biochemistry buzz volume: 07 issue

BIOCHEMISTRY BUZZ December 2009 Issue, Volume 07

Dear Fellow Biochemistry Colleagues, This issue marks the two years that I have been with the Department. I have enjoyed being part of this great Department and sharing our experiences together. There have been many challenges for the Department and for myself, as the HOD. Our Department seminars and RP sessions have instilled in each of us, especially our graduate students, a deep sense of the wonder of science. To learn from each other, what we are doing in various scientific realms is something fascinating for the true-blue scientist. I hope as we continue this programme that each of us will lend our best scientific thoughts to the rest during such sessions and truly share the science that we live and breathe in our Department. Our graduate students have done well. In these two years, we have seen 27 of them conferred with PhDs and 15 of them with MScs. During this period, one of them won the Singapore Youth Award, the highest accolade for youth for science and technology, and he is none other than Dr Victor Tong, Biochemistry graduate (2007). I have appointed him as an Adjunct Assistant Professor so that he can interact with our students more often, and so that his trailblazing role model can become something each of us can emulate. Besides him, there are many other students who can excel, and who have excelled in science. Hu Yong Li, whom I gave out an iPod last year for her outstanding attendance at RP sessions, together with some half a dozen of graduate students, has won the gold medal for high performance computing in life sciences, awarded by the NUS Computer Centre in recognition of her work. Going forward, I would like to challenge our students to reach out for these heights of excellence. You can do it. And I challenge your mentors and supervisors to groom you and to nurture you, and to open windows of opportunities for you to become better than you can ever be, to surpass the achievements of your mentors in time to come. We are also happy to see that many of our young and new faculty members have moved to the newly renovated Level 3. I do hope that all of our young faculty members are doing well and will make an excellent career in this Department in the years to come. They are our future. Our Department is one of the best in the University and we are in the spotlight. Each one of us as staff or student is under scrutiny by the highest management. Whatever we do or do not do, is their concern. What is their concern is my concern, and I have and I will do the utmost to convey their sentiments to all of us that we have to have the stamina to ascend peak after new peak of excellence, and to do all I can to provide you with the means to achieve excellence (a story told by the President). If not, like the proverbial gazelle in the plains of Africa, when the sun rises, it i s time for us to start running fast, faster than the fastest lion, or else, we will become somebody's lunch (a story told to all dept heads by the Provost). Personally, I would like to thank all of our staff for their work and support. I thank each of you for teaching me these vital life lessons. Together we have learnt from each other, and together we shall make the Department suceed. As we enter 2010, another new decade in the new millennium, we shall face even more challenges. Let us leave behind the past, and together we shall overcome these new challenges and emerge victorious in the bright future ahead!

Contents Professor Fu Xin-Yuan Head

Our Heartiest Congratulations Page 2 Internal Appointments Page 3 Departmental Updates Page 3 New Staff Page 3 – 5 New Postgraduate Students Page 5 Recent Events Page 6 – 9 Publications 0 Grants Awarded Page 11 Upcoming Events Page 11 Bon Voyage Page 11


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Our Heartiest Congratulations Staff Congratulations to, A/P Tan Tin Wee, Adjunct Professor Shoba Ranganathan and postgraduate student, Choo Khar Heng for being awarded the Best Paper Award for their work on “A comprehensive assessment of N-terminal signal peptide prediction methods” during the Eighth International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB09), which was held in Singapore from 7-11 September 2009. Congratulations to Teaching Assistants Asif M. Khan and Lim Shen Jean, together with A/P Tan Tin Wee and their team on being awarded the Best Poster Award for their work on "Conservation and variability of H5N1 neuraminidase protein: implications for drug design" during the Singapore Symposium on Computational Biology 2009 (SYMBIO09), which was held in Singapore on 8th September 2009. Congratulations to A/P Maxey Chung and A/P Tan Tin Wee for being ranked 4th and 8th top researchers in ASEAN respectively in the area of Bioinformatics in a report on “Benchmarking and trends of ASEAN Research in Biotechnology” to ASEAN COST SCB Subcommittee. A/P Tan Tin Wee has been invited to the International Symposium on Grid Computing (ISGC) 2010 as one of the distinguished speakers in the “Grid Activities in Asia-Pacific” plenary session to talk about the Grid activities in Singapore. The ISGC 2010 will be held at Academia Sinica in Taipei from 9-12 March. Postgraduate Students Hu Yongli of A/P Tan Tin Wee’s lab, has won the Gold Award in the HPC Challenge 2009 organized by NUS Computer Centre. Congratulations to the following students on the conferment of their postgraduate degrees! Well done! Name MSc/PhD Supervisor Conferment Year Guan Xue Li PhD A/P Markus R Wenk July 2009 Huang Zhili PhD Li Qiu Tan & Chung Nam Sang July 2009 Liu Ning Sheng PhD Prof Hong Wan Jin July 2009 Chew Soo Fen Joanne Christabelle

