News From The American Chemical Society

03 Aug 2007
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/78346.php

Toward an alternative to stem cells for treating chronic brain diseases
Journal of the American Chemical Society

With ethical issues concerning use of discarded embryos and technical problems hindering development of stem cell therapies, scientists in Korea are reporting the first successful use of a drug-like molecule to transform human muscle cells into nerve cells. Their report, scheduled for the August 8 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly journal, states that the advance could lead to new treatments for stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders.

In the study, Injae Shin and colleagues point out that stem cell research shows promise for repairing or replacing damaged nerve cells to treat such diseases. However, many barriers hinder efforts to move those therapies from lab to clinic. The use of "small molecules" -- compounds that include most drugs -- to generate new nerve cells from easily available cells or tissues would provide a more convenient and attractive approach to stem cell therapies, the new study notes.

The researchers exposed immature mouse muscle cells (myoblasts) growing in laboratory cell cultures to neurodazine, a synthetic small molecule. After one week, 40-50 percent of the myoblasts were transformed into cells that resembled both the structure and function of nerve cells, including expression of neuron-specific proteins. Additional studies showed a similar transformation in a group of human skeletal muscle cells that were exposed to the same chemical for several days, they add.

"In conclusion, we have developed the first small molecule that can induce neurogenesis of non-pluripotent myoblasts and the cells derived from mature, human skeletal muscle," the report states. "These studies build upon recent research illustrating the value of chemical approaches for providing tools that differentiate lineage-committed cells into other cell types."

"Synthetic Small Molecules that Induce Neurogenesis in Skeletal Muscle"

CONTACT:
Injae Shin, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
Yonsei University
Seoul, Korea

First potential biomarker for human exposure to diesel exhaust
Chemical Research in Toxicology

Scientists in Japan and the United States are reporting development of the first test to detect a potential biomarker for human exposure to diesel exhaust, a major source of environmental pollution that is classified as a probable human carcinogen.

In an article in ACS's Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal, Akira Toriba and colleagues say the new method should be useful for monitoring human exposure to diesel exhaust and in studies of potential cancer risks associated with that exposure. Past research, the report notes, had predicted that certain "metabolites" -- compounds formed in the bodies of people exposed to diesel exhaust -- should appear in the urine. One of those compounds is known by the acronym 1-NP and its metabolites are OHNAAPs and OHNPs.

"This is the first study to demonstrate that the 1-NP metabolites, OHNAAPs and OHNPs, are excreted in the urine of human subjects exposed to environmental levels of 1-NP," the report explains. "These findings suggest that urinary 1-NP metabolites may be used as a representative biomarker for assessing exposure to diesel exhaust."

"Identification and Quantification of 1-Nitropyrene Metabolites in Human Urine as a Proposed Biomarker for Exposure to Diesel Exhaust"

CONTACT:
Akira Toriba, Ph.D.
Kanazawa University
Kanazawa, Japan 920-1192

Fishing for an answer: Wild or farmed?
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

You pass up the farm-raised sea bass in the supermarket fish department, and pay a premium for its wild cousin. Are you getting your money's worth, or was that "wild" fish actually raised on a fish farm and accidentally or intentionally mislabeled" Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting development of a method to answer that question.

J. Gordon Bell and colleagues point out that European Union legislation requires that retailers and consumers have information on the geographical origin and production method for seafood. "Due to the global nature of production, similar fish products can be sourced from variable points of origin, and this can lead to instances of mislabeling, both intentional and fraudulent," their report states. It is published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a biweekly publication. Other considerations, aside from price, make it important to distinguish between wild and farmed fish, the report notes.

The new test is based on differences in composition of the fatty components found in farmed and wild fish. The differences originate because farmed fish usually get a diet containing lower levels of marine-derived ingredients. With tests done on 10 wild and 10 farmed sea bass, the researchers cite the need to verify the findings on larger samples of different fish.

"Discrimination of Wild and Cultured European Sea Bass (Dicentarchus labrax) Using Chemical and Isotopic Analyses"

CONTACT:
J. Gordon Bell, Ph.D.
University of Stirling
Stirling, Scotland, U.K.

Well-intended research in the wrong hands can become a weapon of terror
Chemical & Engineering News

In a post 9-11 world where laboratory-made viruses and other legitimate scientific discoveries could become terrorists' weapons, scientists are stepping-up efforts to help ensure that well-intended research is not used for sinister purposes, according to an article (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/85/8531sci1.html) published in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

C&EN managing editor Ivan Amato wrote the compelling feature after interviews with scientists from academia, government, and industry who are working to address growing concerns about misuse of legitimate scientific research. "Chemists have not worried enough about the consequences of the molecules that they make," states Roald Hoffmann, who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Hoffmann has chosen to address this issue in an usual way -- theater. His new play, Should've, focuses on the moral and political fallout from a synthetic toxin that falls into the hands of terrorists. Hoffmann calls on scientists to "confront the reality that well-intentioned research that holds promise to cure disease, clean water and otherwise improve the conditions of life also can be commandeered for sinister purposes."

Other experts in the article discuss the possibility of using oversight boards to monitor research on potentially dangerous research projects; introducing ethical discussions into the classroom to sensitize undergraduate and graduate students to the possible misuse of scientific research, even their own; and the need for scientists to adapt a new, more vigilant and intentional way of thinking about the implications of their research.

"Experiments of Concern: Well-intentioned research, in the wrong hands, can become dangerous."

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

234th ACS National Meeting

The 234th ACS national meeting, which will be held in Boston, Mass., on August 19-23, 2007, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and more than a dozen hotels across the city. More than 15,000 scientists and others are expected to attend this scientific extravaganza. There will be more than 9,500 presentations on new discoveries in chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, and other fields. The theme: "Biotechnology for Health and Wellness."