Synchrotron Radiation News

Second Workshop on Structural Molecular Biology (SMB) at SESAME Nicosia, Cyprus; 6/7 December 2000

Pierre Rizkallah, Herman Winick

The second SESAME Workshop on Structural Molecular Biology (SMB), another in the series of workshops aimed at developing the scientific program for SESAME, [see www.sesame.org.jo] was held on December 6-7, 2000 at the Holiday Inn in Nicosia Cyprus. This was a follow up to the first SMB workshop, which was held in Athens on April 6-7, 2000 (see SRN Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 25-27). Between these two workshops there was one on Materials Research at SESAME held in Ankara Turkey on November 21-22, 2000 see SRN Vol. 14, No. 1). These workshops are the main activity of the SESAME Scientific Committee, cochaired by Ercan Alp (APS/Argonne) and Herman Winick (SSRL/SLAC/Stanford University).

The hosts of the Cyprus workshop were Spyros Skourtis and Giorgios Archontis of the University of Cyprus. Support was provided by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, the Cyprus Planning Bureau, the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, and UNESCO.

The early announcement of the agenda by email and via the SESAME web site made it possible for participants from countries who could not attend the first workshop to complete their travel arrangements well in time. Workshop participants included: Costas Iacovou, Cyprus Planning Bureau; Kyriakos Kyriakou, Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics; Niovi Santama, University of Cyprus; Christos Constantinou, Oncology Centre; Samvel Haroutiunian, YEREPHI, Armenia; Metaxia Vlassi, NCSR "Demokritos", Greece; Kyriakos Petratos, IMBB-FORTH, Greece; Nasrin Moazami, IROST, Iran; Zehra Sayers, Sabanci University, Turkey; Irit Sagi, Weizmann Institute, Israel; Said Assaf, ANSAR, Palestinian Authority; Elsadig Eltayeb, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman; Abdelaziz Soukri, Hassan II University, Morocco; Herman Winick, SSRL/SLAC, USA; Boris Batterman, LBL/SSRL/Cornell University, USA; Peter Kuhn, SSRL/SLAC, USA; Lisa Miller, NSLS, USA; Jim Penner-Hahn University of Michigan, USA; Anastassis Perrakis, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Holland; Keith Watenpaugh, Pharmacia, USA; Manolis Pantos & Pierre Rizkallah, Daresbury, U.K. Also present was Andreani D. Odysseos from the University of Cyprus, the local representative and contact point of the UNESCO-sponsored Molecular and Cellular Biology Global Network.

The participants from SESAME member countries presented the current status of research activity in their respective countries and explained the various priorities for them: Samvel Harutunyan for Armenia, Giorgios Archontis for Cyprus, Metaxia Vlassi for Greece, Nasrin Moazami for Iran, Irit Sagi for Israel, Abdulaziz Soukri for Morocco, Elsadig Eltayeb for Oman, Said Assaf for the Palestinian Authority, and Zehra Sayers for Turkey. Scientists from several of these countries already had experience with synchrotron radiation. In addition, in most of these countries there was significant research activity relevant to SMB leading to the expectation that there could be a total of many hundreds of scientists involved with SMB research at SESAME within a few years after operations begin.

Biotechnology and agricultural applications were prominent in the set of activities carried out in the increasing number of research institutes of some of the countries in the region. However, this contrasted with difficulties in some member states still working to establish research activity. Since infrastructure to support SMB research e.g., biochemical laboratories for preparation of proteins and other samples) is not available in all SESAME member countries, it is considered very important to provide this infrastructure at SESAME, complete with scientific and technical support for users. As SESAME becomes a reality it is expected to be a catalyst for the creation of facilities and other infrastructure developments in all member countries.

The proposal for an SMB Institute at SESAME, drawn up by Pierre Rizkallah and Metaxia Vlassi after the first SMB workshop in Athens, was presented for comments by the participants. The details of this Institute equipment, staff, costs) are spelled out in Appendix C of the report of the Athens SMB meeting which is available on the SESAME web site [www.sesame.org.jo]. The Cyprus workshop participants stongly endorsed the creation of this institute as a necessary component of a successful SMB program at SESAME and included the following statement in a resolution passed at the workshop:

The biological scientists from SESAME member countries present at the Cyprus SMB workshop reaffirm and clarify the resolution passed unanimously at the Athens SMB meeting that: 'Top priority for the SMB scientific subgroup is to see a research institute established alongside Sesame for the development of SMB projects and infrastructure in the Region at the earliest possible date'. By 'alongside' we mean at the Sesame site. Experience at other SR centers around the world shows clearly that such proximity of user support facilities is critical for success."

Costas Iacovou from the Cyprus Planning Bureau spoke about the strong interest in research in Cyprus and the various activities already underway. He emphasized the need to form a comprehensive picture of the total financial requirements of the installation and subsequent operation of SESAME. He also announced that the government of Cyprus had invited an independent committee of international experts to evaluate the participation of Cyprus on the SESAME project and they are expecting the committee's final report.

Chris Constantinou of the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Center and Kyriakos Kyriakou of the Institute of Neurology and Genetics gave talks on their respective institutes. There was strong emphasis on Thalassemia and its genetics, in addition to other health problems in the SESAME Region, such as malaria, cancer and infectious agents.

Partipants from outside the Middle East region with experience with synchrotron radiation research made presentations on the opportunities for the exploitation of SESAME in the field of SMB. Herman Winick provided an update on the 'Current Status of SESAME and its Capability for SMB Research'; Tassos Perrakis described the reality of Macromolecular Crystallography in a Muli-national Environment'; Peter Kuhn gave a glimpse of how 'High Throughput Structural Genomics Experiments at a Synchrotron Source' works; Boris Batterman and Zehra Sayers explained the theory behind 'Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)' and its applications; Jim Penner-Hahn discussed 'The complementarity between EXAFS and PX'; Lisa Miller presented an array of possible Bio-medical Applications of IR micro-spectroscopy'; Irit Sagi detailed a case study of successful drug design on 'Human MMP-9 with XAS and IR'.

Perhaps the most significant immediate outcome of the Cyprus workshop was the contacts made among scientists from SESAME member countries. In several cases this led to the beginning of collaborations and the planning of future workshop and schools. Among these activities are:

1. Workshop/school on bioinformatics and protein modelling: Organizers: Irit Sagi (Weizmann Inst., Israel), Zehra Sayers (Sabanci Univ., Istanbul), and Metaxia Vlassi (NCSR Demokritus. Greece)

The above three experienced biochemists from SESAME member countries are planning a one week workshop/school on bioinformatics and protein modelling for up to 25 students from the Middle East. The school will be held at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey in the September, 2001 time frame. Support is expected from Sabanci University and UNESCO.

2. Workshop on SMB for scientists in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia: Organizer: Abdelaziz Soukri (Hassan II Univ., Casablanca, Morocco)

Soukri, an experienced protein chemist, is planning a workshop aimed at bringing together scientists from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to build the user base for SMB at SESAME. He already has a collaboration underway with Joel Sussman of the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Soukri attended the annual meeting of the Israeli Crystallography Association in Jerusalem on June 1, 2000. Support is expected from Hassan II University and UNESCO.

3. Scientific collaborations on protein structure determination

At the Cyprus workshop scientists from several SESAME member countries learned that some of them had the capability to produce proteins whose structures could be determined by others. Among the proteins is one that is involved in apoptosis (death) of cancer cells in a way that is not understood. It is likely that collaborations among them will develop.

Pierre Rizkallah, Herman Winick