INFOrum Scientium. No 4, December Upcoming Events

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1 No 4, December 2004 INFOrum Scientium Information from Forum Scientium; What will happen, and what has happened during the last months? Edited by: Henrik Petersson, This newsletter is available for download at: Further information regarding ForumScientium can be found at: Upcoming Events Below is a list of upcoming events that might be of interest for Forum Scientium members. Further information of each event can be found at the Forum Scientium web page. Event Date Description Weekly Meeting Januari 12 th Year 2005:s first weekly meeting. Location: HU ForumForum Januari 13 th Course in IPR January 24 th (prel) Stefans Column Forum Scientium will again have the weekly (biweekly) meetings at Campus US! During the first six years the meetings were split between US and Valla. During 2003 we had a short period with rather few PhD-students based at US and subsequently no meetings there. This changed significantly this autumn as the three strategic areas Diabetes, Materials in Medicine and Inflammation decided to join Forum. There is now appr 55 PhD-students active within Forum, and the distribution is 20 at US and 35 at Valla. Also the distribution between sex is now back to normal, 28 women and 27 men. As announced at another place in this INFOrum we will Thursday 13 th of January 2005 have a new Forum Forum with nine interesting speakers from US and Valla. And the planning for a new summer conference in August has already started. One of the first things that will be done 2005 is to start the new organization of Forum with a local advisory board. Forum earlier had a committee with participants from the industry that had a very important function during the first years. In the new situation with only university funding a board composed of researchers from LiU is superior. During autumn 2004 I have not had enough time for Forum. As an example I have not had enough time for individual follow-up talks with you. My intention is that this will be much better during But first let us have a refreshing, stimulating, energizing and relaxing Christmas holiday. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Stefan Klintström, Program Director Report from Study Visit Monday the 22 th of November Forum Scientium went to Stockholm for two days of study visits. On the first day we were visiting Vetenskapsrådet, Acreo, and Affibody. We ended the day with a nice dinner, pool play and sauna. On Tuesday we visited Perimed and Astra Zeneca. I think all participants agree on that the presentations were interesting and that Christian and Camilla made a good job planning the trip. Are you interested in what we learned and saw from the different companies? Reports from each visit can be read here in under.

2 Vetenskapsrådet Stockholm city centre, Monday morning The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) is a government authority responsible for Swedish basic science. The main tasks are research funding, science information and research policy. There are 150 employees of whom 35 are PhD s. The Council s work is divided in four disciplines in which the secretary generals are external researchers recruited from different universities. The disciplines are Humanities and Social Sciences, Medicine, Natural and Engineering Sciences and Secretary General of Educational Science. A fifth area, Infrastructure, is developing and planned to be added to the other four. About project funding applications are sent to the Research Council each year. In addition the council receives applications for available research position. About 21% of the project applications are granted which makes a total of 2.5 billion SEK every year. The average grant is SEK (corresponding to 1 PhD student). Except presenting the organization, our hosts also gave us a few hints how we should try to adapt our future application to stand a good chance of approval. The visit was very interesting and we are grateful towards The Swedish Research Council. Editors Remark: The visit to VR was arranged by Former Forum member Martin Testorf who now works as Project Manager at VR Carl-Oskar Jonson and Maria Bolin Acreo Kista Science Park, Monday afternoon We were welcomed to ACREO by Anders Johansson (market director). He gave us an overview of ACREO s activities and core competences. ACREO is something in between a research institute and a consultant company. It is to 60 % owned by industrial organization called FMOF and to 40 % by the government owned IRECO. At the moment ACREO has 150 employees located in Kista, Norrköping, Jönköping and Hudiksvall. The mission of ACREO is Acreo contributes to increased competitiveness, growth and entrepreneurship by refining and transferring research results into viable products and processes in microelectronics and optics.. Thanks to close cooperation with universities ACREO has very large lab facilities and can therefore help small and middle sized companies to get access to microelectronics and optics technology. ACREO assist in manufacturing prototypes and smaller series of products and carry out tests of products. Some of their ongoing projects are the development