ACS New York Section
Biochemical Topical
Discussion Group
2008 Annual Report
The Biochemical Topical Group of the New York Section of the American
Chemical Society in collaboration with the Biochemical Pharmacology discussion
Group (BPDG) of The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) had an exceptionally
active and successful year. The combination represents a diverse group of
scientists interested in biochemistry, molecular biology, biomedical research,
drug discovery and related areas. Members are from pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies and from university and medical center research
facilities across the Eastern United States.
We sponsored eight symposia in 2008, including two full-day
symposia. They were held at the NYAS, without cost to our group. The
NYAS moved from its mid-town location to its new spectacular home at 7 World
Trade Center.
The topics and speakers for these symposia are selected by vote of
the membership from approximately 25 potential programs proposed by members
of the Steering Committee. The proposed programs are based on many
more submitted (any scientist may propose a program). The scientists
who suggest the topic then chair that meeting, with support from the Steering
Committee. This selection process results in arranging programs of
special interest to the membership, with shared responsibilities for their
success. The Programs are announced each month in The Indicator to
ensure that all New York and North Jersey ACS members are informed.
Each half-day symposium included 5-6 speakers, and 8 scientists
presented at the full-day February and September symposia. Coffee
breaks in the middle of each session provided opportunities for interactions.
Submitted by:
Barbara Petrack, Ph.D.
Chair, Biochemical Topical Group
SYMPOSIA
January 22
Rethinking Natural Products as a Source of Drug Leads
1:00 PM Introduction and Symposium
Theme
Takushi Kaneko, PhD, TB Alliance, New York, New York and
Vincent Gullo, PhD, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey
1:15 PM Developing a Drug-Like Natural Product Screening
Library
Ronald J. Quinn, PhD, Eskitis Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane,
Australia
2:00 PM Pathways for Natural Product Drug Discovery
Guy T. Carter, PhD, Wyeth Research, Pearl River, New York
2:45 PM Coffee Break
3:05 PM Turning the Tide of Natural Products Drug Discovery
– Marine Microorganisms as a Source for New Drug Leads
Ray Lam, PhD, Nereus Pharmaceuticals Inc., San Diego, California
3:50 PM Novel Approaches for Antibiotic Discovery: Discovery
of Platensimycin and Platencin
Sheo B. Singh, PhD, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey
4:35 PM 80 Great Years of Microbial Natural Products;
Is There a Future?
Arnold L. Demain, PhD, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey
5:20 PM Wrap-Up/Discussion
February 19 -
Full Day Symposium
From Molecules to Mind: Role of Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis
in CNS Diseases and Consequences
of Dysregulated Peripheral Feedback
8:55 AM Introduction
Irina Antonijevic, Lundbeck Research USA Paramus, NJ
9:00 AM Glucocorticoids, Chronic Stress, and Obesity
Mary F. Dallman, Department of Physiology, University of California San
Francisco, CA
10.00 AM Regulation of the HPA Axis by MCH Peptide: Control
of Feeding and Responses to Stress
Carlos Forray, Target Discovery and Assessment, Lundbeck Research USA,
Paramus, NJ
11:00 AM AM Break
11:30 AM Neuropeptides and the Control of Anxiety Behavior
Zul Merali, Institute of Mental Health Research and Department of Psychiatry,
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Obesity-Related Sleepiness and Fatigue: The Role
of the Stress System and Cytokines
Alexandros Vgontzas, Sleep Research and Treatment Center, Department of
Psychiatry, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
2:30 PM Stress, Glucocorticoids and the Hippocampus
Sonia Lupien, McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada
3:30 PM PM Break
4:00 PM Glucocorticoids Increase Amyloid -Beta and Tau
Pathology in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Frank M. LaFerla Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, University
of California, Irvine, CA
5:00 PM Closing Remarks
David Riddell, Wyeth Discovery Neuroscience, Princeton, NJ
March 25
Recent Advances in Central Oxytocin Research: Implications for Psychiatric
Drug Development
1:00 – 1:10 PM Introduction
Robert H. Ring (Wyeth Research,
Princeton, NJ)
1:15 – 1:55 PM Oxytocin is a Regulator of Emotionality,
Stress Coping, and Social Behaviors: Manipulations Within the Rat Brain
Oliver J. Bosch (University
of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany)
2:00 – 2:40 PM Oxytocin and Vasopressin: Tales from
a Monogamous Mouse
C. Sue Carter (The Brain Body Center
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL)
2:45 – 3:15 PM Coffee Break
3:20 – 4:00 PM Intravenous and Intranasal Oxytocin Targets
Social Cognition and Repetitive Behavior Domains in Autism: Behavioral and
Functional Imaging Findings
Eric Hollander (Department of Psychiatry,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, NY)
4:05 – 4:45 PM Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of
Oxytocin Receptor Agonists for Treating Human CNS Disorders: A Focus on
Anxiety Disorders
Robert H. Ring (Wyeth Research,
Princeton, NJ)
4:50 – 5:00 PM Closing Remarks
