Bruker

NORTHERN COLORADO
WINTER SYMPOSIUM ON KEY INSTRUMENTATION

NoCo WiSki

Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are invited to learn about nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS) capabilities for metabolomics and synthetic macromolecule characterization.

Dr. Lloyd Sumner – University of Missouri

Keynote title: Integrated Metabolomics for Triterpene Saponin Pathway Elucidation in Medicago truncatula

Triterpene saponins are important bioactive plant natural products found in many plant families including the Leguminosae, but much of their biosynthetic pathway still remains unknown.  We have used a metabolomics approach integrated with gene expression profiling and genome wide associations for the discovery of novel pathway genes/enzymes.  This approach exploited genetic and biochemical diversity found within structured M. truncatula germplasm core collections.   UHPLC-(-)ESI-QToF-MS was used to profile saponin accumulation across a collection of 300+ M. truncatula ecotypes. The profiling results identified specific ecotypes with significant differential saponin content in the root and/or aerial tissues which were selected, and correlated gene expression profiling was performed. Correlation analyses between gene expression and saponin accumulation revealed high correlations between saponin content with gene expression of β-amyrin synthase, MtCYP716A12, and two cytochromes P450 genes, MtCYP72A67 and MtCYP72A68. Cumulative biochemical and molecular data support that MtCYP72A68 is a multisubstrate, multifunctional oxidase and MtCYP72A67 is a 2β-hydroxylase, both of which function during the early steps of triterpene-oleanate sapogenin biosynthesis.  In a similar manner, a novel M. truncatula sugar transferase was also identified and characterized.

Learn more about Lloyd Sumner

Lloyd Sumner

Dr. Kenji Kurita – Genentech

Keynote title: The Power of the Proton

Developing a drug is more than synthesizing analogues and doing some rational medical chemistry optimization. The process of taking a disease and finding a treatment takes an enormous team of individuals with a broad range of technical and soft skills. Somewhere along the way through development you need an analytical chemistry team to quantify the purity of the API and its intermediates, identify susceptibilities during manufacturing and storage, and to help eliminate impurities that are formed in every step along the way. Several case studies will explore the practical applications of NMR and mass spectrometry to answering analytical challenges during the preclinical development of several programs.

Dr. Kenji Kurita