Troy, N.Y. - Lakshmi Santhanam, a graduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is searching for molecules with properties that may someday be used as medicines able to pre-empt the damaging inflammatory response involved in atherosclerosis. Santhanam, a chemical engineering student working with Jonathan S. Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann '42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is helping to develop a novel technique that saves costs and could aid in the speedy discovery of additional drugs to address other chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

They are presenting their research at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, held March 23-27 in New Orleans, La.

An enzyme called NADPH oxidase has been implicated in causing heart disease by generating free radicals that cause arteries to thicken, eventually leading to blockage. The known heart-healthy benefits of certain phytochemicals (such as those found in red wine and green tea) are thought to stem from their natural ability to scavenge free radicals. Recent work by the Rensselaer team and a number of other researchers, however, indicates that these chemicals may possess an even more important activity that involves inhibiting the assembly of the active enzyme. This research aims to discover new drugs that may selectively block the action of NADPH oxidase and lead to effective therapies to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Saving Time, Speeding Discovery
Dordick and Santhanam select potentially effective molecules and use a modern microarray technique to attach minute amounts of precursors of potential NADPH oxidase inhibitors to glass slides. Molecules chosen for further screening are examined for biological activity against the damaging NADPH oxidase enzyme.

The "biocatalysis lab-on-a-slide" technique was originally developed by Dordick, Santhanam, and Michael Hogg, a biologist at the Veterans Administration in Albany, N.Y. The tiny samples required allow the researchers to look at hundreds of different molecules at once, speeding research and conserving costly lab resources. Compared to standard methods, a single scientist using the new technique can screen thousands more samples per day, using minute amounts of chemicals. This means that a new drug could be developed in substantially less time and for a fraction of what it costs today.

About Biotechnology at Rensselaer
Biotechnology research at Rensselaer focuses on key areas where life sciences interface with information science, applied mathematics, engineering, and the physical and mathematical sciences. Areas of research include functional tissue engineering (creating replacement tissues and organs that can augment or replace damaged tissue); integrated systems biology (systems-based, experimental methods of gaining insight into the function of complex biosystems); and computational biology and bioinformatics (using IT tools to search massive databases, such as those generated by the Human Genome project, to efficiently correlate relevant facts).

Contact: Joely Johnson
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