October 28, 2011
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Vol. 30, No. 11
Clyburn Center Opens New Era MUSC dedicates new bioengineering and drug discovery hubs
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photos by Digital Imaging
Open stairwells on the second floor of the Bioengineering Building reflect the center’s vision of collaboration. For information on the Clyburn center, visit http://etl2.library.musc.edu/clyburn_research_center.
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Bioengineering BuilDing Bioengineering brings together different scientific disciplines to solve problems.
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ederal, state and local dignitaries helped usher in a new chapter in South Carolina’s growing biomedical research effort with the Oct. 21 dedication of a laboratory complex designed to speed up cures and treatments for major diseases. The James E. Clyburn Research Center houses 78 labs and other facilities in 211,481 square feet of space. The two buildings — one for bioengineering and one for drug discovery — are interconnected, as are the labs within them. By combining experts from different disciplines and from across statewide research institutions, MUSC hopes to take the science as quickly as possible from the lab to the patient’s bedside with improved treatments, medications and medical devices. MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., said the discoveries coming out of these buildings will enable MUSC to diagnose problems earlier and treat them more effectively, and also will help address health disparities that exist in the state. Cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disorders are just some of the medical problems scientists will study in the new complex.
This aerial shot shows the Bioengineering Building, left, and Drug Discovery Building, on the right, with its tall watch tower. “Our hope is that this research center will result in a stronger and more vibrant biomedical community in Charleston and South Carolina,” he said. Within the center, investigators from numerous MUSC departments share space with scientists, faculty and students from Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. Large auditoria and teleconferencing technologies allow face-to-face interaction with investigators around the world. The first international symposium will be held there within a month, bringing together leading heart researchers from around the world. The center also will promote more partnerships with private industry to help speed up technology transfer and intellectual property commercialization. It will house at least eight of the state-supported SmartState Center of Economic Excellence Endowed Chairs who were recruited to help drive the
See Clyburn on page 10
Drug Discovery BuilDing
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SmartState Endowed Chairs
Integrating the process of discovery and development is essential.
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Chairs created to help economy The SmartState Program was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002 to use state funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance the state’s economy. At the heart of each center are one or more world-class scientists. The following endowed chairs are housed within the Bioengineering Building.
The SmartState Program is allowing South Carolina to compete successfully in the global knowledge-based economy. The program funds research to find nextgeneration therapeutics for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and many other crucial health problems. The following endowed chairs are housed within the Drug Discovery Building.
q Joseph Helpern, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Brain Imaging Helpern is leading a new biomedical imaging initiative at MUSC while continuing his personal research activities, which focus mainly on using magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and stroke.
q John J. Lemasters, Ph.D., GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Endowed Chair Lemasters is a pioneer of techniques that allow scientists to see what happens inside an individual cell during reoxygenation-the restoration of oxygen to an organ following oxygen deprivation, which sometimes occurs following a heart attack or stroke.
q Martin Morad, Ph.D., BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Health Morad is an internationally recognized scientist in the field of cardiac electrophysiology and calcium signaling, specifically in the area of calcium-binding proteins. Morad seeks to discover what causes these calcium signaling mechanisms to stop working properly, resulting in congestive heart failure. q Richard Swaja, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine Swaja’s work is focused on regenerative medicine — the application of tissue engineering principles to restore the structure and function of damaged tissues and organs. Swaja is director of the S.C. Bioengineering Alliance.
q Xuejun Wen, M.D., Ph.D., Hansjörg Wyss Endowed Chair Professor in Regenerative Medicine Wen is researching ways to regenerate functional human tissues. One of Wen’s focus areas is biomedical devices. Examples include a “living” cochlear implant to help restore hearing loss and a “nerve bridging” device that would use material scaffolds and grafted cells to encourage nerve cells damaged by injury to regenerate.
