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Computational Toxicology Seminar Series
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Next Seminar
On Wednesday, Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at 1:30 PM ET, the next in a series of monthly Info on Informatics seminars will feature Dr. Jim Inglese. Dr. Inglese will be speaking on Large-Scale Profiling of Chemical Libraries with Quantitative High Throughput Screening .
| When: | Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 1:30-3:30 PM |
| Location: | RTP Room C112 |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jim Inglese Deputy Director, NIH Chemical Genomics Center National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD |
| Call In Line: | 1-866-299-3188 conference code is 9195411504# |
| Abstract: |
The NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) focuses its efforts on the identification and development of investigational chemical probes for the broader scientific community. The NCGC has developed a process termed ‘quantitative HTS’ that allows large chemical libraries (≥105) to be screened as a concentration titration series. The application of this process to both biochemical and cell-based assays produces rich data sets that can be deeply mined for biological activities and structure activity relationships, thereby providing a platform for chemical biology, systems toxicology, and accelerating the identification of leads for drug discovery. To fully appreciate the nature of the activity of molecules derived from HTS, one must understand the impact they have on the assay technology. Recently we have studied the effects chemical libraries can have on reporter genes commonly used as a surrogate measure of cellular signaling. Here we observe that complex, and sometimes counter-intuitive but decipherable, "pharmacology" emerges from the direct inhibition of the enzymatic activity of reporter genes used to "read" the activity of cellular signaling events. We find that considerations of both basic enzymology and cellular biology are critical to interpretation of the data based on reporter gene assays. This reporter gene phenomenon and other examples of the "HTS Parallax View" will be discussed in my presentation. For further information, please contact Richard Judson, 919-541-3085 |
Background information about the STAR Environmental Bioinformatic Centers
In November 2005, EPA announced an award of $9 million to establish two cutting-edge environmental bioinformatics research centers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). The centers represent a major component of EPA's computational toxicology program that is using computer models to study the relationship between environmental contaminants and their potential adverse effects. The Research Center for Environmental Bioinformatics and Computational Toxicology at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in Piscataway brings together a team of computational scientists with diverse backgrounds in bioinformatics, chemistry, modeling, and environmental studies from UMDNJ, Rutgers, and Princeton Universities, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Toxicoinformatics. The Carolina Environmental Bioinformatics Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, brings together many researchers and disciplines, combining expertise in biostatistics, computational biology, chemistry, and computer science to advance the field of computational toxicology.
In order to best interface the activities of the Environmental Bioinformatic Centers with the research being conducted within ORD, an information program is being established. Each month, one of Centers will present an overview of the activities covered under one of their major projects. These sessions will be open to all EPA staff who are interested in helping the Centers achieve their long-term objectives. While the number of interactions that can be developed are limited by available resources, it is anticipated that these forums will facilitate the development of collaborative research projects. After the initial round of informational briefing, this program will evolve into a forum for presenting advances in environmental bioinformatics that will assist ORD in supporting the mission of the EPA of protecting human health and the environment.
If you have any questions about the seminar series, please contact Richard Judson at judson.richard@epa.gov. For information on the STAR centers, please contact NCER's project officer, Deborah Segal at segal.deborah@epa.gov.
Schedule
Computational Toxicology Seminar Series
"Info on Informatics"
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