RMNI - Spring 2010 Update
Funding News
Team Grant LOI Results
A total of 61 LOIs were received for the July 2009 launch of the RMNI Emerging Team Grant RFA. Following a LOI peer review, 38 have been invited to submit a full application. Full results of the review will be posted on the CIHR website by the end of March 2010. For those who were successful, the Application deadline has been extended to 2010-07-02 from the current 2010-06-01.
Funding Opportunities
CIHR Funding Opportunities can be accessed from CIHR Funding Opportunity Database. There are currently no open RMNI Funding Opportunities. Please check the site regularly for updates.
In The News
Health Canada's Consultation on Working Definition of Nanomaterials – Health Canada has created an interim policy statement on nanomaterials, in order to provide a consistent and transparent set of approaches to identifying nanomaterials across the agency. A consultation on this policy statement is open for comment until August 31, 2010. Please visit Health Canada for the draft definition and instructions for submitting comments.
The Training Program in Regenerative Medicine (a CIHR Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research funded program) has launched a website to provide information on the program as well as upcoming Café Scientifiques.
RMNI's New Web Look
RMNI has revamped our web presence on the CIHR website, starting with our home page. Content has been updated and consolidated in an easier to read format, we hope you will check out our new look. If you have any comments, please feel free to submit them to RMNI-IRMRN@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Featured RMNI Research Publication
RMNI-funded research reveals unexpected distribution of DNA during cell division
A recent discovery by RMNI-funded researchers at the BC Cancer Agency challenges scientific knowledge about what happens to DNA when cells divide. The new research shows that identical copies of chromosomes (called sister chromatids) are not always randomly distributed to the daughter cells, as was previously thought. This novel finding paves the way for further research studies to test whether this behavior is altered in cancer cells when they divide.
Identification of sister chromatids using DNA template strands using chromosome orientation fluorescence in situ hybridization (CO-FISH). a. Metaphase chromosomes. Probes hybridized to opposite telomere sequences (white and red) and T-rich major satellite sequences (green) illustrate the uniform organization of these repetitive elements in murine chromosomes. b-d. 2-color CO-FISH of murine colon cells. b. Sister chromatids appear non-randomly distributed at metaphase in vivo. Note that red and green fluorescence does not appear to be randomly distributed. c, d. Examples of post-mitotic cell pairs showing a skewed distribution of sister chromatids.
Published in the prestigious journal Nature, a group headed by Dr. Peter Lansdorp - Principle Investigator of the RMNI funded team and researcher at the BC Cancer Agency - examined how the chromatids are assigned to daughter cells during cell division. Using an innovative approach to mark chromatids with different colored dyes, they identified which chromatid went to which daughter cell, and found that in some cells, the chromatids were assigned instead of being randomly distributed. They propose that this mechanism could have a role in determining the fate of cells in normal development, and in the abnormal growth of cancer cells.
"This research has provided a whole new way of looking at cell fate and cell division", says Dr. Ester Falconer, a Post-Doctoral fellow at BC Cancer Agency's Terry Fox Laboratory. "This becomes especially important when studying cancer, because now we know there could be another level of regulation that can be affected when cells turn cancerous." The next step is to look at such events of cell division in dividing cancer cells.
"This is the first study of many and provides the groundwork for future research", says Dr. Lansdorp. "We now have the tools to look at cell division more directly" Lansdorp adds. Future studies will use this approach, with the hope that researchers will develop a better understanding of how normal cells divide and how cancer starts and progresses at the cellular level.
- taken from BC Cancer Agency media release dated December 11, 2009
Upcoming Meetings/Workshops Of Interest To RMNI Community
Please submit any potential workshops/meetings which may be of interest to the RMNI Community for inclusion in this Newsletter. CIHR is not affiliated with nor is it sponsoring any of these meetings or workshops.
6th Symposium on Biologic Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine
April 25–27, 2010, Napa Valley California.
Colloque sur réadaptation motrice après atteinte neurologique, 78e Congrès de l’association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS)
May 13, 2010, Montréal, Québec.
International Conference on Nanotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications
August 4–6, 2010, Ottawa, Ontario.
2nd World Congress of International Academy of Nanomedicine
October 3–7, 2010, Antalya, Turkey.
2010 World Stem Cell Summit
October 4–6, 2010 Detroit, Michigan.
RMNI Contacts:
Associate Director
Eric Marcotte
eric.marcotte@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Project Officer
Susan Lalumière
susan.lalumiere@cihr-irsc.gc.ca