research is only as good as our tools . Moreover , it is not only mouse models that require rigorous scrutiny . The validity of cell culture models and antibodies have been questioned as well . Recently , researchers demonstrated the poignancy of antibody validation by bringing 20 years of research into question [ 7 ]. Their paper validated 13 antibodies for a breast cancer associated protein ( oestrogen receptor β ) and concluded only one antibody to be truly specific . Furthermore , there was no expression detected in cancerous human breast tissue ( nor in healthy tissue ) meaning that the association of this protein with breast cancer is tenuous as best . Researchers have also found that cell culture lines are contaminated with other cell lines , meaning sometimes researchers believe they are working with lung cells when they are in fact working with liver cells , or human cells that are actually rat cells [ 8 ]. Proper characterization of our tools is clearly an issue not to be taken lightly .
The situation is not black and white , and I do not imagine an easy fix for such difficult and multidimensional problems . What I hope to have accomplished in this short article is to highlight the need to question the validity of our models and the imperative to continuously improve upon them if we are to conduct the best science possible . This means rigorous characterization of our tools and a readiness to return to the drawing board when the data from our models do not provide predictive value in our own species .
Only then can we conduct the best science and further unravel the true underpinnings of grandma ’ s breast cancer , Uncle George ’ s chronic back pain , and mom ’ s worsening memory .
Michael Paolillo is currently a doctoral student at the Interfakultäres Institut für Biochemie ( IFIB ) in the lab of Prof . Dr . Robert Feil .
References : [ 1 ] theguardian . com / science / 2016 / mar / 07 / french-drug-trial-man-dead-expert-report-unprecidented-reaction . Accessed 06 Nov 2017 [ 2 ] Dine J , Deng CX . Mouse models of BRCA1 and their application to breast cancer research . Cancer Metastasis Rev . 2013 ; 32:25-37 [ 3 ] Harries M , Smith I . The development and clinical use of trastuzumab ( Herceptin ). Endocr Relat Cancer . 2002 ; 9:75-85 [ 4 ] William R et . al . Transgenic Studies of Pain and Analgesia : Mutation or Background Genotype ? Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics . 2001 ; 297:467-473 [ 5 ] Sorge RE , et . al . Olfactory exposure to males , including men , causes stress and related analgesia in rodents . Nat Methods . 2014 ; 11:629-32 . [ 6 ] Rosshart SP , et al . Wild Mouse Gut Microbiota Promotes Host Fitness and Improves Disease Resistance . Cell . 2017 ; pii : S0092-8674 ( 17 ) 31065- [ 7 ] Andersson S . Insufficient antibody validation challenges oestrogen receptor beta research . Nat Commun . 2017 ; 8:15840 [ 8 ] Horbach SPJM , Halffman W . The ghosts of HeLa : How cell line misidentification contaminates the scientific literature . PLoS One . 2017 Oct 12 ; 12 ( 10 ): e0186281
Science Snapshot
During my Master ’ s , I studied the evolution of the brain and behavior and wrote my MSc thesis on how human subjects adapt to temporal delay in visual feedback during natural behavior . Now I am working as a PhD student in the Vision and Cognition Lab of Prof Andreas Bartels at the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience . My research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) to investigate the neural underpinnings of visual processing and the role of predictive coding . I am specifically interested in understanding how top-down information ( i . e . expectation ) is fed back from higher brain areas for the integration with bottom-up sensory processing in earlier visual areas . During the experiments , participants view high-level visual stimuli that trigger top-down processing ( i . e . prediction ) while I record their brain activity . I use multi-voxel pattern analysis ( MVPA ) to classify patterns of blood-oxygen-level dependent ( BOLD ) activity in the visual cortex . My research aims to uncover the neural mechanisms in the human brain that make it possible to see the world around us and to construct the continuous and unified perception of our environment .
Gizem Altan is currently a GTC Doctoral student at the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience in the Vision and Cognition lab of Prof . Dr . Andreas
Bartels in Tübingen , Germany .
November 2017 | NEUROMAG | 27