TY  - JOUR
AB  - The development of metabolomics in clinical applications has been limited by the lack of validation in large multicenter studies. Large population cohorts and their biobanks are a valuable resource for acquiring insights into molecular disease mechanisms. Nevertheless, most of their collections are not tailored for metabolomics and have been created without specific attention to the pre-analytical requirements for high-quality metabolome assessment. Thus, comparing samples obtained by different pre-analytical procedures remains a major challenge. Here, 1H NMR-based analyses are used to demonstrate how human serum and plasma samples collected with different operating procedures within several large European cohort studies from the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Infrastructure – Large Prospective Cohorts (BBMRI-LPC) consortium can be easily revealed by supervised multivariate statistical analyses at the initial stages of the process, to avoid biases in the downstream analysis. The inter-biobank differences are discussed in terms of deviations from the validated CEN/TS 16945:2016 / ISO 23118:2021 norms. It clearly emerges that biobanks must adhere to the evidence-based guidelines in order to support wider-scale application of metabolomics in biomedicine, and that NMR spectroscopy is informative in comparing the quality of different sample sources in multi cohort/center studies.
AU  - Ghini, V.*
AU  - Abuja, P.M.*
AU  - Polasek, O.*
AU  - Kozera, L.*
AU  - Laiho, P.*
AU  - Anton, G.
AU  - Zins, M.*
AU  - Klovins, J.*
AU  - Metspalu, A.*
AU  - Wichmann, H.-E.
AU  - Gieger, C.
AU  - Luchinat, C.*
AU  - Zatloukal, K.*
AU  - Turano, P.*
C1  - 64152
C2  - 51989
SP  - 37-47
TI  - Impact of the pre-examination phase on multicenter metabolomic studies.
JO  - New Biotech.
VL  - 68
PY  - 2022
SN  - 1871-6784
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Biobank samples and data from studies of large prospective cohorts (LPC) represent an invaluable resource for health research. Efficient sharing and pooling of samples and data is a central pre-requisite for new advances in biomedical science. This requirement, however, is not compatible with the present scattered and traditional access governance structures, where legal and ethical frameworks often form an obstacle for effective sharing. Moreover, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is demanding increasingly rigorous administration from all those organisations processing personal data. The BBMRI-LPC project (Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure ― Large Prospective Cohorts) assembled 21 LPCs from 10 countries and two EU-wide multinational cohort networks with a key objective to promote collaborative innovative transnational research proposed by external researchers on the broad field of common chronic diseases, and analyze the gaps and needs involved. BBMRI-LPC organized three scientific calls to offer European investigators an opportunity to gain free of charge transnational access to research material available in the participating cohorts. A total of 11 high-quality research proposals involving multiple prospective cohorts were granted, and the access process in the individual projects carefully monitored. Divergent access governance structures, complex legal and ethical frameworks and heterogeneous procedures were identified as currently constituting substantial obstacles for sample and data transfer in Europe. To optimize the scientific value and use of these research resources, practical solutions for more streamlined access governance in collaborative projects are urgently needed. A number of infrastructure developments could be made to improve time-efficiency in access provision.
AU  - Simell, B.A.*
AU  - Törnwall, O.M.*
AU  - Hämäläinen, I.*
AU  - Wichmann, H.-E.
AU  - Anton, G.
AU  - Brennan, P.*
AU  - Bouvard, L.*
AU  - Slimani, N.*
AU  - Moskal, A.*
AU  - Günter, M.*
AU  - Zatloukal, K.*
AU  - Minion, J.T.*
AU  - Soini, S.*
AU  - Mayrhofer, M.T.*
AU  - Murtagh, M.J.*
AU  - van Ommen, G.J.*
AU  - Johansson, M.*
AU  - Perola, M.*
C1  - 54554
C2  - 45662
SP  - 98-103
TI  - Transnational access to large prospective cohorts in Europe: Current trends and unmet needs.
JO  - New Biotech.
VL  - 49
PY  - 2019
SN  - 1871-6784
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Iron oxides are important constituents of soils and sediments and microbial iron reduction is considered to be a significant anaerobic respiration process in the subsurface, however low microbial reduction rates of macroparticulate Fe oxides in laboratory studies led to an underestimation of the role of Fe oxides in the global Fe redox cycle. Recent studies show the high potential of nano-sized Fe oxides in the environment as, for example, electron acceptor for microbial respiration, electron shuttle between different microorganisms, and scavenger for heavy metals. Biotic and abiotic reactivity of iron macroparticles differ significantly from nano-sized Fe oxides, which are usually much more reactive. Factors such as particle size, solubility, ferrous iron, crystal structure, and organic molecules were identified to influence the reactivity. This review discusses factors influencing the microbial reactivity of Fe oxides. It highlights the differences between natural and synthetic Fe oxides especially regarding the presence of organic molecules such as humic acids and natural organic matter. Attention is given to the transport behavior of Fe oxides in laboratory systems and in the environment, because of the high affinity of different contaminants to Fe oxide surfaces and associated co-transport of pollutants. The high reactivity of Fe oxides and their potential as adsorbents for different pollutants are discussed with respect to application and development of remediation technologies.
AU  - Braunschweig, J.
AU  - Bosch, J.
AU  - Meckenstock, R.U.
C1  - 26092
C2  - 32065
SP  - 793-802
TI  - Iron oxide nanoparticles in geomicrobiology: From biogeochemistry to bioremediation.
JO  - New Biotech.
VL  - 30
IS  - 6
PB  - Elsevier Science
PY  - 2013
SN  - 1871-6784
ER  -