A
press release on September 16th on Market Watch about KineMed caught
my attention (link). KineMed, based in Emeryville CA, has developed
new proteomics and metabolomics tools that enable the monitoring of metabolic
flux through complex biological pathways by exploiting the power of deuterated
water (or heavy water: 2H2O) labeling. By monitoring the kinetic of predictable mass
shift of molecules of interest by mass spectrometry, the scientists at KineMed
have been able to ascertain complex dynamic processes such as blood clotting,
complement cascade activation, epidermal turnover in psoriasis patients, anterograde
neuronal transport in ALS and PD patients, and
DNA turnover rate in leukemia and breast cancer (see a video
presentation by Marc K. Hellerstein, M.D., Ph.D.; co-founder of KineMed)
Because
of its non-radioactive nature and ease of deployment (deuterated water is
simply administered as a glass of water), this technique offers the prospect of
identifying new biomarkers related to disease processes, drug mechanism of
action, and drug toxicities. It is
important to remember though that this technique does not allow for in situ
metabolism monitoring and thus still requires sample collection. Therefore, the usual limitations associated
with the collection of biosamples do apply to this new technique.
Thierry
Sornasse for Integrated Biomarker Strategy
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