Becky Brockel (AstraZeneca)
April 22
New Targets in Atherosclerosis
1:00 pm Introduction
1:15 pm Current Approaches to Increase Reverse Cholesterol
Transport
Richard Lawn, PhD, CV Therapeutics
2:00 pm Transcriptional Mechanisms in the Control of
Vascular Inflammation and Atherosclerosis
Rajendra K. Tangirala, Ph.D, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
2:45 pm Coffee Break
3:15 pm The 5-Lipoxygenase/Leukotriene Pathway: Pro and
Con Arguments as a Target in Atherosclerosis
Colin D. Funk, PhD, Queen's University
4:00 pm Inhibition of the Renin Angiotensin System Reduces
Hypercholesterolemia-Induced Atherosclerosis
Alan Daugherty, PhD, University of Kentucky
4:45 pm Closing Remarks
5:00 pm Meeting Adjourns
May 27
DISC1 and the Developmental Hypothesis of Schizophrenia
1:00 PM Introduction
1:15 PM Centrosomal Pathway of DISC1 in Schizophrenia
Akira Sawa, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore,
Maryland
2:00 PM Understanding the Function of DISC1 through the
DISC1 Interactome
Nicholas Brandon, PhD, Wyeth Research, Princeton, New Jersey
2:45 PM Coffee Break
3:15 PM DISC1 and its Binding Partners: Impact on Schizophrenia-Related
Clinical Traits
Katherine E. Burdick, PhD, North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System,
Glen Oaks, New York
4:00 PM A Mouse Mutagenesis Approach to Elucidating the
Role of DISC1 in the Brain
Steven Clapcote, PhD, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland
4:45 PM Closing Remarks
5:00 PM Adjourn
September 23 - Full
Day Symposium
Novel Approaches to 7-transmembrane Receptor Therapeutics
8:30 - 9:00 AM
Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 9:10 AM Introduction
9:10 - 9:55 AM An Allosteric Approach
for the Modulation of Class A GPCRs: Potential New Therapeutics for Schizophrenia
and Alzheimer’s Disease
Craig Lindsley, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
9:55 – 10:40 AM Molecular Determinants
of GPCR Ligand-Biaised Signalling
Geneviève Oligny-Longpré, University of Montreal, Canada
10:40 – 11:00 AM Refreshments
11:00 – 11:45 AM Distinct b-Arrestin
and G-protein Mediated Signaling Pathways
Jonathan Violin, Duke University, NC
11:45 AM – 12:30 PM GPCR Heterodimerization: Implications
for Modulation of Signaling and Drug Development
Lakshmi Devi, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY
12:30 – 1:30 PM Luncheon
1:30 – 2:15 PM Dopamine D2 Receptors
form Higher Order Oligomers at Physiological Expression Levels
Jonathan Javitch, Columbia University, NY
2:15 – 3:00 PM 5HT2a/mGluR2 Heterodimerization
in Schizophrenia
Jay Gingrich, Columbia University, NY
3:00 – 3:20 PM Refreshments
3:20 – 4:05 PM Regulation of Kappa
Opioid Receptor Trafficking by GEC1
Lee-Yuan Liu-Chen, Temple University School of Medicine, PA
4:05 – 4:50 PM Pharmacological Chaperones:
Therapeutic Potential for Hereditary Diseases
Ken Valenzano, Amicus Therapeutics, NJ
4:50 – 5:00 PM Closing Remarks
October 21
The Class PET: Accelerating CNS Drug Development with Molecular
Imaging
1:00 – 1:10 PM Introduction
Silke Miller (Lundbeck Research USA, Inc, Paramus, NJ))
1:15 – 1:55 PM Functional Neuroimaging as a Roadmap for
Drug Discovery and Drug Development: Current Status and Future Directions
Dean F. Wong (Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Baltimore, MD)
2:00 – 2:40 PM Pharmacokinetic Imaging: A Non-invasive
Method for Determining Drug Distribution and Action
TBD
2:45 – 3:15 PM Coffee Break
3:20 – 4:00 PM Targeting Treatment of Drug Abuse with
Molecular Imaging
Stephen L. Dewey (New York University and Brookhaven National Laboratory,
Upton, NY)
4:05 – 4:45 PM Exploring Putatative CNS Drug Targets
with PET. Examples and Recent Advances.
Svante Nyberg (AstraZeneca R&D, Södertälje, Sweden)
4:50 – 5:00 PM Closing Remarks
Donna L. Maier (AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE)
December 9
Tau and Beyond: Phosphorylation in Neurodegenerative
Disorders
Peter Davies, Albert Einstein College of Medicine:
Phosphorylation of tau as an indicator of signal transduction in
Alzheimer's disease
1:00-1:40
Paul Lombroso, Yale University:
STEP and Alzheimer's Disease
1:40-2:20
Steven Braithwaite, Wyeth Research:
JNKs in Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinsonism and Stroke
2:20-3:00
Break 3:00-3:30
Hilal Lashuel, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland:
The role of _-synuclein phosphorylation in Parkinson’s disease and
related disorders: Mechanistic studies and therapeutic opportunities
3:30-4:10
Asa Abeliovich, Columbia University:
Analysis of the Parkinson's Gene LRRK2: Function and Dysfunction
in Neurites
4:10-4:40
Discussion:
4:40-5:00
Selections for the 2009 BPDG
Symposia
(selected from 29 submitted proposals)
Proposal 4: Protein Kinases: Structure-Guided
Drug Discovery
Proposal 7: Therapeutic Inhibition of BACE1 for the Treatment of Alzheimer's
disease: Separating the Fantasy from the Reality.
Proposal 9: Accelerating Drug Development with Innovative Discovery Platforms
Proposal 11: Tau and Beyond: Phosphorylation in Neurodegenerative Disorders
Proposal 14: Emerging importance of predictive biomarkers in drug Development
Proposal 22: RNAi- A New Class of Biological Therapeutics (full day symposium)
Proposal 24: Is Alzheimer's disease Type 3 Diabetes???
In addition, we will host a special full day symposium : Expanding role
of angiogenesis in cancer therapeutics: The Folkman Legacy