X-Message-Number: 31184
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:49:28 -0700
From: Hugh Hixon <>
Subject: Breakthrough in Cell-type Analysis Offers New Ways to Study



http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~090~ACCT~9000000100~ISSUE~0811~RELTYPE~RLSN~PRODCODE~0000000~PRODLETT~N.html
Breakthrough in Cell-type Analysis Offers New 
Ways to Study Development and Disease

Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to 
know exactly what types of cells to attack. While 
decimating one cadre of cells, diseases will 
inexplicably spare a seemingly identical group of 
neighbors. What makes cells vulnerable or not 
depends largely on the kinds and amounts of 
proteins they produce   their "translational 
profile,” in the lingo of molecular biology. For 
this reason, scientists have struggled to parse 
the subtle molecular differences among the 
hundreds of specialized cell types that are 
tangled together in tissues like the brain.

Now, in back-to-back papers in the November 14 
issue of the journal Cell, researchers at The 
Rockefeller University report a breakthrough in 
cellular analysis that slashes through this 
Gordian knot. The scientists have developed a 
method to reveal translational profiles by 
isolating the genetic messages that govern 
protein production in different cell types. The 
new method, translating ribosome affinity 
purification (TRAP), uses genetically engineered 
mice to capture these messages as they pass 
through the protein production factories called 
ribosomes. Because the mice have been made to 
express a specially tagged ribosome in only one 
particular cell type, the TRAP method can 
identify all the genetic messages that give that 
cell type its unique identity, including, 
perhaps, its susceptibility to disease.

So TRAP solves a problem that has been a 
fundamental barrier to a deeper understanding of 
the brain and how neurological diseases attack 
it. But because the method can be used to 
distinguish any type of cell in any tissue in any 
organ   not just brain cells   it has 
applications for research into afflictions as 
varied as cancer metastases, coronary artery 
disease and diabetes. The work is a collaboration 
between the labs of Rockefeller professors 
Nathaniel Heintz and Paul Greengard as well as 
colleagues at Northwestern University and the 
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Release date: November 13, 2008

Source: The Rockefeller University

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