of IR imaging systems, broadband communication testing on a national broadband test bed and research in organic electronics, where the aim is to make low-cost electronics based on paper instead of silicon. Christian Vieder gave us an overview of ACREO s activities within combinations of biotechnology and microtechology For example ACREO has worked with the companies GYROS and their lab-on-a-cd concept and Gnothis, which works with DNA analysis. Blood pressure sensors and protein array chips are also developed within ACREO. Finnaly we were given a tour around the clean room facilities of ACREO. Anna Herland and Lars Faxälv Affibody Bromma, Monday afternoon After lunch on Monday half of the group visited Affibody while the others went to Acreo. Anna Polgren and her colleagues presented the company and the affibody technology. The company was founded in 1998 and has about 65 employees (2004). All of the 55 researchers have a higher education and over 35 percent of them hold PhD-degrees. Their business/collaboration partners are GE Healthcare (former Amersham Biosciences), Finnzymes, Astra Tech, Mabtech, Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institute, Uppsala University. The affibody molecules are derived from one of five IgG binding domains (Fc parts) of Staphylococcus protein A. The molecules consist of only 58 aminoacids and have a molecular weight of 6 kda, which is 25 times smaller than antibodies that have a molecular weight of 150 kda. The highly specific affibodies have similar binding affinity as antibodies but have the advantage of better penetrate tissues, being more stable against proteases and are easily produced

3 by chemical synthesis or in bacteria (by means of phage display). The company produces libraries with different affibody variants by randomisation of 13 aminoacids. They have 17 patented affibody families. It is possible to build both monomers and multimers. The affibodies can also be tagged or fused to reporters (dyes/radioactivity). The company s key business areas are Biotherapeutics and Biotechnology: Biotherapeutics Biopharmaceuticals treatment of breast cancer (ligand for HER-2). In vivo imaging visualization of tumours and metastasis for diagnosis of cancer. Therapeutic apheresis removal of plasma components (amyloid β) by dialysis in Alzheimers disease. Biotechnology Proteomics ligands as biomarkers, in drug discovery, on protein arrays or for target validation Separomics affinity chromatography ligands for protein purification and cell separation Affibody-projects under development are in the fields of inflammation (TNF-α) and lymphoma (CD20, CD22). The presentations were nice and during the fika several interesting subjects were discussed. Afterwards, Anna showed us around in their laboratory before we went back down town for a pleasant night at the restaurant. More information at: Anne Lahdenperä and Anders Bresell Perimed Järfälla, Tuesday morning During the second day (23/11) of our study visit trip to Stockholm, we went to Perimed in Jakobsberg. The company was founded in 1981 and has about 30 employees (of which two are PhD) at their main facility. The instruments Perimed develop and produce are based on laser Doppler flowmetry and measure capillary blood flow and related parameters. The blood perfusion is measured in two different modes; single point and imaging. Normally the blood flow is measured before, during (only single point) and after provocation. The different provocations normally used are temperature, occlusion, drugs, posture and electrical stimulation. They also offer devices for monitoring of transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide. Perimed s main target customers are University hospitals, research centres, wound care clinics and pharmaceutical companies. Applications include evaluation of burns and to monitor the status of internal organs during operations involving massive blood loss. This type of instrument can also be used to determine the minimum level of amputation. Furthermore, this technique is the only one to offer the possibility to measure the blood flow in the tooth pulp. All in all it was a very well organised visit with interesting demonstrations. Andréas Larsson and Jenny Carlsson Astra Zeneca Södertälje, Tuesday afternoon Astra Zeneca is a major international pharmaceutical company (6 th in size). The Research headquarter is located in Södertälje. We arrived and were greeted by Camilla Larsen, who is responsible for student relations. She led us to the personnel restaurant where we started off with

