Congratulations to “Dr” Dagmara Wiatrek on passing her PhD viva exam today!
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Amélie wins Poster Prize at the Zinc-UK/ZincNet conference in Belfast
Congratulations to Amélie Sobczak from the Stewart lab who won a £200 poster prize at the Zinc-UK/ZincNet conference, which took place at the Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast this week. (21st-22nd Nov). Amélie, a BHF-funded PhD student, presented a poster entitled “Regulation of coagulation by zinc: characterisation of zinc-dependent heparin neutralisation by fibrinogen and histidine-rich-glycoprotein”. Dr Siavash Khazaipoul also presented a poster at the meeting, his focussed on how “Free Fatty Acids Alter Plasma Zinc Speciation via an Allosteric Switch on Serum Albumin: Implications for Zinc Bioavailability”. The conference was the first joint meeting of the UK and European zinc biology networks. The Stewart lab would like to thank the organisers, particularly Dr Imre Lengyel for making this meeting a huge success.
The British Heart Foundation Visit the Metal Ions in Medicine Group
Representatives from the British Heart Foundation were in St Andrews on the 11th November to find out more about the research that they fund and to see first-hand the world-class research facilities that exist within the School of Medicine and BSRC. Dr Alan Stewart and Dr Sam Pitt as well as other researchers from the Metal Ions in Medicine Group (Dr Siavash Khazaipoul, Amelie Sobczak and Gavin Robertson) presented updates on their work. In addition, Prof David Harrison (Director of Research for the School of Medicine) and Prof Jim Naismith (Director of the BSRC) provided the charity with an overview of the cutting edge biomedical research being carried out within the University.
Collaborative work highlighted in University of Virginia Press Release
The University of Virginia has today issued a press release entitled “Here’s How Your Body Transports Zinc to Protect Your Health“. This relates to the Stewart lab’s collaborative work with Prof. Wladek Minor (University of Virginia), Dr Maksymilian Chruszcz (University of South Carolina) and Dr Claudia Blindauer (University of Warwick), whereby the first X-ray crystal structures of human and equine serum albumins bound to zinc are presented. Serum albumin is the major carrier of zinc in the blood and is required for the effective systemic distribution of this essential nutrient.The new findings are published in the open-access journal, Chemical Science. Full text of the article is available here.
Age-related macular degeneration research highlighted by Fight for Sight.
Fight for Sight have posted a 2 minute video on their website – highlighting an ongoing study in the Stewart lab that examines the contribution of hydroxyapatite in the formation of sub-retinal pigment epithelial deposits. These deposits are a hallmark of age-related maciular degeneration, a common cause of blindness in older individuals. The video which features Dr Stewart and Dr Imre Lengyel (from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) was filmed during a recent visit to the charity.
The article and a link to the video can be found here: http://www.fightforsight.org.uk/news-and-views/articles/science-blog/overview-drs-imre-lengyel-and-alan-stewart-on-amd/
Circulatory zinc transport occurs at distinct interdomain sites on mammalian albumins
Zinc is an essential nutrient in the body that is required for virtually all biological processes, therefore its homeostasis and trafficking is of fundamental interest. Serum albumin is the major carrier of Zn2+ in the blood and is required for its systemic distribution. In collaboration with Prof. Wladek Minor (University of Virginia), Dr Maksymilian Chruszcz (University of South Carolina) and Dr Claudia Blindauer (University of Warwick), the Stewart lab present the first crystal structures of human serum albumin (HSA) and equine serum albumin (ESA) in complex with Zn2+. The structures allow unambiguous identification of the major zinc binding site on these two albumins, as well as several further, weaker zinc binding sites. Furthermore, analysis of Zn2+ binding to HSA and ESA proved the presence of secondary sites with 20-50-fold weaker affinities, which may be important under certain physiological conditions. Collectively, these findings are critical to our understanding of the role serum albumin plays in circulatory Zn2+ handling and cellular delivery. The new findings are published in the open-access journal, Chemical Science. Full text of the article is available here.
Visit to Fight for Sight HQ
Dr Alan Stewart visited Fight for Sight yesterday, together with Dr Imre Lengyel (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) to update the charity on the recent progress made on their Fight for Sight project grant.
They were excited to meet the FFS team who extended a warm welcome and gave insight into the great work that the charity does. In addition to fundraising and funding new research, the charity is committed to raising awareness of issues surrounding visual impairment and informing on new developments in the field. Drs Stewart and Lengyel are especially grateful to Dolores Conroy, Fight for Sight’s Director of Research, for the invitation to attend.
EU COST Action Meeting (Zinc-Net): Dietary supplements vs food biofortification and the gut microbiome, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dr Alan Stewart would like to thank the organisers (Profs. Nicky Lowe, Fernando Lidon and Radostina Alexandrova) of the EU COST Action Meeting (Zinc-Net TD1304) on dietary supplements vs food biofortification and the gut microbiome, which took place on the 22nd/23rd March 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Dr Stewart presented his work relating to the interplay between fatty acids and plasma zinc status and the implications of this dynamic for zinc bioavailability. In addition, he acted as rapporteur (together with Dr José C. Ramalho, Universidade de Lisboa) for the third scientific session on “Zinc Biofortification”.
Dr Mohammed Arastoo
Congratulations to Mohammed Arastoo on passing his PhD viva today!
Is eye research the best kept secret?
In a recent article published in the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) magazine Julian Jackson, a Senior Adviser at Fight for Sight, argues that scientists working in the field of vision research need to better communicate the work they do to eye health professionals, patients and the public. A link to the article can be found here.
To help to address this Fight for Sight have established a Speaker Network, made up of over 100 academic researchers, clinician scientists and clinicians offering a wide range of expertise and experience. The aim of the network is to target large annual conferences, AGM’s and key optical events as well as regional and local meetings to ensure maximum reach and penetration of the charity’s message about the critical importance of eye research.