The Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center (BBC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is a major new center dedicated to the development and application of novel technology in biomedical research.

The Center has seven major areas of focus: Proteomics, Genomics, Computational Biology, Molecular Imaging, Cell and Tissue Engineering, Drug Discovery and Technology Development, each with an emphasis on the application and transfer of technology. One of the major goals of the BBC is to help create productive interfaces and synergy between the academic departments at MCW, other universities (both within Wisconsin and nationally), and with the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industries.

The BBC is the home of the recently created National Center for Proteomics Research and Development (Proteomics Center) that is funded by a 7-year $15.6 million contract, the largest in the history of MCW at that time. The Proteomics Center is one of only ten such National Institutes of Health-funded proteomics centers in the country and will develop new technologies to understand the critical role proteins play in health and disease. The Proteomics Center will focus on the study of angiogenesis — the growth of new blood vessels — because angiogenesis provides a physiologically and clinically relevant pathway for which MCW investigators have developed controlled animal models. Utilization of this pathway will allow purposeful analysis of samples with reduced genetic complexity and variability resulting in a limited number of alterations in protein expression. The strategy employed by the center will be a systematic approach to the development of new sample handling methods, analytical techniques, and mass spectrometry instruments, based on single-event counting. The goal of the center’s work, to be achieved in conjunction with a powerful group of collaborators, is to extend the capabilities of mass spectrometric analysis to permit quantitative analysis of the proteome of individual cells.

Working closely with the Human and Molecular Genetics Center, investigators in the BBC will help to extend the capacity of Genomics research by providing new tools for high-throughput genotyping, sequencing and expression profiling. Research will focus on the development of novel technologies for the identification and characterization of single nucleotide polymorphisms and strategies for large-scale sequencing, as well as on strategies for generation and analysis of gene expression data.

Computational Biology efforts will capitalize on the activities of faculty in several departments who are working on the use of mathematical models to aid in our understanding of biological organization. Collaboration with scientists in the Bioinformatics Research Center and the use of state-of-the-art computational tools, such as the new Compaq supercomputer, will provide BBC investigators with unsurpassed opportunities to advance our understanding of how genomics, proteomics, and systems level biology can be integrated through the use of computing and informatics.

Molecular Imaging will be developed in conjunction with activities in the Functional Imaging Research Center, the Human and Molecular Genetics Center, and the Department of Biophysics at MCW, as well as through collaborations with GE Medical Systems and other local companies. Work in this developing area will be supported by the recent purchase of several new imaging systems at the college, including a high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner dedicated to animal studies.

Cell and Tissue Engineering is a young, emerging field that requires collaboration of physical sciences, life sciences and engineering. The term “Tissue Engineering” has been defined as a unifying concept for a wide range of biological science and engineering research in a review paper published in Science in 1993. The BBC collaborates with internationally recognized physiologists at MCW to find unique solutions for critical biological problems through the development of appropriate cell- and animal models. Cardiovascular engineering is our primary area of focus. The BBC will also quickly transfer the academic research results into industrial applications via close industrial collaborations in the region.

BBC scientists have exclusive access to a large library of natural plant-extracts from the Philippines, one of the internationally well-known biodiversity hotspots, which will be screened for Drug Discovery. The BBC is profiling the extracts using various phenotypic assays including engineered tissue-based, high throughput screening to identify positive hits to alter normal or pathological phenotypes. A proteomic approach will be employed to identify target molecules causing the phenotypic changes. In addition, researchers in the BBC are collaborating with the Department of Medicine at MCW, and national and international collaborators to find a treatment for human filiarial diseases, in particular to identify novel chemical scaffolds that inhibit recombinant parasite aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (AARS).

Technology Development will take advantage of the expertise located throughout southeastern Wisconsin and will focus on the development of novel systems for remote sensing of physiological variables such as blood pressure, metabolism, and other mechanistic pathways for use in experimental and clinical settings. These technologies will be applicable in a wide variety of areas, including high-throughput screening for genomic studies, but will focus primarily on angiogenesis and rapid biochemical analysis.

By maintaining focus on these related areas and working closely together, center investigators will interact to expand opportunities for funding, spur technology transfer, and benefit MCW and other local academic institutions.