4 a nice lunch. After that we had a session where we got some information on Astra Zeneca, the history and present status of the company. The future was covered by Samuel Svensson, who used to work at the Health faculty in Linköping, but has now been working for Astra Zeneca for 2.5 years. He gave us a small lecture on how early drug discovery works at the company. He also gave some insights into the benefits of working for a company related to working for a university; the major ones being that the resources are so much bigger and that everyone in the company works together towards a common goal. The downside, according to Dr Svensson, was the lesser freedom. He also took us on a tour to see the new high-tech lab, which was very impressive. One of the most interesting instruments was used for measuring current through ion channels on single cells in an array after drug exposure. Homepage: Goran Klenkar and Daniel Aili A Project Within Forum Scientium Immune regulation in type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes is caused by interplay between genetic factors and environmental factors. Genes (HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8) coding for the MHC class II antigen presenting molecules have been shown to account for most of the genetic susceptibility. Several environmental factors, e.g. viruses, infant formulas, psychological stress, have been suggested to be involved in triggering type 1 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes the insulin producing β-cells are destroyed by the body s own immune system, and T-cells have been considered to be responsible for this process. T-cells can be divided into type 1 (Th1) and type 2 (Th2) cells, which have different tasks in immune responses. The polarisation towards Th1 or Th2 plays a role in the outcome of the immune response to foreign antigens e.g. viruses. The T-cell polarisation is regulated by dendritic cells. Only about 50 % of children with high risk (genetic susceptibility and autoantibodies toward β-cell antigens) of type 1 diabetes actually develop the disease. Our hypothesis is that children with type 1 diabetes have an impaired control of autoimmune responses allowing type 1 diabetes to develop. Our studies are focused on regulation of T-cells and the maturation of dendritic cells. We have also studied how genetic risk of type 1 diabetes affects the T-cell polarization and maturation of dendritic cells. Furthermore, we have studied the immune response to Coxsackie virus B4 in children with type 1 diabetes or with risk genotype for type 1 diabetes compared to healthy children. Our results show that the maturation of dendritic cells is aberrant in both children with type 1 diabetes and in children with risk genotype for type 1 diabetes in comparison to healthy children and this suggest these maturation defects are related to genetic susceptibility. When we studied the polarisation of T-cells we have seen that the regulation of the T-cell polarisation is impaired in children with type 1 diabetes. We have also found that children with type 1 diabetes have an aberrant T-cell response to this Coxsackie virus B4 and this may lead to a delayed elimination of the virus. This may be an explaination of why children with type 1 diabetes have been reported to have had more Coxsackie B4 virus infections in comparison to healthy children. Susanne Skarsvik, Ph.D. student, IMK pediatrics Life After Forum Scientium Nano Engineering and protection of cultural heritages in Vilnius Time flies: it was exciting to prepare and to defend my thesis nearly four years ago, and soon my postdoc period is nearly finished too. And how was it? From the spring 2001 to summer 2003 I worked as a gästlärare at Bo Liedbergs group. It took some time to publish the most important stuff

5 from my thesis, but the main interest was to explore the so-called soft methods for the fabrication of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures. The project was split in two parts. In one, I collaborated with Vesa Loitto and Karl-Eric Magnusson. We were learning how to guide and control white blood cells with help of imprinted smart surfaces. It was a kind of twining that we always have been interested to try. And it turned out to be promising, so Bo and Kalle are continuing this research. And in the other part, I was supervising Šarūnas Vaitekonis, a Marie Curie fellow from the Institute of Physics, Vilnius. In about one year we established a nanolithographic method for the surface immobilization of membrane proteins. However, I found out that one has to have much more handson experience if one intends to dig deeper into this field. Therefore I decided to refresh my knowledge in membrane biochemistry. Frankfurt is a good place for this purpose, with several strong groups forming the Centre for Membrane Proteomics. I have now been here around a year, since September 2003, and in a few weeks I will move on again. At a certain stage one might realize that one wants to get more independent. And this is exactly what happened to me! So in November I am starting as a group leader at the Institute of Physics in Vilnius. It is a challenging project. Hopefully it will result in a unique state-of-the art laboratory specialized in organic nanoengineering of surfaces. The key methods will be AFM based lithographies. The applications aim at both biotechnology and organic electronics, and local industry is also interested to participate. For sure, the collaboration with Linköping (and Frankfurt too) will go on, and I will be always happy meeting my Forum colleagues now and then. Science is fun but life is not only about it. Home and family are important, and by settling back in Lithuania we hope to share with the others our experience of living in different countries. For example, I and my wife are very much interested in protection of cultural