), Prof. H.-Erich Wichmann and Dr. Iris Heid from the Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, who lead the German participation of this consortium, emphasize: ‘Definitely, the two main causes for obesity are poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. But the biology of these genes suggests genetic factors underlying the different reaction of people to lifestyle and environmental conditions.’

With the exception of the SH2B1 gene, which plays a role in the leptin signalling and thus in the regulation of appetite, none of the other five genes was hitherto discussed as obesity genes. Iris Heid and her collegue Claudia Lamina from the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München are enthused: ‘The purely statistical approach of the genome-wide association analysis can depict new aspects of the biology of weight regulation, which were previously unanticipated.’

As a next step, the scientists evaluate other anthropometric measures, in order to shed light on different aspects of obesity. In addition, they will expand and include further studies into their analysis as they have realized that the individual studies are all too small, and only by means of collaboration, is it possible to achieve further success here.

Release Date: January 8, 2009

Source: Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health

Jurnal Club

2009-01-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to our weekly IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Title : Genetic Mapping in Human Diseases
Presenter : Dr. Hoh Boon Peng
Chairperson : Mrs. Rafezah Razali
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 14 January 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served starting from 12.15 noon.
Thank you

ZD

2009-01-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

Educationational webpage from NPG

The Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has created an educational webpage where students and others can read up on genetics. I find this webpage very usefull.
Go have a look
Gabriele

NPG announces a free website for biology classes... Scitable by Nature Education

Scitable is designed to expand students' knowledge of genetics by providing expert, evidence-based content.
To learn more about this exciting, new educational product visit
www.nature.com/scitable/whatisscitable

2009-01-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

Editorial
Nature Cell Biology 11, 1 (2008)
Published online: 10 December 2008 doi:10.1038/ncb0109-1

Credit where credit is due

Abstract

Citations are an important component in the assessment of academic performance. Yet, the growing literature, combined with format constraints of journals, encourage citation of reviews in preference to primary research. This diverts academic credit from the discoverer.

