Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology

Journal of Biotechnology in Berlin-Brandenburg Issue 36 · January 2009 Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology Molecular Nutrition Research as a Basis for Disease Prevention and Health +++ The German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke – Our Research Focus +++ Health and Nutrition at the TU Berlin – the Center for Preventive Foods +++ The “Brandenburger Ernährungs- und Krebsstudie”: A Potsdam Contribution to the Euro-pean Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) +++ Nutrigenomics in Berlin-Brandenburg +++ BEN – the Food Network for the Capital Region +++ Nutrigenomics and Gene Regulation +++ Food Technology for New Markets from TU Berlin +++ ORGANOBALANCE – From Spin-Off to Successful Probiotics Producer 2 BioTOPics 36_Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology Content Molecular Nutrition Research as a Basis for Disease Prevention and Health 3 The German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke – Our Research Focus 4 Health and Nutrition at the TU Berlin – the Center for Preventive Foods 6 The “Brandenburger Ernährungs- und Krebsstudie”: A Potsdam Contribution to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) 8 Nutrigenomics in Berlin-Brandenburg 10 BEN – the Food Network for the Capital Region 13 Nutrigenomics and Gene Regulation 14 Food Technology for New Markets from TU Berlin 16 ORGANOBALANCE – From Spin-Off to Successful Probiotics Producer 18 Impressum Publisher: BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg Fasanenstraße 85 · D-10623 Berlin Phone+49 30 318622-11 Fax +49 30 318622-22 Editor: Design & Production: Translation: Photos: biotop@biotop.de · www.biotop.de Thilo Spahl supiran.de Textbüro Reul GmbH · Frankfurt page 3: dreamstime.com/Christophe Testi · page 11: dreamstime.com/Milosluz · page 14/15: dreamstime.com/ Shaik Dawood/Titania1980/Jack Kunnen/Liga Lauzuma/ Janpietruszka/Dorlies Fabri/Missjelena/Evestock/Olga Langerova/Sergei Didyk/Elnur · page 19: BASF SE · others: authors or BioTOP BioTOP is a joint initiative of the state of Berlin and the state of Brandenburg under the umbrella of the TSB Innovationsagentur Berlin GmbH. BioTOP is funded by the federal state of Berlin, the federal state of Brandenburg and the Investitionsbank Berlin, cofunded by the European Union (European Fund for Regional Development). BioTOP coordinates the implementation of the master plan of the health region Berlin-Brandenburg in the field “Biomedicine/Biotechnology” BioTOPics 36_Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology 3 Molecular Nutrition Research as a Basis for Disease Prevention and Health A third of all health spending is accounted for by illnesses whose origin and progression are influenced directly or indirectly by dietary factors. The molecular basis of diet-related illnesses is therefore a challenging area of research for which the bioregion Berlin-Brandenburg has strong credentials. The close links that exist here between genome research, molecular and clinical nutrition research and plant biotechnology have supported the development of new strategies in recent years to diagnose, prevent and treat diet-related illnesses. Particularly in the field of nutrigenomics, which Alongside advancements in biotechnology, Dr. Kai Bindseil Director BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg focuses on the interaction between diet or food components and the human genome, the region has produced many new ideas. BioProfil Nutrigenomik, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is a network in which basic research and its application take place side by side and where research institutes and biotech companies have joined forces to develop new products, particularly for diagnostics. The area’s outstanding research facilities, like the German Institute of Human Nutrition, the Innovation Center Health and Nutrition (IGE) of the Technische Universität Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, form the basis for this fruitful cooperation. many preventive measures are available today that can help considerably to reduce the inci-dence of many chronic illnesses. For the field of preventive health to benefit as quickly as pos-siblefromnewscientificfindings,themaster plan of the health cluster Berlin-Brandenburg has made “Prevention, Health Promotion, Rehabili-tation and Diet” an independent field of activity that cooperates closely with the field “Biotech-nology and Biomedicine”. Here the goal is to make Berlin-Brandenburg into a science-led model region for nutrition, health and food. In this issue of BioTOPics some of the most important nutrition researchers in Berlin-Bran-denburg report on research projects and product developments. 4 BioTOPics 36_Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology The German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke – Our Research Focus The German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) investigates the ori-gins of nutrition-associated diseases with the aim of developing new preventive strate-gies, treatments and dietary recommendations. The scientists engaged in interdisciplinary research at the institute use a broad spectrum of scientific, medical and epidemiological research methods. The institute’s research is currently focussed on the most important diseases that are associated with dietary factors: obesity, diabetes and cancer. Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Joost Figure 1 Scientific Director · German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) Research Focus Metabolic Syndrome and Type-2 Diabetes Metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe a complex of symptoms that include overweight, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and disorders of the lipid metabolism. The syndrome has a genetic basis but is usually only triggered by the positive energy balance (high calorie intake and little exercise) that occurs Tromso Umea frequently in countries with a “western lifestyle”. Incidence as well as severity of this syndrome and its main secondary compli-cation, type-2 diabetes, have increased dramatically in all west- ern countries. This trend can also be observed in the Potsdam Cambridge Oxford Aarhus Utrecht Malmo Copenhagen Potsdam EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutri- Paris Heidelberg tion) study conducted at the DIfE (Figure 1). Type-2 diabetes is one of the most common and cost intensive chronic diseases today. According to the assessment of the CoDiM Oviedo Lyon TMilan San Sebastian Florence Pamplona Barcelona Naples Athens (Costs of Diabetes Mellitus) study, the direct costs of diabetes in Germany were 30.6 billion euros or 14.2 percent of total spend- ing in the health care system in 2001. Given that the prevalence Granada Murcia Ragusa ofdiabetes is expected to rise byalmost50 percentbetween 2000 and 2030, a huge increase in costs must be expected. In addi-tion, despite treatment, the secondary complications of metabol-ic syndrome shorten life expectancy by approximately eight years. We can therefore expect a fall in average life expectancy and an explosion in expenses unless we manage to reverse or at least to slow down this trend. To do so, we need fundamental insights into the causes of metabolic syndrome and effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes. Using data from the Potsdam EPIC study, the DIfE has therefore developed a diabetes risk test which is already being used by health insurance funds. At the same time, DIfE scientists have made important advances in determining the genetic origins of the metabolic syndrome. In a mouse model (Figure 2), they identified a natural mutation in the Tbc1d1 gene which affects the regulation of the energy metabolism in the muscles. Due Centres of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) to this mutation, the mice lack a particular metabolic enzyme that enables them to remain slim even when fed a high-fat diet, and also protects them against diabetes. In the course of their research, the scientists gained profound insight into the function of the gene. This provides the basis for developing new therapy and prevention strategies. In addition, DIfE scientists are using epidemiological and clinical studies to investigate the interactions between diet, genes and diabetes. In the context of the Potsdam EPIC Study, they recently succeeded in showing that a variation of the TCF7L2 gene can determine whether a person can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by eating wholegrain products. BioTOPics 36_Molecular Nutrition Research and Food Technology 5 Figure 2 Figure 3 Fluorescence marked intestinal bacteria. Intestinal bacteria can transform nutritional components into toxic substances, which may play a role in carcinogenesis. The New Zealand obese mouse gains weight rapidly under a high-fat diet and develops obesity, whereby the proportion of body fat can increase to over 40 percent (left). Despite a very high fat diet, the mice of the Swiss Jim Lambert strain did not gain weight but stayed lean, due to their genetic makeup (right). They also found a link between a high-fat diet, genetic variations of a liver protein that binds fatty acids (FABP) and the human sugar metabolism. Research at the institute also focuses on the biological mecha-nisms that may be responsible for dietary preferences. In large sectors of society, people know what constitutes a healthy diet. Yet, paradoxically, this knowledge has had little effect on their eating habits. Many people still prefer to eat high-calorie food that is less satiable and promotes the development of obesity and type-2 diabetes. To determine the role that gustation plays in this phenomenon, scientists at the DIfE are investigating the molecular mechanisms responsible for taste perception. They have already succeeded in finding different receptor variants associated with different taste perceptions. Links between Diet and Cancer Many epidemiological data confirm the assumption that diet plays a major role in the development of cancer. The DIfE has con-tributed to this insight with its participation in the multi-centre Europe-wide EPIC study. The findings of this study show that a low consumption of fibers and a high consumption of red meat is associated with a higher incidence of colorectal cancer. DIfE also investigated the effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on different types of cancer and found indications of a reduced risk for cancer of the lung and of the oropharyngeal epithelium. The study also indicated that overweight is an important risk factor for colon cancer (men and women) and for cancer of the kidney and breast (women). However, epidemiological studies do not unequivocally prove causal connections between diet and cancer. This is why the DIfE is also using biochemical, molecular and microbiological meth-ods as well as cellular testing systems and animal models to establish causality of the associations between cancer and diet. Preliminary findings support the assumption that the metabolic conversion of foreign substances absorbed with food may play a role in the development of cancer. Metabolism of xenobiot-ics can inactivate carcinogenic substances, but can also activate them. Here, the genetically determined variants of the enzymes involved in the so-called “detoxification metabolism” play a decisive role. Researchers at the institute were able to show that the bacteria in normal intestinal flora (Figure 3) can convert for-eign substances into toxic, mutagenic or possibly carcinogenic substances. One example is the transformation of arbutin into the mutagenic substance hydrochinone, which triggered cancer in animal experiments. High concentrations of arbutin are found in pear skins and in wheat. Researchers at the DIfE are also study-ing the influence of micronutrients like selenium on the develop-ment of colon cancer and have already succeeded in identifying a selenium protein (an enzyme) produced by the body itself which is synthesized more intensively in human colon tumors and can be induced by components of cruciferous plants. However, more research is required to show the significance of these processes for the development or prevention of cancer. The scientists at the institute have therefore developed “humanized” animal models which they will use to study the relationship between nutrition, inflammatory processes and the development of colon cancer in vivo. ... - tailieumienphi.vn