PhD Dr Vinay Tergaonkar August 2009

Ren Jianwei PhD A/P Lee Guat Lay, Caroline August 2009 Low Hong Sang MSc A/P Markus R Wenk August 2009 Neeyor Bose PhD Dr Yeong Foong May &

A/P Uttam Surana September 2009

Tan Weiqi MSc A/P Tan May Chin, Theresa September 2009


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Internal Appointments Wong Veen Senn has been appointed as Senior Lab Executive, replacing Joseph Lau, who has recently left. Vincent Lau and Lee Seow Chong have been appointed as Teaching Assistants in the Department. Dr Alena Jacobson has been appointed as Part-Time Lecturer for LSM1101 for Semester 2, Academic Year 09/10. Safety Committee The new safety committee now consists of A/P Caroline Lee (Chairman), A/P Tang Bor Luen (Deputy Chairman) and Wong Veen Senn.

Departmental Updates We have a new revamped Biochemistry Website! Check it out at http://medicine.nus.edu.sg/bioweb/. Please feel free to contact the Webmaster, Dr Wu Qiang at [email protected] to publicize any good news including:

• recent publications, • recent awards and achievements, • upcoming meetings/conferences

Welcome to Our New Staff Professor (Honorary Appointment) Adjunct Staff

Professor Edison T Liu Assumed Duty: 1 July 2009

Adjunct Associate Professor A/P Ruan Yijun Assumed Duty: 1 October 2009

http://medicine.nus.edu.sg/bioweb/�

mailto:[email protected]�


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Welcome to Our New Staff Lab Executive Lab Technologist

Gan Bin Qi Supervisor: A/P Tang Bor Luen Assumed Duty: 12 November 2009

Chia Yong Wei Supervisor: Prof Fu Xin-Yuan Assumed Duty: 31 August 2009

Teaching Assistant

Lee Seow Chong Supervisor: A/P Maxey Chung Assumed Duty: 4 December 2009

Lau Siang Lin Vincent Supervisor: A/P Maxey Chung

Research Fellow

Himani Kukreti Supervisor: A/P Mridula Sharma Assumed Duty: 2 November 2009

Tan Hwee Tong Supervisor: A/P Maxey Chung Assumed Duty: 1 October 2009

Research Fellow Research Associate

Yuki Nakamura Supervisor: A/P Markus Wenk Assumed Duty: 31 October 2009

Wee Jin Fai Angela Jean Supervisor: Prof Fu Xin Yuan Assumed Duty: 2 November 2009


5 Biochemistry Buzz

Welcome to Our New Staff Research Assistant

Ho Qin Shi, Kate Supervisor: Prof Sit Kim Ping Assumed Duty: 9 September 2009

Ho Rongjian Supervisor: Prof Barry Halliwell Assumed Duty: 22 September 2009

Lim Kim Kiat Supervisor: Dr Chen Ee Sin Assumed Duty: 1 September 2009

Tan Aik San, Melvyn Supervisor: A/P Markus Wenk Assumed Duty: 9 September 2009

New Postgraduate Students Our warmest welcome to the new Postgraduate Students for our January 2010 cohort! Name Degrees Supervisors Chen Ruilin, Jacklyn