Introduction

Scientific research continues to accelerate, mirrored by unprecedented publication rates: PubMed contains over 18 million citations now. In many fields it is becoming increasingly difficult to cite the literature appropriately. As fields mature, they accumulate larger volumes of back literature and all too often, multiple papers report related findings. Both factors pose a challenge for comprehensive and systematic reference lists. Yet the format of papers in most journals, including NCB, has not changed significantly, encouraging selective or secondary literature citation.
The pressure on researchers is higher than ever before and many find themselves chronically short of time. A lamentable but largely unavoidable by-product of the cocktail of specialization, accelerated research activity and increased overall scientific output is that browsing the literature is on the decline, in favour of keyword-directed access to information. Search engines, such as PubMed and Google Scholar, do allow reliable access to specific information, and browsing is aided by text-comparison engines. Also, the information overload of increasingly specialized researchers has precipitated a rapid growth of the review literature. Reviews have replaced browsing as a means to stay abreast of scientific progress beyond one's area of specialization. The increased reliance on the review literature to access information has led to a tendency to cite reviews, rather than the underlying primary literature. Assuming the review is authoritative and comprehensive, this still removes the reader one or more steps from the relevant original work, and many will not have the time to trace the primary citation(s). Importantly, every paper that does not directly cite the initial report of a finding, takes away academic credit from the discoverer, often directly affecting his or her funding and career.
Even when citing the primary literature, there is evidence that authors, on occasion, simply transfer citations from other papers they have read. A fascinating estimate of the prevalence of this practice was provided by a study that measured the transmission of typographical errors in the 4,300 citations to a 1973 paper on condensed-matter physics, concluding that about 78% of the references were transcribed from other reference lists, rather than the original source article (Simkin, M.V. & Roychowdhury, V.P. Complex Syst. 14, 269; 2003; see also Nature 420, 594; 2002). If this applies to cell biology, it may point to a troublesome culture of cutting-and-pasting in preference to reading the primary literature. This may consequently inflate the citation of certain papers and distort the scientific record (see also Nature 423, 373–373; 2003). Needless to say, this journal requests that authors evaluate the paper cited, rather than take someone else's word for it. This is particularly important when writing reviews, which tend to set certain beliefs in stone.
In the last issue of NCB, 26% of all citations were to reviews (9.1 4.1 (s.d.) of 34.5, n = 11), compared with 21% in the inaugural issue of NCB in 1999 (8.3 3.9 of 40.2, n = 11). Notably, papers ranged between 11 and 52% in review citation rate. It is worth noting that reviews also contain a significant fraction of citations to other reviews (around 20% in a random sample of Nature Reviews articles). Two issues encourage review citation: 1) most journals have rather compact citation lists. Citing reviews often allows an author to 'kill several birds with one stone', and it is a technique to stay within restrictive citation limits. 2) ISI (Thomson Scientific) continues to lump together citations of primary research papers and reviews. This has had a major impact on researchers and indeed journals: it boosts cumulative citations of the former, while providing papers that tend to be well-cited for the latter to beef up journal impact factors. We have argued previously for a disambiguation of primary and review citations (October 2005 editorial).
An additional consideration is that in the current highly competitive world of cell biology, some researchers may be tempted to obfuscate the state of the field to enhance the apparent conceptual advance provided by their study. Rather than omitting a citation altogether, a less onerous approach may be to support a vague statement by citing a general review.
We aim to address this important issue in the two ways. First, we have increased the reference limits on our papers by 40%. In the 'Article' format, authors can now cite up to 70 references, rather than 50; for 'Letters', 40 instead of 30, and 20 references for 'Brief Communications'. Our 'Reviews' can now contain 140 instead of 100 references and 70 for 'Perspectives'. Second, we strongly encourage authors to cite the primary literature where appropriate. Clearly, citing reviews is the only effective way to provide background information on whole fields (for example, 'cell migration' or 'enzymology of the ubiquitin-proteasome system') or more focussed topics with a considerable literature (for example, 'role of ATM in the DNA damage response'). In fact, citing a review for this purpose is far more appropriate than a random selection of primary papers. However, where specific findings are concerned, references to the primary literature must be included (for example 'Ser 46 phosphorylation of p53 regulates apoptosis'). Needless to say, in many cases, such as the p53 example provided, the literature may be large, complex and indeed sometimes contradictory. Although previous discussion of a finding provides invaluable help in navigating the literature, it is the authors' responsibility to re-read the primary literature and to cite it where and as appropriate. If the primary report lies far back (say ten years) it is also often appropriate to cite a review that contextualizes the finding.
Although there can be no absolute rules for primary and secondary literature citation, we will monitor citations increasingly at the editorial level and request that authors adapt their citations where appropriate.
The EMBO Journal has just announced similar guidelines (EMBO J. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2008.250) and the hope is that these policies will encourage more direct and more accurate citation, which will enhance academic accountability. Give credit where credit is due.
Open-access editorials
Editorials in this journal will henceforth be freely accessible to anyone who has registered on the site

2009-01-05T05:17:00.000-08:00

Roche - Nature Medicine

Translational Neuroscience Symposium 2009:
Autism and Other Developmental Brain Disorders

April 17-18, 2009 Roche Forum Buonas AG Switzerland
Attendance at this meeting is free on acceptance of application.
To apply and for more information visit www.nature.com/natureconferences/tns2009

Journal Club

2009-01-04T20:26:00.001-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Melastoma Malabathricum & Dicranopteris Lineris Extracts
Presenter : Ms Nurul Hamirah Kamsani
Chairperson : Ms. Nurul Ashikin Mohamed Rawi
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 07 January 2009, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served starting from 12.15 noon at level 13.

ZD

3rd Regional Conference on Molecular Medicine

2008-12-22T20:48:00.000-08:00

The 3rd Regional Conference on Molecular Medicine 2009 (RCMM 2009) will take place in the fascinating city of Kota Bharu at the Grand Riverview Hotel from Saturday, 2nd May through 4th May 2009.

The theme of the conference is to foster interactions among the various 'omics' that has today usurped the centre stage of Molecular Medicine research and to guide the dreams of the researchers to reality. The conference will serve as a platform for researchers to deliberate and share the latest advance in Molecular Medicine research.

The focus of the conference will be on research into the various aspects of Medical Sciences, Fundamental, Pharmacogenomics, Translational, Innovative and Production-Oriented Research including Cells, Genes, Biomolecules and Population Dynamics, Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases, Physiology, Immunology and Cancer .

For details or Registration please visit here.

Weekly Journal Club

2008-12-22T01:01:00.001-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to join our weekly journal club presentation which will be held at IMMB meeting room. Details are as follow;

Title : Multiplexing of organelle-flourescent dyes in live cells using confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Presenter : Mrs. Nor Shahida Abdul Rahman

Chairperson : Mrs. Salina Othman

Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building

Date : 24 December 2008, Wednesday

Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served from 12.15 noon. See you then.

