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In recent years, basic research in life science has been developing rapidly, and competition in the industry has been intensifying. How is the development of the global life science industry heading under this market environment? How to build a better life science industry ecosystem? What kind of innovative industrial space do life science enterprises need? GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 22nd, the Global Life Science Industry Development Forum & Guangzhou·Gemdale Viseen Longsheng·Huangpu Science and Technology Innovation Park New Product Release was successfully held in Guangzhou, and a series of key issues in the life science industry were discussed in depth. The forum was hosted by Gemdale Viseen Industries. Adhering to the goal and purpose of "based on academia, based on practice, and helping the development and landing of life science industry", and focusing on the core theme of "Global Incubation, Gemdale Accelerates China's Transformation", the strategy of Gemdale Life Science Theme Industrial Park was officially released. Gemdale's six major incubators in the United States were newly unveiled, the Bio-Island Life Science Industry Cultivation Fund was unveiled, the Bio-Island Laboratory·(Huangpu) Acceleration/Cultivation Base was unveiled, Gemdale Group's biomedical investment cultivation system was released, and the life science theme industrial park product standardization was released , also Viseen Lab's first life science industry model was launched, the "2023 Biomedical Industry Development Blue Book" was released, and 7 major strategies were released. Gemdale will share the most cutting-edge research results and innovations with you through this life science themed industry development forum Concept, achieve industry success with professionalism, and jointly seek the road to future development. Strategy release (1) Gemdale's six major incubators in the United States are newly unveiled As an enterprise focusing on the development of the life science industry, Gemdale Viseen Industries is committed to build a full industry chain integrating R&D, pilot testing, transformation, and marketization，from incubation and acceleration to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, providing all-round support for the landing of scientific research achievements. Zhang Jinyuan, the Vice President of Gemdale, said in his welcome speech at the forum that Gemdale Viseen Industries has entered the filed of life science in the U.S. as early as 2014, and has gradually completed the investments in the six major incubation spaces, including San Jose Midtown and Austin Mueller Medical Office Building's construction. It has also successfully incubated a number of life science companies such as Novita Pharmaceuticals. It adopts a unique "investment-driven + scenario-based incubation" operating model to form a cycle of attracting investment, incubation and investment, which has helped many biopharmaceutical companies grow. Zhang Jinyuan introduced in detail that the basic situation of Gemdale Viseen Industrial's first life science theme park in Guangzhou—— Gemdale Viseen Longsheng Huangpu Innovation Park, and expressed his recognition and expectations for the project. In the face of the rapid development of the global life science industry, Dr. He Biao, an overseas medical and health investor from Gemdale, brought us a more comprehensive and professional perspective in his speech "The Current Situation and Future Development Trends of the Global Life Sciences Industry": The bioindustry Market is broad, the prospects are optimistic, and the future of various fields is expected to achieve sustainable growth; excellent scientific research results, innovation and differentiated products will continue to be the core of the success of biotechnology companies; the current biotechnology market conditions are conducive to M&A and collaboration of big pharma; under the current situation, enterprises need to adjust their strategies focus on their fundamentals, and improve the efficiency of business operations; use digital technology to improve manufacturing and supply chain processes, leverage artificial intelligence and other technologies to streamline business engagement models, and cope with the changing regulatory environment and its impact on product pricing. Subsequently, three life science companies invested by Gemdale Viseen Industry in the United States gave online speeches and demonstrated the six incubator spaces of Gemdale Viseen Industry in the United States. Huang Xingyun, chairman of Novita Pharmaceuticals, said the company is committed to develop breakthrough drugs as new cancer treatments. These small molecule drugs are Fascin-specific inhibitors that can prevent tumor metastasis. This is a major advance because 90% of cancer-related deaths are caused by tumor metastasis. George Wu, founder and CEO of Amberstone Biosciences, said that tumor microenvironment activation therapy, with "programmable pH-dependent antibodies" as the core, represented the cutting-edge technology in the international medical field. This not only improves the safety and specificity of treatment, reduces the toxic effects on normal cells, but also improves the durability of treatment. Strategy release (2) Bio Island Life Science Industry Cultivation Fund unveiled Subsequently, the