MSc A/P Markus R Wenk

Chin Cheen Fei

MSc Dr Yeong Foong May

Chng Xuemei, Charmaine

MSC A/P Markus R Wenk

Liang Junxin

MSc Prof Fu Xin-Yuan

Yew Chow Wenn

MSc Dr Deng Lih Wen

Name Degrees Supervisors Kagistia Hana Utami

PhD Prof Edison Liu & Dr Valere Cacheux (Genome Institute)

Kok Yee Jiun PhD Dr Choo Boon Hwa Andre (Bioengineering) and A/P Maxey Chung Ching Ming

Lim Chun-Yan PhD A/P Han Weiping

Liu Fujia PhD Prof Peter TH Wong (Pharmacology) and Prof Jeyaseelan Kandiah

Marco Bezzi PhD Dr Enersto Guccone Tan Chia Yee PhD Dr Thilo Hagen Vanitha V Rao PhD A/P Mridula Sharma Wu Wei PhD A/P Maxey Chung Ching

Ming


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Recent Events Student Symposium Congratulations to the Postgraduate Student Committee (PGSC) on the success of their Student Symposium! The Biochemistry Student Symposium 2009 was held on 28 September 2009 at the Clinical Research Centre Auditorium. The event was well attended by students and faculty staff.

The attendees HOD giving out prize cheques

PGSC Head, Vincent Lau giving an opening speech The poster presentation


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Recent Events Zoomanji – Biochemistry’s 2nd Amazing Race After the success of last year’s Amazing Race, the Staff Welfare Committee held our 2nd Amazing Race at the Singapore Zoo. Staff and students had a great time during our Zoomanji Amazing Race on 30 September 2009.

The Winning Team

First Runner-Up Team Second Runner-Up Team

At the Singapore Zoo… A group photo before we start the race


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Recent Events Zoomanji – Biochemistry’s 2nd Amazing Race

Race Briefing Finding our way around

Solving the puzzle End of race!


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Recent Events Opening of MD7 Level 3 The official opening of MD7 Level 3 was held on 7 October 2009. The Provost and the Dean of Medicine were the VIPs for this special occasion. Our HOD, Prof Fu Xin Yuan, accompanied by Deputy President (Research & Technology) Prof Barry Halliwell, hosted a tour of the new labs. Our thanks to Prof Barry Halliwell, the former HOD of Biochemistry, whose support made the renovation possible.

