Eminent US Medical Institute uses Dyversity Image Analysis System - To Detect Proteins Associated with Longer Human Life Span
 

June 18th 2009 Cambridge, UK: Syngene, a world-leading manufacturer of image analysis solutions, is pleased to announce that one of the USA’s foremost Medical Research Centers, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York is using Dyversity, Syngene’s 2D gel imaging system, to assist in understanding the proteomic basis of human aging.

Scientists in the Departments of Medicine and Molecular Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine are isolating proteins from the serum of Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians, their offspring and age-matched offspring controls. The proteins are extracted and then run on 1D gels stained with Coomassie blue and are also transferred onto Western blots, probed with different antibodies and then stained with Horse Radish Peroxidase. The 1D protein gels and Western blots produced are imaged and analysed using a Dyversity system, enabling researchers to detect specific proteins and establish if these are connected with a longer life.

Dr Cagdas Tazearslan, Research Associate at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, commented: “We have been using the Dyversity since 2008 and we installed this system because we needed to accurately detect small amounts of proteins and also assess phosphorylation levels of different signal transduction molecules which may have an impact on the human aging process.”

Dr Tazearslan continued: “By using the Dyversity we have been able to rapidly generate reproducible image data to measure how different IGF1R gene variants found in centenarians differentially modulate phosphorylation levels of downstream kinases and transcription factors. By using Dyversity, we are able to avoid saturation problems experienced when using X-ray films, therefore we have more confidence in the band quantification. Because of this, not only our group, but also different labs within the college prefer to use the Dyversity system to produce images and quantify their bands.”

Paula Maia, Syngene’s Vice President of Sales stated: “We are delighted the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which is well known for its top class research, is generating such exciting results using the Dyversity system. Their work leads the way for other scientists looking for an image analyzer to rapidly produce high integrity data with even small amounts of protein, and proves that assessing a Dyversity system for any proteomics project is a well-informed decision.”
 

-Ends-

For Further Information Contact:
Jayne Arthur, Syngene, Beacon House, Nuffield Road, Cambridge, CB4 1TF, UK.
Tel: +44(0) 1223-727123 Fax +44 (0) 1223-727101
Email: jayne.arthur@syngene.com  Web site: www.syngene.com 

Cagdas Tazearslan Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Tel: (718) 430-2000
Email: tcagdas@aecom.yu.edu  Web: www.aecom.yu.edu

Editor Contact:
Dr Sue Pearson, Director, International Science Writer, PO Box 170, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 3GD, UK.
Tel/Fax +44 (0) 1462-635327 Email: sue6.pearson@ntlworld.com

Note to Editors

About Syngene

Syngene is a world-leading supplier of integrated imaging solutions for analysis and documentation of gel-based information. Syngene’s systems are used by more than 10,000 research organisations and over 50,000 individual scientists world-wide and include many of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies and major research institutes.

Syngene, founded in 1997 is a division of the Cambridge based Synoptics Group. The Group’s other divisions, Syncroscopy and Synbiosis, specialise in digital imaging solutions for microscopy and microbial applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs 40 people in its UK and subsidiary operation in Frederick, USA.

About The Albert Einstein College of Medicine

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine based in New York, is one of the USA’s premier institutions for medical education, basic research and clinical investigation. The College is home to some 2,000 faculty members, 750 M.D. students and 350 Ph.D. students. More than 7,000 Albert Einstein alumni serve as the USA’s foremost clinicians, biomedical scientists and medical educators.