Thermo Fisher Scientific has entered into a collaboration with BrainMet (Bioimaging of metals in brain and metallomics) Centre at Forschungszentrum, Julich in Germany to advance dementia research by studying the effects of metals and metalloproteins in ageing and in the origin of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases and Wilson’s syndrome.
The Thermo Scientific XSeries 2 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was installed, combining third-generation collision cell and protective ion extraction technologies with an ergonomic, compact design, to carry out the challenging research in the BrainMet laboratory, led by Dr Habil Sabine Becker.
The BrainMet Centre has been officially opened in collaboration with Thermo Fisher by Juergen Srega, vice president of global products and scientific instruments at Thermo Fisher Scientific in December 2009 to investigate new and powerful technologies for dementia research.
When combining the studies on the bioimaging of metals to metallomics it is possible to explore the relationship between metal ions and metalloproteins in brain tissue and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The resulting data from these studies will be successfully combined by BrainMet with neuro-scientific imaging procedures (MRI, PET, auto-radiography, histochemical and optical imaging techniques) to enable high-tech biomedical research.
Habil Sabine Becker, head of the Analytical BrainMet Centre, said: “We are delighted to have entered into this exciting collaboration with Thermo Fisher. The XSeries 2 has been efficient for quantitative bioimaging of metals of healthy and diseased samples of brain tissue and also for investigating the growth of brain tumors and strokes.
“Our ultimate goal is to advance dementia research and help the pharmaceutical industry introduce new therapies. The XSeries 2 is reliable and easy to use while providing the high signal to background ratio and excellent sensitivity that is required for our research.”