SLAS Point-to-Point

SLAS The Lab Man — Your smartphone and laboratory automation

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Sure, everyone uses their mobile devices for texts, e-mail or web browsing, but who's using them as actual remote laboratory tools? The Lab Man names a few users in his latest blog and podcast.

SLAS Asia conference: High content screening in corporate and academic labs

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Vance Lemmon, Ph.D., professor of neurological surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Eberhard Krausz, Ph.D., director of discovery assay technologies at Janssen Research & Development Belgium, combine to teach "High Content Screening: Instrumentation, Assay Development, Screening, Image and Data Analysis." This is one of three short courses offered at the 2012 SLAS Asia Conference and Exhibition, June 19-21, Shanghai, China. In this video, Lemmon discusses his work with The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

JBS June issue now online

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

SLAS Biomolecular Screening Section members are invited to access the June issue of JBS. "Agents That Stabilize Mutated von Hippel–Lindau Protein: Results of a High-Throughput Screen to Identify Compounds That Modulate VHL Proteostasis" and "Development of Biochemical Assays for the Identification of eIF4E-Specific Inhibitors" are among the original research articles included.

Schedule enhanced for SLAS SIG meetings at SLAS2013

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Fourteen SLAS Special Interest Groups will gather and address focused topics during the Second Annual SLAS Conference and Exhibition, Jan. 12-16, Orlando, Fla. Get involved with a SIG (it’s free) by participating in its LinkedIn group and generate thoughts and ideas prior to in-person meetings scheduled in three time slots over two days at SLAS2013. Current SIGs include Academic Drug Discovery, ADMET, Automation Quality Control, Data and Image Analysis, Drug Repurposing, Informatics, Labware Leachables, Microplate Standards, Sample Management, Screen Design and Assay Technology, Standards Initiatives, Stem Cells; Technology Transfer and CRO/CMO Project Management; and Women Professionals in Science and Technology.

Career Connections: Jobs and advice abound!

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Job seekers check SLAS Career Connections, as do employers seeking ideal candidates for laboratory science and technology job openings. But did you know that SLAS Career Connections also includes regularly updated career-enhancing news items? Resume advice, NIH funding trends, European opportunities and science Ph.D. career preferences are among recent topics covered.

Discovery of a potent small-molecule antagonist of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins and clinical candidate for treatment of cancer

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

A series of compounds were designed and synthesized as antagonists of cIAP1/2, ML-IAP and XIAP based on the N-terminus, AVPI, of mature Smac. Compound 1 (GDC-0152) has the best profile of these compounds; it binds to the XIAP BIR3 domain, the BIR domain of ML-IAP, and the BIR3 domains of cIAP1 and cIAP2 with K_i values of 28, 14, 17 and 43 nM, respectively.

The role of polar, lamdba (Λ)-shaped building units in noncentrosymmetric inorganic structures

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

A methodology for the design of polar, inorganic structures is demonstrated here with the packing of lambda (Λ)-shaped basic building units. Noncentrosymmetric solids with interesting physical properties can be created with BBUs that lack an inversion center and are likely to pack into a polar configuration; previous methods to construct these solids have used NCS octahedra as BBUs.

Raman spectroscopic analysis of gunshot residue offering great potential for caliber differentiation

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Near-infrared Raman microspectroscopy combined with advanced statistics was used to differentiate gunshot residue particles originating from different caliber ammunition. The firearm discharge process is analogous to a complex chemical reaction. The reagents of this process are represented by the chemical composition of the ammunition, firearm and cartridge case.

Agent boosts cancer cells' vulnerability

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

A newly designed and synthesized compound inhibits a protection scheme that helps cancer cells evade chemotherapy, and it has much greater potency than a comparable agent in clinical trials. The compound, called Lys05, is a possible lead for a drug that could be coadministered with other cancer drugs to enhance their effectiveness.

Imaging HIV in infected cells reveals viral tactics

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

The tactics that HIV uses to infect cells have been visualized in greater detail than ever before, thanks to a microscopy technique that allows even structures within viruses to be seen. Conventional light microscopes cannot resolve structures that are smaller than about 200 nanometers because they are limited by the wavelength of visible light.

Researchers discover novel approach to stimulate immune cells

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Dipak Sarkar, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and his research team have been able to take a new pharmacological approach to activate the immune cells to prevent cancer growth through stimulation of the opiate receptors found on immune cells.

Low-cost nanosheet catalyst discovered to split hydrogen from water

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Hydrogen gas offers one of the most promising sustainable energy alternatives to limited fossil fuels. But traditional methods of producing pure hydrogen face significant challenges in unlocking its full potential, either by releasing harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or requiring rare and expensive chemical elements such as platinum.

Mild traumatic brain injury may alter brain's neuronal circuit excitability

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Even mild head injuries can cause significant abnormalities in brain function that last for several days, which may explain the neurological symptoms experienced by some individuals who have experienced a head injury associated with sports, accidents or combat, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers.

Chinese physicists smash distance record for teleportation

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

Teleportation is the extraordinary ability to transfer objects from one location to another without traveling through the intervening space. The idea is not that the physical object is teleported but the information that describes it. This can then be applied to a similar object in a new location which effectively takes on the new identity. And it is by no means science fiction.

Key found to rare genetic disease Hamamy syndrome

16 May 2012 10:31:57 CDT

A single genetic mutation seems to cause the abnormal facial features and other defects that come along with Hamamy syndrome, a rare disorder. The work lends new insights into common ailments such as heart disease, osteoporosis, blood disorders and possibly sterility.