q Charles D. Smith, Ph.D., Charles and Carol Cooper Endowed Chair in Pharmacy Smith works to design drugs to fight cancer by unlocking molecular mechanisms important for tumor growth. This research could also enable the development of new drugs to fight a variety of inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, Crohn’s disease and diabetic retinopathy.
q Kenneth Tew, Ph.D., The John C. West Endowed Chair in Cancer Research Tew is a leader in cancer drug discovery and development. One drug he is working to develop shows promise in treating ovarian and lung cancer, and another has potential as a modifier of bone marrow mediated immune function.
q Patrick Woster, Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Medicinal Chemistry Woster is one of the nation’s leading cancer drug researchers and is working to develop drugs that turn specific genes on or off in tumor cells, a process known as epigenetic modulation that can make antitumor medications more effective. For information on SmartState South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence, visit http://www.sccoee.org.
James E. Clyburn Research Center Drug Discovery Building o Cell Death, Injury & Regeneration o Cell & Molecular Imaging Core o College of Pharmacy-CVS Pharmacy Practice Laboratory o Drug Discovery Research Laboratories o Drug Design and Synthesis Laboratories o Drug Metabolism & Clinical Pharmacology Core o Hollings Cancer Center Research Laboratories o Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core o Neurosciences Research Laboratories o Renal Biology Research Laboratory o Organ Biology: Drug Discovery and Disease models o Pharmacology Research Laboratories o SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Cancer Drug Discovery o SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Translational Cancer Therapeutics o SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Cancer Drug Discovery o Structural Biology Research Laboratories Bioengineering Building o Bioengineering machine shop o Biorepository o Cancer Disparities o Cancer Genomics Program o Cancer Prevention & Control o Center for Biomedical Imaging o Clemson-MUSC Biomedical Engineering Program o Clemson-MUSC Orthopedic Engineering o Clemson-MUSC Biomedical Engineering Program o College of Graduate Studies o Foundation for Research Development Hollings Cancer Center o Hollings Cancer Center Research Laboratories o Neurosciences Research Laboratory o SmartState Center of Economic Excellence for Brain Imaging o SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Regenerative Medicine o South Carolina Bioengineering Alliance
The Catalyst Editorial of fice MUSC Office of Public Relations 135 Cannon Street, Suite 403C, Charleston, SC 29425 843-792-4107. Fax: 843-792-6723 Editor: Kim Draughn, catalyst@musc.edu; Catalyst staff: Cindy Abole, aboleca@musc.edu); Dawn Brazell, brazell@musc.edu The Catalyst is published once a week. Paid adver tisements, which do not represent an endorsement by MUSC or the State of South Carolina, are handled by Island Publications Inc., Moultrie News, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C., 843.849.1778 or 843.958.7490. sales@moultrienews.com.
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Left, Sarah Haviland, Ph.D.(c), and Dr. Lars Cleemann work in the lab of Dr. Martin Morad and Van Tran, Ph.D.(c), right, does research in Dr. Xuejun Wen’s stem cell laboratory in the Bioengineering Building.
Center’s vision to create future of medicine A
veteran benefits from a treatment that regenerates brain tissue from his own cells that allows his brain to repair itself. A baby with an irregular heart rhythm receives bionic pacemaker cells, cultured from her own body, that allow her heart to settle into a normal rhythm so that she won’t need medications or devices to live a normal life. A breast cancer survivor goes to her oncologist who uses fluoroscopic images to track down any remaining tumors she might have.
