COLLABORATION IN BASIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (COBASE)

Dr. Petr Husek (left) and Dr. Tom Mabry (right) running samples in Dr. Husek's lab at the Institute of Endocrinology in Prague.

From June 4-17, 2000, Thomas Mabry (University of Texas at Austin) collaborated with Petr Husek at the Institute of Endocrinology in Prague. Drs. Mabry and Husek’s study originates from information about the seeds of the cycad, an ancient toxic plant. These seeds, after they have undergone a detoxification process, are used as food and medicine by several native populations in various tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In some cases, however, the plant remains poisonous even after the detoxification process. In 1992, a method was required to recognize this plant’s toxicity by profiling protein and non-protein amino acids in extracts of the plant. For this project, Drs. Mabry and Husek planned to synthesize new derivatives of non-protein amino acids for improved Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) procedures to screen other medicinal and food plants for these toxic compounds. The Institute of Endocrinology in Prague is one of the leading institutions in the world for developing rapid and accurate analysis of amino acids from any source. Dr. Husek has developed a rapid and simple procedure to analyze body fluids for amino acids in approximately fifteen minutes, including sample make-up.

In addition to working at the Institute of Endocrinology, Dr. Mabry attended discussions and lectures with seven other scientists specializing in analytical procedures for bioactive compounds. Dr. Mabry traveled to Poland and Hungary and presented a lecture at the Second International Symposium on Chromatography in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland as well as speaking with scientists from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Academy of Sciences in Prague, the University of Medical Sciences in Poznan, the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, the University of Medical Sciences in Warsaw, the Medical University in Lublin, the Research Institute for Medicinal Plants in Budapest, and the Medical University in Szeged. The collaborators hope to work with some of these scientists again in the future and have already initiated new joint projects with three of them.

Drs. Mabry and Husek plan to continue developing synthetic methods for new derivatives of amino acids for improved GC-MS procedures suitable to screen all foods and medicinal plants for non-protein amino acids that might be toxic. While they have no plans to submit a proposal to NSF at this time, they will continue to collaborate by sharing techniques and information.