Bio-Island Life Science Industry Cultivation Fund was unveiled. It was jointly initiated and established by Bio-Island Laboratory, Guangdong Science and Technology Venture Capital, Nast Investment, and Gemdale Group to jointly build scientific research capabilities, share scientific and technological innovation elements, and jointly create a scientific and technological innovation ecology. The Bio Island Life Science Industry Cultivation Fund is a gift from Gemdale Group and Guangzhou Bio Island to the development of life science enterprises. The establishment of the fund will further promote the high-quality development of the life science industry in the Greater Bay Area. At the same time, through the guidance and support of the fund, especially the driving, linking and integrating role of Guangdong Finance, more outstanding talents and enterprises will be attracted to the Greater Bay Area, forming an internationally competitive life science industry cluster and helping Guangzhou Huangpu to become an important innovation hub in the life science field in the Greater Bay Area and even globally. Strategy release (3) Biological Island Laboratory·(Huangpu) Acceleration/Cultivation Base Unveiled The unveiling of the Bio-Island Laboratory·(Huangpu) Acceleration Base and the Bio-Island Life Science Industry Cultivation Fund·(Huangpu) Cultivation Base, jointly established by Gemdale Group and Guangzhou Bio-Island Laboratory, is another accelerator to promote the rapid development of Guangzhou Huangpu life science industry. The establishment of the Huangpu base will connect with the medical science and technology achievement projects invested and cultivated by Gemdale's US incubation bases (two operating companies, Lifespan BioLabs and Mission Bay), promote the project landing in China, and accelerate their development through the traction of the incubation fund and Lifespan Investments. At the same time, it will also attract more outstanding scientific research talents and teams from China and abroad come to Guangzhou to carry out cutting-edge scientific research and technological innovation. Meanwhile, the base will also provide public services such as technical support and talent training for enterprises to help the rapid development of the life science industry. Strategy release (4) Gemdale Group's Biopharmaceutical Investment Cultivation System The incubation and growth of life sciences and the rapid landing are not easy. High capital investment thresholds and long transformation cycles may become reasons for failure. The unique vision, long-term cultivation and innate high-tech industry genes have formed a unique operating model and circular drive belonging to Gemdale Viseen Industry, and empowered high-tech industries with industrial park as the carrier in practice. In recent years, Gemdale Group has invested in funds such as Lilly AsiaVentures, WuXi Biologics, Northern Lights, and CMB International, adopting a unique "investment-driven + scenario-based incubation" operating model to form a cyclical drive for attracting investment in business, incubation, and investment to assist enterprises develop. In the research and practice, a biomedical investment cultivation fund system and cultivation base with Gemdale characteristics have been formed. Test standards with practice, refine majors with standards, and accelerate the future with professionalism. At the event, Zhou Shuo, Chief Strategic Management Manager of Gemdale Group, introduced the important preparations and significance "Innovation-Investment-Incubation-Industry" life science collaborative innovation system. From the experience and practices in terms of element composition, channel path, system construction and future development planning, he also explained to us the two major features of Gemdale Group's life sciences collaborative innovation system, namely the allocation of national systematic innovation factors and two-way offshore innovation incubation. This system is well practiced Gemdale Viseen Longsheng Huangpu Innovation Park in Guangzhou. Gemdale Group has joined forces with Bioland Lab, Yueke,Naste and Bioisland to build the systematic cooperation of "innovation-investment-incubation-industry", establishes an incubation and introduction channel for international scientific and technological achievements and an investment, which has successfully helped many biopharmaceutical companies accelerate their growth. Strategy release (5) Gemdale Viseen Life Science Industrial Park product standardization released Liu Yide, General Manager of Gemdale Viseen Industrial Product Management Center, said that Gemdale Viseen Industrial Life Science Product Competency Standards are based on the actual needs of corporate customers, according to different segments of the industry, in-depth analysis of key equipment, and special needs, forming the standards include three major modules of building, structure and electromechanical, as well as 19 sub-items such as area, floor height, load-bearing, and power distribution, and 114 representative standard products. At the same time, on this basis, the first life science industry demonstration space product strength standard has been created, which will set a new benchmark for the development of the life science industry. This standard aims to improve product quality, strengthen industry standards, promote industrial