Thank you

MRS

Journal Club

2008-12-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : Protein Extraction Method: Compatible with Proteomic Analysis
Presenter : Mrs. Sharida Shoib
Chairperson : Mr. Mohamed Ros Sidek
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 17 December 2008, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served starting from 12.15 noon at level 13.

Thank you
ZD

2008-12-14T00:24:00.000-08:00

Special Focus on Glycobiology of the Immune System

brought to you by Immunology & Cell Biology

Bringing you the latest on the glycobiology of the immune system, this special feature and accompanying web focus explore the current understanding of how glycans play a role in activating the adaptive and innate immune responses.

To view this special offer FREE of charge visit
www.nature.com/icb/focus/gis_web_focus/.

2008-12-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

Scientist film human immune system in action

Dec. 4, 2008

Forget what's number one at the box office this week. The most exciting new film features the intricate workings of the body, filmed by scientists using ground-breaking technology.

For the first time in Australia, scientists at Sydney's Centenary Institute have filmed an immune cell becoming infected by a parasite and followed the infection as it begins to spread throughout the body.

Professor Wolfgang Weninger, head of the Immune Imaging program at the Centenary Institute, says the discovery (published in PLoS Pathogens) was made possible using high powered multi-photon microscopy which allows real cells to be viewed in real time."Using multi-photon microscopy, we studied dendritic cells in the skin. Under normal conditions we found the cells in the epidermis (top layer) were static, whereas in the dermis (second layer) they were very active, moving around as though seeking out pathogens," explains Professor Weninger. "Once we established this, it was fascinating to introduce the Leishmania infection and watch as the parasite was picked up by the cells and the process by which it began to spread throughout the body."

http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000101~ISSUE~0812~RELTYPE~MIC~PRODCODE~00000000~PRODLETT~AZ.html

2008-12-11T02:52:00.000-08:00

Neuropsychiatric disease Free access
Vol. 455, No. 7215 (16 October 2008)
Produced with an educational grant provided by Eli Lilly & Company

Neuropsychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia, depression and autism, are a huge burden on society, impairing the health of those affected, as well as their ability to learn and to work. After half a century of concerted effort, researchers are now making progress towards defining the biological basis of these diseases. Technological advances in the areas of genomics and large-scale studies, as well as the development of new animal models, are improving our understanding of these diseases and are offering the prospect of fundamentally different options for treatment.

http://www.nature.com/nature/supplements/insights/

2008-12-11T02:27:00.000-08:00

Bacterial R&D enters a golden age

Dec. 10, 2008
A potent combination of powerful new analysis methods and abundant data from genomics projects is carrying microbiology forward into a new era. Bacteria in particular are shedding light on fundamental molecular and signaling processes of interest not just within microbiology, but across the whole spectrum of life sciences embracing higher organisms, including plants and vertebrates. Medical research will benefit through improved knowledge of how bacteria behave when inside host organisms such as humans, both in benevolent symbiotic relationships and when causing infectious diseases such as TB.

http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000101~ISSUE~0812~RELTYPE~LST~PRODCODE~00000000~PRODLETT~EK.html

2008-12-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Nature Milestones in Cytoskeleton
A collaboration from Nature, Nature Cell Biology and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, this supplement focuses on the pivotal breakthroughs in cytoskeleton research over the past 60 years.
Access selected content from the supplement free online from 1st December and order your free copy here. (www.nature.com/milestones/cytoskeleton)

2008-12-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

FOCUS ON MICROSCOPY 2009 - Krakow, Poland, 5-8 April 2009
22nd International Conference on 3D Image Processing in Microscopy
21st International Conference on Confocal Microscopy

Dear Colleagues,
Abstracts for oral and poster contributions can now be submitted preferably through the conference website: http://www.FocusOnMicroscopy.org where also the conference registration has opened and hotel information is available.

Deadline for abstract submission: January 19, 2009.

After the successful FOM2008 conference held in Osaka in April this year, the next conference: Focus on Microscopy 2009 will take place in Krakow, Poland, in the week before Easter from Sunday April 5 to Wednesday April 8, 2009. As the next in a series of unique interdisciplinary meetings on advanced multi-dimensional light microscopy and image processing, the conference will be hosted by Jagiellonian University in Krakow at the Auditorium Maximum building in the center of this historic and beautiful city. Focus on Microscopy 2009 is the continuation of a yearly conference series presenting the latest innovations and new trends in optical microscopy and their application in biology, medicine and material sciences.

