November 15, 2007
Frank
Barile, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
in St. John’s University’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health
Services, has been awarded a $36,000 grant from the Alternatives Research and
Development Foundation to continue his research on mouse
embryonic stem cells, cementing his place at the forefront of the
race to cure diseases and prolong lives using stem-cell
science.
Much has been made lately by policymakers, lobbyists, religious
leaders and the media about the ethics of scientific research that
relies on the destruction of human embryos. Earlier this year,
however,
news reports swirled about a new, hopeful direction of
embryonic science that utilizes mouse stem cells rather than human
stem cells, effectively putting to rest certain ethical
concerns.
While most media outlets began publicizing these advancements about
five months ago, Dr. Barile and his team of graduate students have
been working with mouse stem cells for nearly two years, conducting
“backstage research” before it gained public traction, says the St.
John’s professor.
Barile admits he’s excited to be on the cutting-edge of
technology that adheres to all forms of ethical guidelines. “Once
in a while, about every 10 years or so, you get to a point in your
research career where it makes a big splash and produces a couple
of headlines,” he says. “We’re at the right place at the right
time.”
“It’s gratifying to know that we were doing the nuts and bolts
of this [mouse stem cell] research before other people in the
scientific world started jumping on the bandwagon,” adds Ph.D.
student Tony Calabro, from Bethpage, NY, who has been working with
Barile for three years and recently received a $12,500, third-year
renewal on a fellowship from the Chicago-based International Foundation of Ethical
Research.
Calabro, who also serves as a research technician at North Shore University
Hospital in Manhasset in the early morning hours before coming
to Barile’s lab, will be credited as the first author of a
soon-to-be-published paper, written with Barile, describing their
recent discoveries in their lab. It will appear in an upcoming
edition of
Toxicology in Vitro.
Inside the Laboratory
At the crux of Barile’s new research is the discovery that mouse
embryonic stem cells, when artificially manipulated, have the
capacity to transform into intact biomembranes, or cell tissues,
while other normal and cancerous human cells do not. Specifically,
Barile and his graduate students believe they have found a way to
chemically “program” mouse stem cells to develop into tissues
resembling human skin cells and certain membranous stomach cells,
such as those found in organs like the large and small intestines.
(Skin and stomach lining are very similar in terms of their
development process, says Barile.)
The simplified methodological process used by the researchers
involves a series of steps and the acquisition of three items:
“imports,” which are filter-like objects that bear resemblance to
the permeable membranes that naturally anchor human cells; various
“growth factors,” or hormones, which are very expensive; and the
mouse stem cells themselves.
After culturing the cells, Barile pairs them with a certain
combination of growth factors, stimulating the cells’ genes, which
in turn alters their development. Stem cells, depending on the
combination of growth factors they are paired with, have the
potential to develop into a multitude of different organs — a
liver, gall bladder or kidney, for example.
“We try to mimic [membranous] organs in the intestinal tract,
where you have cells on one side, and a filter-like structure on
the other side, which absorbs water,” says Barile, explaining the
importance of the imports he uses.
Barile hopes that his artificial cell models eventually can be
used to replace damaged, cancerous or surgically removed cell
tissues in the human body. Ultimately, this research could lead to
the cures of major diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,
which are caused by cell damage. Heart attacks might also one day
be prevented with stem-cell science, says Barile.
If his homegrown cell cultures ultimately transform into skin
cells rather than stomach cells, the lives of millions of burn
victims might eventually be saved, he adds.
Barile says his ultimate goal “is simply to make a contribution
to science, which can save lives, or at least make lives a little
easier.”
Toxicology Roots
Because Barile is a toxicologist, a further purpose of his research
is to explore the way in which different toxicants, such as heavy
metals, can interfere with the artificial manipulation of
cells.
“After many years of developing in vitro models as
alternative methods to animal testing, there still are no validated
procedures to determine systemic toxicity in vitro,” he
says.
Barile was awarded his ARDF grant at the beginning of the fall
semester. He recently presented his findings to a national audience
of 7,500 at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology.
Barile has worked with the development of in vitro models for
toxicology for about 20 years and recently published a book titled
Principles of Toxicology Testing. He teaches an assortment
of graduate and undergraduate courses in toxicology and
pharmacy.