innovation, and provide companies with a safer and more efficient life science exclusive production and R&D space. Behind these standards, Gemdale Viseen spent one year intensively researching successful cases and life science-related companies, and united internal and external experts to conduct detailed standardization work for the products of industrial park. The standardization is also a solid starting point for the future. Strategy Release (6) Viseen Lab. first life science industry model launched Fulfil plans, achieve standards, and implement results. The event showcased Gemdale Viseen first innovative industry model space——Viseen Lab. Life Science Industry Demonstration Space. Viseen Lab.Industrial Demonstration Space demonstrated in detail aspects such as column spacing, floor height, floor load, load-bearing, maintenance height, exhaust system, freight system, etc., and presented different types of products according to different policies in different regions. Strategy release (7) "2023 Biomedical Industry Development Blue Book" In order to promote the development of the industry and consolidate service capabilities, Gemdale Viseen Industrial Research Institute officially released the "2023 Biopharmaceutical Industry Development Blue Book". The book has a total of 200,000 words and 5 chapters. The book uses big data to analyze the global scale and domestic development of the biopharmaceutical industry, focusing on analyzing the development status of the four typical cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Guangzhou. This will allow everyone to have a clearer understanding of the development context and trends of this industry and help complete the transformation of life science in China. Ge Peijian, President of Gemdale Viseen Industrial Research Institute, gave us a detailed introduction to the scale and growth rate of the global biopharmaceutical industry, the development pattern of China biopharmaceutical industry, and the future development of biopharmaceutical layout in representative cities such as Shanghai, Suzhou, and Beijing. He believes that this book is instructive in the industry, authoritative in terms of data, and applicable in details such as innovation platforms. Finally, Gemdale Viseen Life Science Industry Ecosystem was officially launched. This means that the future ecosystem will attract more innovative talents and teams, as well as more social capital and innovation resources. Guangzhou Huangpu will also use this help to form a life science industry innovation center with global influence. At the same time, the establishment of this ecosystem will also inject new vitality into the life science industry in the the the Greater Bay Areaand make positive contributions to the health of the people. Release New Product Gemdale Viseen Longsheng·Huangpu Innovation Park in Guangzhou Use your works to amaze expectations and practice the development of life sciences. Gemdale Viseen has released the new products in Guangzhou Huangpu. Under the introduction of Bai Fan, general manager of Gemdale Viseen, we learned that the formation of the project was based on a large amount of research and understanding of the needs of biomedical companies. In view of the current pain points and needs of biomedical companies, Gemdale Viseen set extremely high product standards, including good ecology, great lighting, complete set of supporting facilities, convenient transportation, high quality service, and other advantageous innovations, have created a model for Huangpu three-dimensional space. The project has a total construction area of approximately 167,000 square meters. It is located in the innovation hub of Guangzhou Development Zone, and belongs to the innovative industry group of the southern area of Guangzhou Science City. It is committed to becoming an "ideal+" space for biopharmaceutical companies. The release of new products from Gemdale Viseen Longsheng·Huangpu Innovation Park is not only a fulfillment of the "Gemdale Viseen Product Competence Standard", but also forceful measures to further promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading in the field of life science, to improve the overall competition in the industry. Currently, companies that have settled in the park include Canton Biologics, Saite Intelligence, and Songkang Huizhong Company. —————— Professionalism creates excellent industry. Gemdale Viseen believes the future of the life science industry, and more firmly believes in the development of Huangpu Innovation Park in Guangzhou. Gemdale Viseen is willing to work with you to help industrial development and the future of life science industry. SOURCE Gemdale Viseen