Key subjects are:
* the theory and practice of multi-dimensional optical microscopes,
* the high spatial resolution and sophisticated excitation (SHG, Raman, THG, OCS) and fluorescence imaging modes (FRET,FLIM, FRAP, FCS) coming available,
* new techniques for functional studies and manipulation of cells and tissues,
* automated and high-throughput microscopy techniques,
* related image processing and analysis approaches.

The conference series is, in addition, known for covering the rapid development of advanced fluorescence labeling techniques for the confocal and multi-photon 3D imaging of -live- biological specimens. Laser light based activation and quenching techniques integrated with 3D microscopy are becoming important tools in cell biology.

Important dates:
Deadline for the submission of abstracts: January 19, 2009
Acceptance of contributions, draft program: February 10, 2009
Deadline for early registration: February 28, 2009

We welcome you to Krakow for the FOM2009 conference and exhibition.
To stay informed about the conference please leave your name and email at: http://www.FocusOnMicroscopy.org/stayinformed
On behalf of the organizing committee,- Jurek Dobrucki, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland- Fred Brakenhoff, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands--
E-mail: info2009@FocusOnMicroscopy.org
Web: www.FocusOnMicroscopy.org

Journal Club

2008-12-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

I am pleased to invite all of you to IMMB journal club session that will be held as follow:

Topic : BD FACs aria II: the new era in cell sorting and analysis
Presenter : Melinda Leong (BD Business Support Manager)
Chairperson : Sharifah Izwan Tuan Othman
Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 3rd December 2008, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome. Thank you.

ZD

Journal Club Presentation

2008-11-24T23:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues;

IMMB Journal Club will be held as follows:

Topic : Gene mutations in exfoliated cells as molecular markers for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Presenter: Cik Norul Hajar Che Ghazali

Chairperson : Cik Nur Suhana Hamzah

Venue : IMMB Meeting Room, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building

Date : 26 November, Wednesday

Time : 12.45 noon

Your participation are most welcome. Thank you.

Committee

Journal club

2008-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Dato'/Prof/ Assoc. Prof/ Dr/ colleagues,

IMMB Journal Club will be held as follows:

Topic : ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Speaker : Mr. MOHAMAD ROS SIDEK
Chairperson : Mrs. SHARIDA
Venue : IMMB Office, Level 13, Block 5, S&T Building
Date : 19 November, Wednesday
Time : 12.45 noon

Refreshment will be served starting from 12.15 noon at Level 13.
All are welcome.

See you there !

Thanks& warm regards,
ZD

IMMB new building

2008-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

outside the gate

signboard

IMMB members

building model inside the glass

IMMB

CTC

Date: 24th October 2008 (Friday)

Venue: New Campus at Sungai Buloh, Selangor

Site visit by the IMMB members and Faculty members

Thank you for Vamed Engineering Sdn. Bhd and Tunas Selatan Consortium Sdn. Bhd

IMMB Raya Celebration

2008-11-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Date: 23rd October 2008 (Thursday)

Venue: IMMB

Participants : IMMB members

Journal Club

2008-11-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Prof/Assoc.Prof/ Dr /colleagues,

This is to announce that the Journal Club IMMB will resume this Wednesday and the details are as follows :-

Speaker : Mr. MOHD FAEEZ SARULAN
Chairperson : Mr. MOHAMAD ROS SIDEK
Venue : IMMB Office, Level 13
Date : 12th November 2008 (Wednesday)
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome and refreshment will be served starting from 12 noon.

Thanks & warm regards,
ZD

2008-11-08T03:07:00.000-08:00

Focus

Focus on Reproductive Biology. In what direction is the field of reproductive biology going? By bringing together input from top scientists and decision makers interested in this field, this focus identifies the recent papers with the most impact in reproductive biology and identifies the key issues that are shaping our thinking in this field.

http://www.nature.com/nm/focus/reprod/index.html

2008-11-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

Workshop on

Microgravity Sciences

2nd - 3rd September 2008

Putrajaya International Concention Centre (PICC)

Members of IMMB and the Research Lab participated in the workshop by presenting new findings from the 2 Angkasawan projects.

What is genetic testing?

2008-11-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

Genetic testing is defined as a type of medical test that identifies changes either in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. Most of the time, testing is used to find changes that are associated with inherited disorders. With the advent of molecular biology and biotechnology, genetic testing is now becoming more popular from the public. Several hundred genetic tests are currently in use, and more are being developed. The results of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person’s chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder. In forensic, genetic testing can be used to discreminate suspect from the control.

