Dr Stewart recently attended a workshop in Israel on the topic of Zinc & Diabetes. The meeting which took place on 28-30th November brought together over 20 principal investigators from both the UK and Israel. The workshop led to interesting discussions relating to the roles that deficiency and mishandling of zinc play in the disease. Dr Stewart would especially like to thank Prof Arie Moran (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel) and Dr Imre Lengyel (Queen’s University Belfast) for putting together such an interesting programme and the Academic Study Group for funding.
Photograph taken of some of the workshop participants during an excursion to the Negev Desert, Israel.
Amélie receiving her prize from Prof Wolfgang Maret.
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.
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.
Visitors from BHF on the roof of the BSRC Annexe. From left to right: Jim Naismith (Director, BSRC), Richard Forsyth (Health Services Engagement Lead, BHF); Sarah Miller (Fundraising Manager, BHF); Sam Pitt; Alan Stewart; Kylie Barclay (Policy & Public Affairs Assistant, BHF); Pauline Davie (Retail Area Manager, BHF); David McColgan (Policy & Public Affairs Manager, BHF); Marjory Wood (Communications & Engagement Manager, BHF).Representatives from BHF visit the Stewart and Pitt labs.
An artist’s interpretation of zinc being transported in the bloodstream. Image courtesy of Prof. Wladek Minor.
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.
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.
Locations of zinc-binding sites on equine serum albumin.
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.
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.
The Pitt lab would like to congratulate Lara Beaumont on receiving the Dean of Medicine prize and the Professor Andrew C. Riches prize for the best lab based honours research project.
Lara was a recipient of the Wolfson Foundation Intercalated degree award when she joined our group to investigate how zinc regulates calcium release in heart failure. It was a real pleasure to have Lara in the lab and we wish her every success for the future.
Dr Pitt took part in the Chrysalis project; an artistic interpretation of pursuing scientific research. This project was funded by the Biochemical Society Diversity in Science Fund and the Wellcome Trust’s Institutional Strategic Support Fund.
Professional local artist Sophie McKay Knight met both young and established female researchers at the University of St Andrews to examine how creativity and imagination are required, as well as integrity and precision when pursuing scientific research. Sophie visited our lab to find out about the day-to-day life of a scientist and to learn more about our current research. The conversations the group had with Sophie and some of current data were interpreted into artwork which formed part of an exhibition entitled Elements, 23 March – 30 April 2016 at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews.