In C. elegans worms, a single neuron named HSN uses multiple chemicals and connections to orchestrate egg-laying and locomotion over the course of several minutes. A new MIT study that focuses on a single cell in one of nature's simplest nervous systems provides an in-depth illustration of how individual neurons can use multiple means to drive complex behaviors. In the C. elegans worm, which only has 302 nerve cells, the neuron HSN releases several chemicals and makes multiple connections along its length to not only control the animal's instantaneous egg laying and locomotion, but also to then slow the worm down for several minutes after the eggs are laid. To control that latter phase of the behavior, HSN transfers the neurotransmitter serotonin to a fellow neuron, which re-releases it to influence behavior minutes later. "Our results reveal how a single neuron can influence a broad suite of behaviors over multiple timescales and show that neurons can 'borrow' serotonin from one another to control behavior," the researchers wrote in Current Biology. The study's senior author is Steven Flavell, Associate Professor in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Postdoc Yung-Chi Huang is the study's first author. A busy neuron Heading into the study, HSN's connections to other neurons had already been mapped (C. elegans is the only animal where the full connectome among neurons is known). It had also been associated with egg-laying. Flavell's lab, meanwhile, has observed that when the worms lay eggs, they speed across patches of food a bit like a farmer will drive a tractor to disperse seeds throughout fertile soil. Moreover, scientists had observed that when HSN is ablated, worms don't engage in a characteristic feeding behavior of slowing down to dine on patches of food. But how this single neuron had these seemingly paradoxical effects on behavior (egg laying, speeding up to do that, and slowing down after) remained a mystery. Flavell and Huang's team employed a wide variety of techniques and experiments to discover how HSN does its many jobs. To establish that HSN indeed has a causal role in controlling these behaviors, they manipulated the neuron's activity using optogenetics, a technique in which cells are genetically engineered to be controlled by flashes of light. In addition to confirming HSN's key role in egg laying, these and other genetic manipulation experiments also confirmed that HSN causes the worm to speed up and then, after a bout of roaming and egg laying, to slow down for several minutes. The lab also tracked the electrical activity of HSN during these behaviors (by tracking the flow of calcium ions within the cell as animals freely moved) and saw that specific patterns of the cell's activity were associated with egg laying and locomotion. Many molecular means Having established that HSN causes the three related behaviors, the lab then zeroed in on how it does so. HSN is known to release a wide variety of neurotransmitter chemicals including serotonin, acetylcholine and numerous peptides. Its release of serotonin and a neuropeptide called NLP-3 is known to drive egg-laying. To determine how the neuron drives speedy locomotion, the team systematically knocked out each HSN neurotransmitter and then stimulated HSN to see whether the worms could still speed up when HSN couldn't produce one chemical or the other. The experiments revealed that HSN drives increased locomotion via the release of two neuropeptides, called FLP-2 and FLP-28. Knocking out serotonin in HSN, meanwhile, disabled the worm's slowing behavior. Further experiments showed how. Flavell's team has previously studied the neuron NSM, showing that it uses serotonin when a worm is feeding to inhibit motor circuits and slow the worm down for the meal. In this study, the team showed that NSM's action depended on a supply of serotonin coming from HSN. When HSN couldn't produce serotonin, for instance, NSM couldn't slow the worms down as well. The team further showed that NSM uses the serotonin transporter SERT (called MOD-5 in C. elegans) to take up HSN's serotonin and re-release it. This showed that serotonergic neurons can pool and share serotonin with one another, with a direct impact on the animal's behavior, Flavell said. Turning to HSN's anatomy, the team discerned that control of locomotion and control of egg laying occurred along different points of HSN's axon. HSN's cell body is in the midbody of the animal. It forms synapses with the egg-laying circuit in the midbody and then its axon projects to the head to make synapses with other neurons. Cutting HSN's axon between the midbody and head did not disrupt the animal's egg-laying, but did prevent the coordination of egg-laying and locomotion, suggesting that HSN's projection to the head coordinates HSN's action on the egg-laying circuit with its action on the locomotion circuit. In all, the study showed how HSN uses many parallel neurotransmitter outputs in different ways to control the animal's behavior. "Our results illustrate how cellular morphology, multiple transmitter systems, and non-canonical modes of transmission like neurotransmitter "borrowing" endow a single neuron with the ability to orchestrate multiple features of a behavioral program," the authors wrote. Meanwhile, the finding that neurons can take up and re-release serotonin produced by other neurons to control behavior reveals a novel feature of serotonin signaling that could have important medical implications, Flavell said. The molecule that takes up the serotonin, SERT/MOD-5, is the target of serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac. This study raises the possibility that SSRIs may influence how neurons share serotonin with one another, which could be relevant for their mode of action in treating a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. In addition to Huang and Flavell, the paper's other authors are Jinyue Luo, Wenjia Huang, Casey Baker, Matthew Gomes, Bohan Meng, and Alexandra Byrne. The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and The JPB Foundation contributed funding for the study.

