College of Medicine

Aug. 29, 2011

An ordinarily quiet corner of the College of Medicine’s Research Building was teeming with science-minded sightseers Aug. 25 for the open house of the Translational Science Laboratory.

As many as 150 visitors, many from the other science centers at Florida State, came to see this new collection of cutting-edge research equipment all housed in one space.

“We were joined by colleagues from across campus who have research interests that will be complemented by the new lab,” said Myra Hurt, senior associate dean for research and graduate programs. “A lot of research energy was generated.”

Hurt conducted some of the tours herself, as did lab director Roger Mercer and several others. One of the first visitors in line was retired state Sen. Durell Peaden, who was instrumental in the legislative effort to create the College of Medicine in 2000. Also among those touring the lab were Tom Jennings, FSU vice president for university advancement; Ross Ellington, FSU associate vice president for research; Janet Kistner, chair of the FSU Department of Psychology; Rick Hyson, director of Psychology’s Neuroscience Program; Bryant Chase, chair of the FSU Department of Biological Science; Andy Jhanji, executive vice president of the FSU Foundation; John Fogarty, dean of the College of Medicine; four College of Medicine department heads, Janine Edwards (Medical Humanities and Social Sciences), Ric Gonzalez-Rothi (Clinical Sciences), Richard Nowakowski (Biomedical Sciences) and Daniel Van Durme (Family Medicine and Rural Health); and numerous faculty members, staff members and students.

“Our hope is that the lab will help build interdisciplinary research in the college, across the university and elsewhere,” Hurt said. “There are exciting research opportunities ahead for all of us.”

The following information, compiled for the open house, explains more about translational science and the lab itself.

TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE LABORATORY

OVERVIEW
What ‘Translational Science’ Means
Translational science studies human disease with an underlying mission to see basic research discoveries translated into technologies and therapies that benefit the patient.

Why This Lab Was Created
Medical scientists are focused now on translating two decades of biomedical research into cures for human disease. The Translational Science Laboratory provides the physical space, the applied technologies and the staff to serve medical scientists at Florida State and elsewhere in their search for targets for treatment of disease.

The Clinical Difference
The College of Medicine has more than 1,700 physician faculty members at its six regional campuses around the state, and those physicians all have patients. So the medical school’s developing Clinical Research Network provides access to patient samples from diverse populations typically underrepresented in the search for signatures of disease and targets for treatment.

Glossary
•    Genome: the complete set of an organism’s genetic material.
•    Biomarker: a naturally occurring molecule, gene or characteristic by which a particular process or disease can be identified.
•    Proteomics: the branch of genetics that studies the full set of proteins encoded by a genome.
•    Metabolomics: the global analysis of metabolites, small molecules generated in the process of metabolism.

Who Can Use the Lab
The Translational Science Laboratory is open to potential college and university users at Florida State University, as well as users from other universities or entities. Services are available for a fee, and include all aspects – from sample processing to molecule identification, including post-translational modifications. By the way, the lab has the capacity to house 1.5 million frozen biological samples on behalf of the Clinical Research Network.

The Man in Charge of the Lab
Director Roger Mercer is responsible for the ongoing development, overall operation and coordination of daily technical activities of the Translational Science Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and has more than 25 years’ experience in academia and the biotech industry. He’s a hands-on scientist and teacher with experience in biological mass spectrometry and analytical chemistry.

LIST OF THE LAB'S DEVICES
THE BIG SEVEN
Waters Synapt G2 UPLC-nESI-QTOF
… is a high-resolution electrospray tandem mass spectrometer that assists researchers with identifying and quantifying proteins and other molecules. Together with our Waters Xevo TQ-S, it forms a biomarker discovery pipeline.

Thermo LTQ Orbitrap Velos HPLC-nESI-LIT-Orbitrap
… is a very-high-resolution electrospray tandem mass spectrometer that helps researchers identify proteins and other molecules.

AB Sciex 5800 MALDI-TOF/TOF
… is a tandem mass spectrometer that helps researchers identify and quantify proteins and also map the location of molecules. The ability to map molecules within an intact tissue sample – termed mass spectral imaging, or MSI – complements traditional microscopic techniques.

Waters Xevo TQ-S UPLC-nESI-Triple Quadrupole
… is a tandem low-resolution mass spectrometer that helps researchers validate potential biomarkers discovered using our Synapt G2.

Illumina HiSeq 2000 DNA Sequencer
… is a next-generation DNA sequencer that helps researchers determine the sequence of genomic material or entire genomes extremely quickly. It’s capable of repeating the human genome project – which took seven years and cost $3 billion – in eight days for less than $10,000.

Thermo LTQ HPLC-nESI-LIT
… is a tandem mass spectrometer that allows researchers to learn to operate a mass spectrometer and identify the proteins in their samples.

Shimadzu Axima CFP MALDI-TOF
… also allows researchers to learn to operate a mass spectrometer and identify the proteins in their samples.

… AND THE OTHERS
TA Instruments nano-Differential Scanning Calorimeter
… can measure extremely small heat flows, thereby determining the change in the stability of a protein when it interacts with other molecules.

Agilent 1260 HPLC with Wyatt Dawn HELEOS light-scattering detector
… is a high-performance liquid chromatograph equipped with a light-scattering detector. It allows researchers to separate proteins from mixtures and measure their size and weight to help them assess the proteins’ solubility and purity.

GE Healthcare/Amersham MDLC
… is a multidimensional liquid chromatograph that helps researchers separate small quantities of proteins.

GE Healthcare/Amersham Akta FPLC
… is a liquid chromatograph that helps researchers purify larger quantities of proteins.

Eksigent nLC-1D with Ekspot
… is a liquid chromatograph that separates proteins and prepares them for researchers to analyze using our AB Sciex 5800 system.

Agilent Cary 5000 UV/Vis/NIR
… is a spectrophotometer that allows researchers to determine the presence and quantity of chemical classes in a solution. It’s useful for measuring the amounts of protein or DNA in a sample.

Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer
… is a microfluidic electrophoresis system that allows researchers to measure the amount of protein or DNA/RNA in a sample.

Agilent OFFGEL
… separates proteins according to the pH at which they have no net charge, allowing researchers to simplify protein mixtures before mass spec analysis.

Thermo Savant SpeedVac
… allows researchers to concentrate their samples by removing unneeded solvent volume.

Illumina cBot
. . . prepares samples to be run on our HiSeq 2000 DNA sequencer.

Eppendorf Centrifuges
. . . are essential to many of the methods used to prepare samples for analysis in the laboratory.

Eppendorf Mastercycler Silver
… carries out polymerase chain reaction experiments for DNA amplification as part of the method to prepare DNA for sequencing using our HiSeq 2000.

Soon the lab will have a website with technical information for researchers who are interested in using it. Until then, for more information, contact Roger Mercer at 850-645-9598 or roger.mercer@med.fsu.edu.