As it generally accepted genetic testing is voluntary. Because testing has both benefits and limitations, the decision about whether to be tested is a personal and complex one. A genetic counselor can help by providing information about the pros and cons of the test and discussing the social and emotional aspects of testing.

Complete cancer genome sequenced for the first time

2008-11-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

Nov. 6, 2008

For the first time, a complete cancer genome, and incidentally a complete female genome, has been decoded, scientists report online Nov. 5 in Nature. In a study made possible by faster, cheaper and more sensitive methods for sequencing DNA, the researchers pinpoint eight new genes that may cause a cell to turn cancerous.

These acute myeloid leukemia cells are from the bone marrow of the female patient whose complete genome was sequenced in the first decoding of a complete cancer genome. The genetic study implicated eight genes not previously associated with this form of cancer.

“Since cancer is a disease of the genome, this newfound ability to determine the complete DNA sequence of a cancer cell is enormously powerful,” comments Francis Collins, a geneticist and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., a group that raced to sequence the first entire human genome.

“We need to know the genetic rules of cancer,” says coauthor Timothy Ley of Washington University in St. Louis. Ley and colleagues read each of the 3 billion building blocks of DNA from tumor cells in a woman with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, a highly malignant form of blood and bone marrow cancer. Then the team compared the long string of code with one taken from noncancerous skin cells from the same woman.

This new sequencing technology, called massively parallel sequencing, makes it possible to compare the normal DNA sequence to the cancerous DNA sequence in the same patient. That, in turn, allows researchers to find individual DNA bases—the needles in a haystack of 3 billion pieces of straw—that had mutated in the cancerous cells.

Kevin Shannon, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, studies the genes that may lead to leukemia and calls this work “a major achievement,” one that is “remarkable for its rigor and precision.

”None of the researchers knew what to expect for the number of mutated genes in the cancerous cells.

“We were flying blind,” says Ley.

But after rigorously pruning the data to keep only the most significant mutations, the researchers identified 10 mutations, eight of which were in genes never before implicated in AML. Of these eight new mutations, none were found to be mutated in tumors from other, smaller-scale studies, suggesting that individual AML cases are distinct.

It may be that the disease is so specific doctors will need to sequence each individual with AML to determine the best course of treatment, says coauthor Elaine Mardis, also of Washington University.

At the same time, because those earlier studies did not sequence the entire genome, and because this new study had a sample size of only one patient, it is too early to tell if AML has different kinds of mutations in different patients.So, equally possible is that common mutations in similar groups of genes may contribute to AML.

Discovery of these gene networks could allow doctors to use these common pathways of disease to treat patients similarly.“It’s fun to speculate,” Maris says, “but we just don’t know.”

Understanding the genetic basis of cancer could lead to highly personalized treatments, says Mardis. “Right now, they’re all treated the same way they were 25 years ago,” she says of AML patients. It would be nice, Mardis says, if doctors could tell their patients, “Here’s what we know about your disease, and here are your best treatment options.”

Although scientists read every base pair in the patient’s genome, they only analyzed mutations in the DNA sequences that produce proteins, an estimated meager 1 to 2 percent of the human genome. To find mutations in other regions called intergenic DNA will require intensive statistical analyses. “We haven’t finished the job,” says Ley.

Because this study was designed to find genes that were mutated in a cancer genome, researchers omitted the DNA sequences from the sex chromosomes, the Xs and Ys, when making comparisons. Little is known about the differences between a male and a female genome.

The research team currently has funding to support more cancer genome sequences in the next few years. “What we need are thousands of genomes from each cancer,” says Ley. “We’ve already started a second patient, and are nearly finished, but our hopes are to do more.”

SOURCE: Science News

R&D DailyAdvantage Business MediaRockaway, NJ, 07866

High-throughput methods from molecular biology are about to change daily clinical practice...

2008-11-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

Article Review by Hrvojka Bosnjak, Kresimir Pavelic & Sandra Kraljevic Pavelic

The sequencing of the human genome was an enormous achievement in more than one sense as both the annotated sequence and the bioinformatics tools developed have become enormously important to biomedical research. In addition, the technological advances made during the project have further promoted the new ‘-omics’ approach in molecular biology research; it is a global, systematic and comprehensive way of identifying and describing the molecular processes and pathways involved in physiological functions and pathological states. Since the start of the Human Genome Project in 1990, its proponents have pointed out that the knowledge gained could lead to new cures or preventive measures for a wide range of diseases, as well as enormous benefits to general health.

