Seahorse Bioscience Announces AACR Travel Award Recipients

BILLERICA, Mass., April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Seahorse Bioscience, the world leader in instruments and assay kits for measuring cell metabolism announces travel award recipients who will present data generated using XF technology at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC, April 6-10, 2013.

• Kate M. Bailey, Ph.D., candidate in the lab of Robert J. Gillies, Ph.D., at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. Poster Title: Manipulating the tumor microenvironment for therapeutic benefit:  identifying mechanisms of buffer resistance.

• Ekaterina S. Moroz, MD., visiting investigator at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, NY. Poster title: Metabolic characterization of prostate cancer cell lines. 

• Divya Pathania, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, CA. Poster title: Design and discovery of novel small molecule redox modulators as therapies for pancreatic cancer.

• Praveen K. Vayalil, Ph.D., research associate in the lab of Aimee Landar Ph.D., at the Center for Free Radical Biology, Department of Pathology, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. Poster title: Mitochondrial bioenergetics of metastatic breast cancer cells in response to decreasing oxygen tension.

Seahorse travel awards are offered to graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and young investigators who present a talk or poster citing data generated on the XF platform at scientific meetings and conferences. Through this program, Seahorse seeks to increase the body of knowledge that is enabling new discoveries about the role of cell metabolism in pathophysiology, and in particular cancer.

"One focus of our lab's research is to therapeutically target the acidic microenvironment of solid tumors using buffers, which we have shown reduces metastasis in many tumor types. Seahorse XF technology allowed us to classify buffer sensitive and resistant tumor types, based on their metabolic phenotypes. A greater understanding of tumor metabolism has proven essential to effectively target the tumor microenvironment in pre-clinical and clinical settings," stated Kate Bailey, Ph.D., from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL.   

The Seahorse XF^e Extracellular Flux Analyzer and stress test kits standardize the measurement of mitochondrial function and cancer metabolism, in real-time, in a microplate. In minutes, the XF^e Analyzer measures the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) -- a measure of mitochondrial respiration -- and the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) -- a measure of glycolysis  -- to providing the most physiologically relevant in vitro measurement of cancer metabolism available today.

"The composition and characteristics of the tumor microenvironment vary widely and are important in determining the anti-tumor immune response. In our lab we assess how an abnormal tumor microenvironment affects T-cell activation and tumor targeting function in a prostate cancer model. We used the XF Analyzer to characterize cellular bioenergetics in prostate cancer cells. A greater understanding of how the metabolic processes work, may enable us to modify components of the tumor microenvironment to increase the efficacy of T-cell adoptive therapy," stated Ekaterina Moroz, M.D., from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, NY.

Studies utilizing XF technology are revealing the metabolic dependencies of cancer cells on glucose or other substrates, such as glutamine and fatty acids. With this knowledge scientists are now able to determine cancer cell substrate preferences, and establish potential pathways to target for intervention.

"The XF Analyzer is unique technology that has provided us with an incredible platform for measuring the changes in cellular oxygen consumption, and extracellular acidification, in real-time. The XF24 Analyzer has helped us to identify small, novel molecules that are able to exert anti-cancer effects by modulating bioenergetics and redox state," said  Divya Pathania, Ph.D., from the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, CA.

"We've been investigating the bioenergetic response during adaptation to low oxygen tension by highly metastatic breast cancer cells. The XF Analyzer was the technology that enabled us to measure these responses, under hypoxic conditions, in real-time. This knowledge is now leading us to the discovery of a novel biphasic bioenergetic behavior by cancer cells, which may be useful as a target for cancer therapy," stated Praveen Vayalil, Ph.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.    

About Seahorse Bioscience

Seahorse Bioscience XF^e Analyzers and stress test kits are the industry standard in cell metabolism measurements. Scientists worldwide are advancing their research in understanding the role of bioenergetics in Neurodegeneration, Aging, Cancer, Cardiovascular, Cell Physiology, Toxicology & Hepatobiology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Mitochondrial Diseases, Model Organisms, Obesity, Diabetes, Metabolic Disorders, Screening, and Translational Medicine. Founded in 2001, Seahorse Bioscience is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, U.S., and has regional offices in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Shanghai, China.  Learn more about Seahorse Bioscience at www.seahorsebio.com.

About the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center

Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., is solely focused on the prevention and the cure of cancer. Moffitt, one of the world's most sophisticated cancer centers of excellence, employs fellowship-trained physicians and medical researchers who are among the best in their respective fields.

About the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, in Manhattan New York City. MSKCC has long been a leader in cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy and is the world's largest and oldest dedicated cancer hospital. It was the first to develop services specifically dedicated to the psychiatric aspects of cancer, to the relief of cancer pain, and to genetic counseling. 

About the University of Southern California

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As California's oldest private research university, USC has historically educated a large number of the region's business leaders and professionals. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research institutions throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim. Reflecting the status of Los Angeles as a global city, USC has the largest number of international students of any university in the United States

About the University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System. UAB offers over 140 programs of study in 12 academic divisions leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees in the social and behavioral sciences, the liberal arts, business, education, engineering, and health-related fields such as medicine, dentistry, optometry, nursing, and public health. The school is highly renowned for its medical research and natural sciences programs.

Press Contact:
Naomi Goumillout
Marketing Communications Manager
Seahorse Bioscience
[email protected]
1-978-671-1619

SOURCE Seahorse Bioscience