The Grand Opening Interactions

A tour of the labs Tea Break


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Publications Kumar, Dr. Alan Prem, AL Quarke, MK Chang, T ZHOU, S Y K LIM, R Singh, RE Hewitt, M Salto-tellez, S Pervaiz and M V Clement*, Repression of NHE1 expression by PPARgamma activation is a potential new approach for specific inhibition of the growth of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Cancer Research, 69, no. 22 (2009): 8636-44. (United States). QIN, H, R Noberini, X HUAN, J SHI, E Pasquale and J Song*, Structural characterization of the EphA4-ephrin-B2 complex reveals new features enabling Eph-ephrin binding promiscuity. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, part. PMID: 19875447 (2009). (United States) Kohler*, K, E Brunner, X GUAN, K Boucke, UF Greber, S Mohanty, JMI Barth, M R Wenk* and E Hafen*, A combined proteomic and genetic analysis identifies a role for the lipid desaturase Desat1 in starvation-induced autophagy in Drosophila. Autophagy, 5, no. 7 (2009): 980-990. (United States). MgGehee*, AM, SK Dougan, EJ Klemm, G Shui, B Park, YM Kim, N Watson, M R Wenk, HL Ploegh and CC Hu, XBP-1-deficient plasmablasts show normal protein folding but altered glycosylation and lipid synthesis. Journal Of Immunology, 183, no. 6 (2009): 3690-9. (United States). Deng*, Y, ZA Almsherqi, G Shui, M R Wenk* and SD Kohlwein*, Docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) is a critical determinant of cubic membrane formation in amoeba Chaos mitochondria. FASEB Journal, 23, no. 9 (2009): 2866-71. (United States). Zhang, W, RJ Chan, H Chen, Z Yang, Y He, X Zhang, Y Luo, F Yin, A Moh, LC Miller, RM Payne, ZY Zhang, X-Y FU and W Shou, Negative regulation of Stat3 by activating PTPN11 mutants contributes to the pathogenesis of Noonan syndrome and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Journal Of Biological Chemistry, 284, no. 33 (2009): 22353-63. (United States). Seet*, C S R, C Lee, E C H Lim, AM Quek, LL Yeo, S H Huang and B Halliwell, Oxidative damage in dengue fever. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 47, no. 4 (2009): 375-80. (United States). ASIF, A, M R Wenk and M J LEAR*, Total synthesis of a fully lipidated form of phosphatidyl-myo-Inositol dimannoside (PIM-2) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tetrahedron Letters, 50 (2009): 5664-5666. (United Kingdom). Salerno*, MS, K Dryer, J Bracegirdle, L Platt, M Thomas, V Siriett, R Kambadur and S Mridula, Akirin1 (Mighty), a novel promyogenic factor regulates muscle regeneration and cell chemotaxis. Experimental Cell Research, 315, no. 12 (2009): 2012-2021. (United States). Melissa J. Fullwood, Mei Hui Liu, You Fu Pan, Jun Liu1, Han Xu, Yusoff Bin Mohamed, Yuriy L. Orlov, Stoyan Velkov, Andrea Ho, Poh Huay Mei, Elaine G. Y. Chew, Phillips Yao Hui Huang, Willem-Jan Welboren, Yuyuan Han, Hong Sain Ooi, Pramila N. Ariyaratne, Vinsensius B. Vega, Yanquan Luo, Peck Yean Tan, Pei Ye Choy, K. D. Senali Abayratna Wansa, Bing Zhao, Kar Sian Lim, Shi Chi Leow, Jit Sin Yow, Roy Joseph, Haixia Li, Kartiki V. Desai, Jane S. Thomsen, Yew Kok Lee, R. Krishna Murthy Karuturi, Thoreau Herve, Guillaume Bourque, Hendrik G. Stunnenberg2, Xiaoan Ruan1, Valere Cacheux-Rataboul1, Wing-Kin Sung, Edison T. Liu, Chia-Lin Wei, Edwin Cheung and Yijun Ruan, An oestrogen-receptor-a-bound human chromatin interactome. Nature, 4625 November 2009| doi:10.1038


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Grants Awarded

Month Staff Amount Awarded

Project Title Source of Funding

Aug 09

Dr Yeong Foong May $595,999.00 Understanding the Cell Cycle-Regulated Export of Chs2p from the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum ARC

Dr Yew Wen Shan $250,000.00 Deciphering the catalytic blueprint of OMPDC: Toward the Design of Anti-Infectives of Catalytic Inhibition AcRF

Nov 09

Prof Fu Xin-Yuan $954,355.00 STAT3 Mediated Regulation of Innate Immune Responses of Cardiomyocytes NMRC

A/P Caroline Lee $932,000.00 Characterization of the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Patients NMRC

Dr Thilo Hagen $196,000.00 The role of SCF E3 ubiquitin ligases in cancer NMRC

Upcoming Events Staff Welfare Event Look out for the next staff welfare event! Biochemistry’s “Bowls and Pins” coming to you soon in January 2010!

Bon Voyage We bid adieu to Assistant Professor, Dr Sashi Kesavapany, who was with us since 2006. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors. We also say farewell to Joseph Lau, who was with the Department for 28 years. Thank you, Joseph, for your contribution and dedication to the Department. We extend our thanks and good wishes to Mary Ng of Dr Andrew Jenner’s Lab and Catherine Hor of A/P Tang Bor Luen’s lab.

biochemistry buzz volume: 07 issue

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