Dynamics of Human Cells Revealed by Quantum Dots Adapted from the Best Practice entry from Laboratoire Kastler Brossel at the École Normale Supérieure and Université Pierre et Marie Curie
In living cells, the ability to selectively detect one molecule (or a small number of molecules) is a powerful way to understand the dynamics of cellular organization. This information is critical to understanding the fundamentals of cell biology and developing new drugs that effectively interact with human cellular targets.
Current imaging technology, however, is either too big or too inaccurate to enable researchers to observe single-molecule properties in living cells. The imaging probes of choice, organic fluorescent dyes, are toxic and kill cells on contact. They also remain visible for only a few seconds before photobleaching, or fading from sight. Thus, researchers using the dyes can catch only momentary glimpses of cells frozen in time. Yet a true understanding of single-molecule cellular processes can only be accomplished by observing them over extended periods of time.
Tracking Single-Molecule Cellular Interactions
Organization and Project: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel at the École Normale Supérieure's use of quantum dots to track glycine receptor dynamics for extended periods in living cells for the first time ever.
Vendors and Tools: Quantum dot imaging technology developed by Quantum Dot Corporation.
Key Benefits Realized: Observing the activity of glycine receptors in real time, researchers found that they were very active, moving to different parts of a synapse, to other synapses, and to areas outside the synapse. The breakthrough could lead to better drug design if researchers can determine how to increase the number of receptors at a given synapse.
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Maxime Ben Dahan and his team of researchers at École Normale Supérieure, a top Paris research university, decided to test the ability of a new imaging technology called quantum dots (QDs) to observe single-molecule cellular interactions. Semiconductor quantum dots are nanoscale fluorescent probes that are extremely photostable, remaining visible for days or even weeks. Unlike fluorescent dyes, QDs do not harm living cells. Using QDs, Dahan and his team were able to track individual glycine receptors (GlyRs) in human cells for extended periods of time -- for the first time ever. The results are expected to help pharmaceutical companies develop new candidate drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy and depression. Read More . . . 
Cardinal Health Collects, Connects, and CollaboratesAdapted from the Cardinal Health's Best Practice entry
With an aggressive acquisition strategy and meteoric internal growth, Cardinal Health has increased sales from $5 billion to $50 billion in the past five years. Along with this phenomenal growth is the assimilation of businesses, facilities, capabilities, and cultures into one organization. The Pharmaceutical Technologies & Services group of Cardinal Health is a microcosm of this cataclysmic change and recognized the need to "act and feel" like one company to realize its value proposition of providing integrated, enabling technologies and services that bring quality products to market faster and deliver greater value for customers.
To help the organization achieve its "one company" objective, the e-Business & Knowledge Management department established the following goals:
Transparency - To make it easy for customers to take full advantage of Cardinal Health's services, including drug development, drug delivery, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, and logistics by providing a single electronic interface, whether the customer is working with one or many of Cardinal Health's business units.
Communication - To provide a common communications platform for disseminating information internally (Intranet) as well as externally (Extranet).
Collaboration - To make it easy for geographically dispersed individuals to quickly form teams and share information on projects.
Insight - To improve the decision-making process by giving employees access to important customer, competitor, and market intelligence information.
With these goals in mind, Cardinal Health created the Portal as the integration tool to enhance its efforts in each of these areas.
Read More . . .
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MIT Advanced Study Program
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Advanced Study Program (ASP) is now accepting applications for the Fall 2005 term. ASP provides full and part-time certificate programs to working professionals at any stage of their careers. The program includes a flexible curriculum of MIT courses designed around the goals of participants and their sponsors. Please visit our website http://web.mit.edu/mitpep/asp/bioit.html
Personalized Medicine - June 27 - 28, Philadelphia, PA
https://www.cbinet.com/show_conference.cfm?confCode=HB545
CBI's conference is designed to help companies to assess theranostic market opportunities, develop and execute a model of business development and overcome the regulatory hurdles in bringing both a diagnostic and a drug to market. Key topics include: The FDA Office of In-Vitro Diagnostics (OIVD) guidance on companion product development and a regulatory infrastructure that supports theranostics growth; An industry-wide response to biomarker validation and development ; Strategic alliances to coordinate the development of drugs with diagnostics ;Emerging applications and the clinical utility of new genotyping tests ; Public policy and legislative issues impacting theranostics ;And many more.
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Electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO) - July 13-19, Philadelphia, PA
https://www.cbinet.com/show_conference.cfm?confCode=HB531
This first of its kind summit provides details on cutting-edge technology, regulatory requirements, validation, security considerations and cost/benefit analysis. The event gives you the opportunity to actively participate in industry dialogue on where ePRO technology can benefit you most, as well as hear in-depth information from a number of blind industry case studies. You receive the critical information necessary to actively apply ePRO technology to your clinical trials.
Bridging Discovery and IT - September 29 - 30, Philadelphia, PA
Bridging Discovery and IT is a unique conference that will highlight novel technologies and strategies that enable organizations to extract knowledge from mountains of heterogeneous data. Drawing on the reputation and expertise of Bio-IT World and Cambridge Healthtech Institute, this conference will feature compelling examples of successful partnerships between IT and biopharma groups and organizations, and insights into cutting-edge information tools and systems. A number of joint presentations from pairs of end users and IT & informatics partners will provide indispensable guidance for surmounting challenges and delivering results. Attendees will gain insights into building a genuine competitive advantage by deriving useful knowledge from data
Find out more at www.bridgingdiscoveryandit.com
Bio-IT Best Practices Awards Ceremony - June 28, Washington,D.C.
Join us at the gala event from 6 - 9pm, honoring the winners of this year's Best Practices Awards. Featured speakers include Howard Asher, Chairman of the Board, Life Sciences Information Technology Global Institute, and H. Thomas Watkins, Chief Executive Officer, Human Genome Sciences. Tickets are $125. If interested, please contact Shari Redan at 508-628-4803.
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