Researchers have shown that a protein called fascin acts in the control center of cancer cells and influences their ability to repair themselves, grow and move, according to a new study. The study reveals an important route through which fascin promotes cancer development and provides insights into potential pathways that could block its action. Fascin is known to control the structures that allow cells to move -- specifically the assembly of bundles of a protein called actin, which create the tiny 'legs' that cancer cells use to migrate to distant sites within the body. Fascin is also known to be at much higher levels in most solid tumours, where it helps cancer cells migrate and invade into other tissues. This invasion -- or 'metastasis' -- of tumour cells is the main reason why many cancers are so hard to treat "We have previously shown that fascin resides in the control centre of the cell -- the nucleus -- at certain times in the cell's growth cycle," explains lead author Campbell Lawson, Research Associate at the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King's College London, UK. "However, it was not known how fascin's movement or function within the nucleus are controlled, and this hinders our ability to develop treatments that block its role in promoting cancer growth and spread." To understand fascin further, the team created a series of cancer cell lines with and without functional fascin, as well as a suite of fascin 'nanobodies' labelled with fluorescent markers, to alter its location in cells and explore its interactions with other proteins in the nucleus. They found that fascin is actively transported in and out of the nucleus and, once there, it supports the assembly of actin bundles. Indeed, cells without fascin were unable to build nuclear actin bundles to the same extent. Fascin also interacted with another group of important proteins in the cell nucleus, called histones. When fascin is not involved in bundling actin, it is bound to histone H3 -- an important player involved in organising DNA within the nucleus. Given the interaction of fascin with histones, the team looked at whether fascin was also involved in DNA repair processes in cancer cells, which helps them to survive. They found DNA repair was impaired in cells lacking fascin, indicating that the protein might be required for cancer cells to trigger their response to DNA damage caused by chemo- or radiotherapy. Fascin-depleted cells also had changes to their chromatin structure -- the way the DNA is packaged in the cell -- compared to cells with normal fascin levels. Although nuclear fascin plays an important role in nuclear actin assembly, DNA structure and repair, it is also important in the cell cytoplasm, where it helps cancer cells build tiny appendages called filopodia, which promote invasion. So the team wanted to understand whether moving all fascin into the nucleus would prevent the cytoplasmic function of fascin. As they anticipated, in cells with enhanced nuclear fascin, the number of filopodia was significantly reduced because there was no fascin in the cytoplasm to support assembly of these structures. The cells also invaded less into 3-dimensional scaffolds that mimic the tissue surrounding tumours. Importantly, cells that had forced nuclear fascin had significantly reduced growth rates and viability because they assembled large stable actin bundles in the nucleus which prevented them from going through the cell cycle. Collectively, these results indicate that, rather than trying to find ways to block fascin, forcing it all into the nucleus of cancer cells could prevent their growth and movement. "Our study provides insights into a new role for fascin in controlling nuclear actin bundling to support tumour cell viability," concludes senior author Maddy Parsons, Professor of Cell Biology at the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King's College London. "Given fascin is at very high levels in many solid tumours, but not in normal tissues, this molecule is an interesting therapeutic target. We propose that promoting fascin accumulation in the nucleus of cancer cells, rather than only focusing on targeting it in the cell cytoplasm, could be an alternative approach that would prevent both tumour growth and spread."