heritage and living closer to historical landmarks that are precious to us, and we hope to become more engaged in such activities in the future. Rudamina, a former wooden fortress of ancient Baltic tribes. Hundreds of such hill forts make the Lithuanian landscape special. The shot is taken from a spot were we are setting up a private museum. Interested to learn more? Do not hesitate to contact us! Ramūnas Valiokas, postdoc at the Institute of Biochemistry, Frankfurt University Life After Forum Scientium 皆 さん こんにちは 元 気 ですか 私 は 元 気 です 今 私 は 日 本 にすんでいます I wonder how this adventure will end. Hopefully with great research results and fluent Japanese (yeah, right...), my two goals. We (of course I brought my family) are living in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan. Fukuoka is a nice small town with about 1.3 million inhabitants, and includes, among other things, a tower (any town with pride must have a tower), a good baseball team (Hawks), a bustling entertainment quarter (actually an island, with a huge number of restaurants, bars, and, well, hmm, other entertainment facilities), and one of the more famous universities outside Tokyo, namely Kyushu University. After my arrival I soon realised, just like any foreigner that there are two rules that stand out like beacons over all the other rules (yes, there are MANY rules, many which only make sense to Japanese people, like the 2 week rule at our apartment: things that break (and there are things that break, trust me) can not be fixed in at least two weeks, no matter if it is the airconditioner (which obviously went kaput at a period when every existing heat record was broken), the

6 kitchen fan (special 3 week rule?), or a lamp (hey, it is just a lamp...) However, if you understand the two major rules, and adopt, everything will be all right. Major rule 1: In Japan, people speak Japanese. Major rule 2: There are no rules for bicycles. Explanation of Major rule 1: This might seem obvious, but the meaning is that they speak ONLY Japanese. Not English, not Chinese, not Russian, not French, not even Swedish. Well, every rule has an exception, and some people actually speak a foreign language, either English or Engrish. At lab, I can communicate to some ("some", not "large") extent with maybe 50% of the staff/students (26 people). Adoption of Major rule 1: Either learn Japanese or SPEAK LOUDER (ask any American, they know). I go for the former. Explanation of Major rule 2: Every day thousands of Japanese play the old Japanese game of "kamikaze" with their bikes, either on the street or the pavement. Amendment no.1: "Every bike must be in the colour of either silver or red." Amendment no.2: "If you do not like your bicycle any more, just leave it anywhere." Amendment no.3: "Even though frontand back-lights are available in the stores for 105 yen (7 SEK) a piece, they should not be used since it makes the kamikazegame less fun." Adoption of Major rule 2: No problem. I have also noticed that Japanese people take their food seriously. Every second, 24 h a day, it seems like, there are food programs on TV. Not only cooking programs, but information on different food stuffs or talk shows or game shows, or whatever you can think off regarding food. It is quite entertaining, actually. And the food is great! Especially if you like to make the eating an adventure. You can try all kinds of interesting food, such as different kinds of sea weed, sea urchin, various raw fishes including octopus and squid (can also be found grilled on a stick for your lollipop treat), raw horse, jelly fish, whale (got to support the research), sea cumber, etc. Be careful with the whale, though, some restaurants are said to serve dolphin instead, even if it is marked as whale. (Which does not matter since you can not read the menu anyway...). I find most food おいしい (delicious), except, maybe, for the sea urchin. Regarding the research, they are doing good and interesting sensor research here, with nice equipment even though the surrounding facilities are "hey, come and help me" status. The walls have not been painted the last 100(?) years and the many floor tiles are missing. The big crack in the window I noticed when I was here five years ago is still there (no worry, it is fixed with tape.) I am working with a new kind of electronic nose that are to mimic the human nose, a "smell sensor". Currently I am investigating different surfaces used for the sensor, using an AFM. I am enjoying my stay here, there is always new challenges, like how to find the right bus, or how not be blown away by the typhoons. Patrik Ivarsson, Fukuoka, Conference Contributions Oral at conference K. Hallen J. Bjorkegren J. Tegner, Identifying compound mode of action, 5 th Swedish Bioinformatics Workshop, Lund, Poster at conference J.W.P. Bakker D. Filippini I. Lundström, Computer screen photo-assisted fluorescence fingerprinting, Optik i Sverige 2004, Collegium, Mjärdevi Science Park, Linköping, 9 November 2004 Andréas Larsson, Johan Angbrant, Johan Ekeroth, Per Månsson and Bo Liedberg, Technology for Detection of Explosives (TNT), ICBP 2004 (5th International Conference on Biological Physics 2004), Chalmers Conference Center, Gothenburg, Sweden, August