Biomedicine Seminar

Abstract

Plasma proteins are important mediators of inflammation. Several technologies have permitted a detailed understanding of the structure-function relationship in these large molecules. Even so, information on protein structure is still obtained mainly in their purified state and under conditions very different from the complex environment of plasma. Recently, we developed a methodology based on nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), which enables the determination of the hydrodynamic radii of large protein aggregates in dilute, but unfractionated plasma. By conjugating monoclonal antibodies to detect proteins of choice with quantum dots to sustain a non-bleaching fluorescence, we could track single protein particles in a size range of 100-600 nm. The technique seems to work well even when the protein species of interest are low concentration. The hydrodynamic radii of proteins may seem modest information on the structural properties compared with high-resolution techniques. Nevertheless, it has been possible for us to relate this property to disease scores in systemic lupus erythematosus and the development of inflammatory alterations and Alzheimer's brain pathology in patients with mild cognitive impairment. For both diseases, a case can be made for the size of protein aggregates as directly provoking detrimental inflammatory processes. Taken together, our work points to new aspects of clinical biochemistry, where measurement of protein aggregate size is required to understand the dynamics of the inflammatory response.

About the speaker

Thomas Vorup-Jensen, PhD, DMSc, is Professor at the Department of Biomedicine and head of the Graduate Program in Biomedicine. His laboratory, The Biophysical Immunology Laboratory, has a long-standing interest in fundamental immunological questions with translational perspectives.

The talk is 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion, for a total of 1 hr.

The Department invites you to a sandwich  - please sign up before Monday 31 October

Biomedicine seminar organising committee
Mikkel Vendelbo
Line Reinert
Søren Egedal Degn 
Martin Kristian Thomsen