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The Burnham Buzz: Recent Developments at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research October 2008

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 October 2008, 09:00 CDT

Burnham Institute for Medical Research announces recent developments.

$98 Million Dollar Grant Supports Drug Discovery

In a time of shrinking government funding, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research has received a record $98 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand the Institute's high-throughput screening facility. The robotic screening center is used to identify compounds that could become the next generation of medicines. Burnham is adding three robotic arms to a new Florida facility, which is scheduled to open in the spring. The high-throughput facility in Lake Nona, Fla., will have the capacity to screen more than 2 million compounds a day.

Kill Cancer Cells with the Flip of a Switch

The protein Bcl-2 has long been implicated in protecting cancer cells from apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death that normally keeps cancerous cells in check. Drs. Xiaokun Zhang and Arnold Satterthwait have identified a peptide that makes Bcl-2 change its ways. The peptide, NuBCP-9, acts as a molecular switch by converting Bcl-2 into a death protein that induces apoptosis in cancer cells. This research, published in the October 3 issue of Cancer Cell, may lead to new cancer treatments that target Bcl-2.

What HIV Needs

Because HIV has a small arsenal of just nine genes (coding for 15 proteins), the virus must hijack human cellular proteins to complete its life cycle. Burnham scientists, under the direction of Dr. Sumit Chanda and in collaboration with the Salk Institute, have identified 295 human proteins on which HIV relies to get the job done. Identifying these proteins may lead to a new class of HIV therapeutics that prevent new cells from being infected as opposed to simply slowing down viral replication. By targeting human proteins instead of viral proteins, this new class of therapeutics may circumvent the problem of viral resistance.

Burnham: the Next Generation

Burnham Institute for Medical Research is participating in a novel National Cancer Institute-funded program to train the next generation of scientists from high school to Ph.D. The program, called Continuing Umbrella for Research Experiences (CURE), will provide training in the Cancer Research Center for a diverse group of under-represented, minority and low-income high school students from The Preuss School. Starting their senior year in high school, students will begin cancer research projects at Burnham during a Summer Science Enrichment Program. After this research training at Burnham and their high school graduation, students will attend the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where they will join the CURE program for incoming freshman and continue their cancer research. Upon completion of their undergraduate studies, students will return to Burnham, remain at UCSD or attend another university to earn Ph.D.s in health science.

Deep Diving for Drug Discovery

Researchers at Burnham's Lake Nona, Fla. campus, in collaboration with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, are creating synthetic anti-cancer compounds that model naturally occurring compounds found in sea sponges. Burnham scientist Jennifer Hoffman, Sr. Research Associate for Dr. Gregory Roth, joined Harbor Branch scientists on a submersible dive off the coast of Fort Pierce, Fla. to search for sponge samples to be used in cancer research. Sponges contain a diverse collection of naturally occurring compounds, including aphrocallistin, which may lead to treatments for pancreatic cancer. Roth and Hoffman have successfully synthesized the compound in small quantities and will now focus on developing methods to produce the molecule in sufficient scale to support continued research without continued harvesting.

About Burnham Institute for Medical Research

Burnham Institute for Medical Research is dedicated to revealing the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devising the innovative therapies of tomorrow. Burnham, with operations in California and Florida, is one of the fastest growing research institutes in the country. The Institute ranks among the top four institutions nationally for National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding and among the top 25 organizations worldwide for its research impact. Burnham utilizes a unique, collaborative approach to medical research and has established major research programs in cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, infectious and inflammatory and childhood diseases. The Institute is also known for its world-class capabilities in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies. Burnham is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation. For more information, visit www.burnham.org.

Source: Business Wire

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