A recent white paper by the European Medical Research Council (Strasbourg, France) explicitly encourages the use of new -omics technologies, as well as systems biology, nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, and tissue and stem-cell banking, in order to improve clinical and medical practice .....(get full article here : http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v9/n11/pdf/embor2008198.pdf )

2008-11-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

The Scientist: NewsBlog:
Frozen mouse cloned
Posted by Edyta Zielinska
[Entry posted at 4th November 2008 03:42 PM GMT]

Comment on this blog

While restoring dinosaurs from preserved mosquitoes remains as scientifically implausible as it was when the hit science fiction film Jurassic Park was made in 1993, the possibility of cloning the woolly mammoth and other extinct species just became a little bit more real. In this week's PNAS, researchers report "resurrecting" a mouse frozen for 16 years via nuclear cell transfer. "It is a major breakthrough" said Pasqualino Loi a biomedical researcher from Teramo University in Italy, who was not involved in the study. "There is hot debate on going," wrote Loi in an Email, "on the possibility to 'restore' extinct mammals, with the [woolly] mammoth in pole position." "If you had asked me five years ago" whether such a feat were possible, said Peter Mombaerts a molecular neurogeneticist Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, who was not involved in the study, "I would have said 'no way.'" Standard nuclear cell transfer involves taking a live nucleus from a donor cell and implanting it into an oocyte. Ice crystals that form upon freezing, however, kill the cells unless they are treated with a cryoprotectants. In this study, Teruhiko Wakayama at RIKEN's Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan and colleagues bypassed the need for intact cells by isolating only the nuclei of cells taken from the brain, tail blood, liver, heart and other tissues taken from a thawed mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. They transferred the nuclei into mouse oocytes from which the nuclei had been removed, using a slightly modified nuclear transfer technique. Donor nuclei from the brain provided the best success rate, the researchers found. That was surprising, said Mombaerts, since "few successes have been reported with [cloning using] neuronal cells." The researchers speculated that the high glucose content in the brain might act as a cryoprotectant, shielding cells from damage. Once the researchers had established nuclear transfer embryonic stem (ntES) cell lines, they performed a second round of nuclear transfer into oocytes and implanted them into surrogate mothers which were brought to term. Four cloned mice were born from the 16 year-old frozen mouse, as well as clones of another strain of mouse that was frozen for one week. Previously, others had tried similar techniques. For example Mombaerts' group was able to generate a cloned mouse from isolated cells that had been frozen by inserting the entire thawed cell into an oocyte. But so far, no one had produced viable offspring from the dead cells of a thawed intact body. Aside from resurrecting the woolly mammoth or spurring plans to create a frozen Noah's Arc of species on the brink of extinction, the study has more immediate practical applications. Mombaerts, who, like many mouse researchers, keeps frozen "tail-tips" of mice he's cloned, said this technique could enable him to bring back "particularly precious" mouse strains for research. Ultimately, it could also make whole genome sequencing of frozen or extinct species possible by allowing researchers to multiply entire genomes within ntES cell lines prior to sequencing, though Mombaerts cautions this application will "not work in the near future." Wakayama, for one, couldn't help reaching for the more fantastical implications, however. He enjoyed the movie Jurassic Park, he said, and he would be pleased to see someone try cloning dinosaurs using his technique. Loi, however, noted that times have changed -- it might be possible to bring back the wooly mammoth, he speculated, but would it be wise to do so "in a global warming scenario?"

Journal Club

2008-11-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Prof/Assoc Prof/ Dr/colleagues,

This is to announce that the Journal Club IMMB will resume this Wednesday and the details are as follows :-

Speaker : DR.GABRIELE ANISAH FROEMMING
Chairperson : MR. MOHAMAD ROS SIDEK
Venue : IMMB Office, Level 13
Date : 5th November 2008 ( Wednesday )
Time : 12.45 noon

All are welcome.

Thanks & warm regards,
ZD

Welcome to IMMB Blog

2008-11-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

Dear IMMB, UiTM members and visitors,

This blog is considered as another form of communication via online for everyone in this institute. This blog should be fully utilized by us includes; announcement, notice, story, news and whatever interests that should be in our member attentions. Your input is most welcome.Thank you for your visit and please come here again as frequent as possible.

Blogmaster