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LAWRENCE -- Scientists from the state's three major universities will be able to develop innovative research on proteins, thanks to a major grant awarded to Robert P. Hanzlik, professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas.
The five-year, $10.1 million Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant from the National Institutes of Health will support six research projects and two analytical core laboratories in the burgeoning field of proteomics, which is the study of cellular proteins and their structures, functions and interactions.
The COBRE grant supports promising young faculty researchers and connects them with senior faculty mentors. The six junior faculty members are from KU and Kansas State University, while the mentors are from those two institutions as well as Wichita State University. The grant also will receive matching funds from the KU Center for Research and the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation.
In recent years, much public interest has centered on the mapping of the human genome and related breakthroughs in the field of genetics. While that interest is certainly justified, Hanzlik said equal emphasis should be placed on the proteins those genes code for, since the proteins form many cellular structures and carry out most of the biochemical functions necessary for cells to survive.
"Probably everybody has heard of the role that genes play in controlling various aspects of the development and the genetic potential that individual humans, animals or plants express," he said. "But unlike genes, which are essentially constant throughout an individual's life, proteins come and go all the time. Certain proteins are present in cells only at certain times, while others are continuously being modified and later replaced."
By better understanding the structure and function of various proteins, and the way they come and go, the researchers will gain a deeper understanding of how cells work, Hanzlik said.
"The term 'proteomics' means different things to different people," he said. "But one of the things it means is first finding and cataloging all of the proteins and all of the forms in which they occur in a given cell or tissue."
Cataloging these proteins also will have several practical applications. For example, most drugs exert their action by interacting with a particular cellular protein. By gaining a better understanding of these proteins, scientists hope to develop new and better drugs.
William Picking, associate professor of molecular biosciences at KU, is one of the promising young scientists whose involvement in the COBRE project may lead to the cure for potentially deadly bacterial diseases. Picking's research project entails looking at the proteins in the bacterial infection shigellosis. If left untreated, as often occurs in many poor countries, the shigella bacteria grow in the lining of the large intestine, causing severe dysentery that in turn can lead to devastating consequences, especially among children.
"A lot of people are looking at the genes that regulate this process," Picking said. "But we are looking at the structure of the proteins that actually cause this cellular invasion."
Picking said the COBRE grant made it possible for him to collaborate with scientists in other disciplines and receive the experienced mentoring he needed to jump start his unique research.
"I've been at KU just three years, and one of the things this has done is put my lab in a position where now we can be competitive with more established groups," he said. "One of the goals of the COBRE program is to increase and enhance biomedical research capabilities in Kansas."
Picking, who brought his research to KU from Saint Louis University, said the spirit of collaboration here made it the perfect environment to develop his work in protein structure and function.
"The COBRE that Professor Hanzlik has put together puts KU at the leading edge of that work," Picking said.
Indeed, the collaborative spirit and other strengths at Kansas universities have caught the attention of the NIH in recent years. In 2000, Gunda Georg, distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry at KU, spearheaded a COBRE grant that brought together scientists from across the state to develop chemotherapy research in cancer-fighting projects. Last year, Opendra "Bill" Narayan, chair of microbiology, molecular genetics and immunology at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., received a COBRE grant that supports the research projects of five junior faculty members throughout the state working to develop novel approaches for the control of microbial pathogens.
Major grants such as these helped KU achieve the largest growth rate for federally funded life science research among the nation's top 50 comprehensive public universities from fiscal years 1996 to 2000, according to data released by the National Science Foundation. The change in rankings that went along with this fastest rate of increase was from No. 45 in FY 96 to No. 35 in FY 00.
Hanzlik, whose COBRE is the latest in this line of awards, says the NIH is taking notice of the atmosphere of collaboration -- not just among researchers at KU but also among scientists throughout the state.
"The thing that appeals to me most about this entire project is getting the chance to work with some bright, energetic young faculty members, not only at KU but elsewhere in Kansas, and helping them extend their research into areas where they might otherwise not venture because they just didn't have a background in that particular area," he said.
In the end, this project will further the understanding of basic science and improve the quality of science teaching in Kansas as well, he said. "Ultimately it is trans-disciplinary research like this that leads to discoveries that are really useful to society."
The junior faculty members currently participating in the COBRE project include:
• Brian Blagg, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at KU
• Heather Desaire, assistant professor of chemistry at KU
• Susan Egan, associate professor of biological sciences at KU
• William Picking, associate professor of molecular biosciences at KU
• Jeffrey Staudinger, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at KU
• Anna Zolkiewska, assistant professor of biochemistry at Kansas State University
The senior faculty members currently participating as advisers in the COBRE project:
• James Calvet, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the KU Med Center in Kansas City, Kan.
• Gunda Georg, distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry at KU
• Bill Hendry, professor and director of the graduate program in biological sciences at Wichita State University
• Mary L. Michaelis, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at KU
• George S. Wilson, Higuchi professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry at KU
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