Medical School EWL

New review article: Epigenetic alterations in cadmium bioaccumulators.

When it comes to the renal toxic metal stress response and adaptation, do we have more in common with plants than we might think? Together with Romy Schmidt-Schippers (https://www.cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de/research-groups/608-plant-biotechnology) and Stephanie Frings, we explored how cadmium bioaccumulation triggers epigenetic changes in the kidney and various plants species in our recent review article published in Environment International.

Hope you have as much fun reading as we did writing!

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109000

BIE-CAL Metals in One Health Workshop

Fantastic workshop on the impact of metals and metalloids using a One Health approach with our colleagues from University of Calgary. Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation and Bielefeld University, there were fruitful discussions and new potential collaborations were established. It was very exciting to see the synergy happening. Let's hope the "chemistry" continues!

Thank you to my co-organizers Adriana Zardini Buzatto & Elmar Prenner and speakers Andreas Hütten, Inga Ennen, Atefeh Movassagh, Tobias Busche, Marion Eisenhut, Romy Schmidt-Schippers, Juergen Gailer, Travis Issler, Benjamin Barst, Frank Thévenod, Li-An Yu, Raymond J. Turner, Caroline Müller.

Bilateral exchange between Bielefeld and Calgary on metals and One Health is funded by the DFG

Activities to begin a new collaboration between the groups of Profs. Adriana Zardini Buzatto (University of Calgary), Elmar Prenner (University of Calgary) and Wing-Kee (Bielefeld University) has received financial support by the DFG (German Research Foundation) from the “Initiation of an International Collaboration” programme. The collaboration spearheaded by Wing-Kee focuses on how different cadmium species affect mitochondrial function, lipid composition and membrane biophysics from mammalian cells and plant cells. The efforts will kick off with a bilateral workshop in Bielefeld in July. More details to come!

New group members this summer

From June, new members to the group will participate on various projects:

Travis Issler: Guest PhD student from the University of Calgary will work on cadmium speciation and mitochondrial health.

Nicole Mangazeev: Temporary scientific assistant will attempt to isolate intracellular ABCB1 from drug-resistant cells.

Jana Schulz: Bachelor student from Bielefeld will investigate lysosomal (dys)function by glycosphingolipids.

Emily Vortmeyer: A chemistry technician trainee who will learn cell biology and protein biochemistry techniques and apply them in the ferroptosis and megalin projects.

Anica Walther: Master student from Bielefeld is interested in the role of iron and megalin in renal carcinoma.

Florian Winkels: Bachelor student from Bielefeld is investigating how megalin is affected by glycosphingolipids.

A very warm welcome to you all!

Special Issue on the global threat of metals and metalloids in Biometals is now published.

Together with Profs. Frank Thévenod (Bielefeld University, Witten/Herdecke University) and Elmar Prenner (University of Calgary), Wing-Kee has co-guest edited a Special Issue on the topic of “Global Threat posed by Metals and Metalloids in the Changing Environment: A One Health Approach to Mechanisms of Toxicity”. Pollution by metals and metalloids has reached an all-time high as a direct result of modern human industrial activities. Together with changing weather conditions and a dynamic and increasingly unpredictable environment driven by climate change, the widespread distribution of metal/metalloid mixtures in air, water and soil becomes complex leading to global effects.

The collection of articles from world-leading experts examines the impact of metals and metalloids on microbial health, metal distribution and detoxification, interaction of metals with biomolecules and its cellular consequences as well as their use as markers of organ injury.

Read the editorial here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10534-024-00606-0

Read the articles here: https://link.springer.com/journal/10534/volumes-and-issues/37-3?utm_source=toc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=toc_10534_37_3&utm_content=etoc_springer_20240518

Wing-Kee becomes Visiting Professor in the Laboratory of Sphingolipid Complexity at the Weizmann Institute of Science

Sphingolipids are critical membrane components that have structural and signalling functions. The large family of sphingolipids include ceramides, sphingomyelins and the glycosphingolipids and small yet significant chemical differences within each species, such as acyl chain length or level of saturation, add multiple layers of complexity in understanding their function. Together with the Laboratory of Sphingolipid Complexity headed by Prof. Anthony Futerman, the role of sphingolipids in renal physiology and pathophysiology will be investigated.

As easy as ABC? Review article on cadmium speciation and transport by ATP-binding cassette transporters.

If only! ATP-binding cassette transporters are ubiquitous and essential for movement of a wide array of substrates across cellular membranes. However, unbound metal ions usually do not fulfil the substrate criteria therefore the speciation of toxic metals, such as cadmium, is integral to the understanding of transfer between cells and bodily compartments. In this review, we explore the different species of cadmium in a physiological setting and how this could impact its toxic potential.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10534-024-00582-5

More than meets the eye: Distinct reactive oxygen species generated by cadmium

How important is the type of reactive oxygen species in cellular signalling? We have addressed this question in our latest publication entitled “Distinct concentration-dependent oxidative stress profiles by cadmium in a rat kidney proximal tubule cell line”. We observe generation of superoxide anions by lower cadmium whereas hydrogen peroxide dominates at high cadmium concentrations. Happy reading!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00204-023-03677-z

A grand physiology day out.

On a hazy late September day, both physiology teams embarked on a team building day out beginning with a hike through the Teutoburger forest to Steinhagen (around 13 km from Bielefeld). Upon arrival, there was a barbecue and pot luck sides. Perfect sunny weather and perfect company (Teresa’s dogs enjoyed it just as much too!).

Our first scientific retreat!

There is no „I“ in team! We work together, we play together and we get stronger together. Our first team scientific retreat took place in Berlin. Everybody gave an oral presentation on a research method or their scientific project. There was also a cultural programme: visiting the main sights, a tour named “Wisdom and Compassion” at the Humboldt-Forum and sampling the culinary delights. Let’s see where next year takes us!

Nadiya wins the poster prize at the annual German Physiological Society meeting in Berlin 2023

Congratulations Nadiya on gaining well-deserved recognition for your excellent poster presentation at your first physiology conference!

New international team members

In September, we said farewell to Vlada, who had a great 2-month lab rotation with us.

To our great delight, Millie Walsh and Bruce Chum from the University of Manchester (UK) started their one year placements as part of their Bachelor degree programmes and Elco Eidhof joined us from the Netherlands as a postdoc after completing his PhD in Münster.

Erasmus+ Trainee Vladyslava Ponomarchuk begins a summer lab rotation

Vladyslava comes from the Ukraine and is currently studying for a Bachelor in Molecular Biology at the University of Wroclaw in Poland. She is taking the opportunity to expand her technical skills and research experience in our lab by investigating the role of ABC transporters in lysosomes in cadmium toxicity in renal cells. During her two month rotation, Vlady will learn mammalian cell culture, qPCR, organelle isolation and Western blotting.

Ласкаво просимо (welcome) Vlady!

AG9 went to CanBIC-8

The 8th Georgian Bay conference on Bioinorganic Chemistry took place from 23rd to 27th May 2023 at the beautiful Charles Stockey center in Parry Sound (pictured). Wing-Kee Lee and Frank Thévenod were invited by Professor Andrea Hartwig (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) to present their latest research on cellular cadmium effects as part of the symposium on “Biological aspects of toxic metals”.

Wing-Kee presented a current project examining cadmium and cardiolipin interaction in mitochondrial dysfunction. Frank presented data concerning cadmium effects on hypoxia-inducible factor in the kidney. It was also a great opportunity to meet with our cooperation partners from the University of Calgary.

For the full programme, see here (http://canbic.ca/index.html).