If you think these three stories sound like science fiction, you’re only half right. They’re based on just a few of the scientific advances that are rapidly evolving toward useful therapeutic practices thanks to the collaborative work of bioengineering teams in the James E. Clyburn Research Center. Supporting researchers from Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and MUSC, the
Bioengineering Building has the potential to become one of the nation’s most productive centers for the development of biologically useful materials, devices and systems, guiding the process from discovery to practical solutions for some of the most pressing health concerns. “Bioengineering applies principles and methods from the physical and engineering sciences to the life sciences to enable understanding of disease processes and to improve medical care,” said Richard Swaja, Ph.D., director of the South Carolina Bioengineering Alliance. “Our labs use concepts from physics, chemistry, computer science, mechanical and electrical engineering, cellular and molecular biology and other fields to create practical ways to regenerate body tissues, correct problems before symptoms are observed and make diagnostic technologies more efficient.” Bioengineering brings together different scientific disciplines to provide collaborative approaches for addressing problems in biology and medicine. Research
teams typically include members with widely different areas of expertise — practicing clinicians, biomaterials specialists, chemists, computer scientists and geneticists. They study health problems that defy single disciplinary solutions, and they use their combined power to find and test novel approaches that cross scientific boundaries. “By working across disciplines, we can develop technologies that are not only unique but also have broader impact than initially considered,”said Swaja. “For example, while we were testing a method to locate cancer cells, we discovered that the technique could also be used to destroy them.” Leading several of these applied-research efforts in the Bioengineering Building is Xuejun Wen, M.D., Ph.D., Hansjörg Wyss Endowed Chair Professor, who holds faculty appointments at both Clemson and MUSC. After being recruited to Clemson in 2003 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Wen assembled
See Vision on page 6
The CaTalysT, October 28, 2011 5
Laine O’Brien Department Center for Biomedical Imaging How long at MUSC More than 8 years Meal you love to cook Anything on the grill
Medicinal garden adds green touch Instead of paving parking spaces surrounding the James E. Clyburn Research Center, MUSC chose to dig into its archives to create the F. Peyre Porcher Medicinal Garden. The medicinal garden, which will feature an educational and an online exhibit, is based on the works of F. Peyre Porcher, 19th century alumnus and professor at MUSC, and author of Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests. During the Civil War, a shortage of manufactured drugs from Europe led the Confederate States of America Surgeon General Samuel Preston Moore
to commission fellow Medical College alumnus Porcher to compile a book that would catalog Southern plants with therapeutic qualities that could be used as substitute drugs. More than 40 (of the many hundred) plants listed in Porcher’s book will be planted in the garden. “I’m very excited about the medicinal garden,” said MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. “My hope is that it will be a living laboratory that will allow our students to learn about plants that have medicinal use not from a textbook, but from a part of their natural environment.”
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research teams that are pursuing dozens of different clinical uses for bioengineered materials, ranging from gels that re-grow tissues inside the body to bioreactors that allow researchers to streamline their studies by culturing hard-to-grow cells in the laboratory. “Our labs have bioengineers and graduate students from Clemson working alongside basic scientists and clinicians from MUSC,” he said. “That crossfertilization is what helps compress the discovery timeline and moves us toward practical applications for our technologies.” This targeted approach has led to ongoing projects to fight diabetes, skeletal degeneration, pulmonary problems and neural pathologies stemming from acute injury or chronic progressions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Promising areas his team will explore include: q The development of a variety of biocompatible polymers — materials with biomechanical and biochemical properties to support cell-growth and appropriate differentiation that can be used by researchers here and elsewhere to explore new modes of tissue engineering to counter organ and tissue damage. q The engineering of biocompatible hydrogels that mimic specific body tissues to form a foundation for different tissue regeneration. q The use of nanoparticles — a million of them could rest on the head of a pin — that can be tagged with bioactive molecules to glow in the presence of fluoroscopy so they can do such tasks as pinpointing malignant cells and possibly eliminating them. To choose the most worthwhile avenues for research projects, Wen and his colleagues put each new idea to a simple test. Drawing on their combined expertise in engineering and medical science, they evaluate each project by asking two questions. “The first thing we ask ourselves is if our idea is different. If our research tells us it is, then we ask, ‘Is it better than what's available now?’” said Wen.
TeaChing The hearT To BeaT Using modified cells to study and correct cardiac problems is the focus of another bioengineering researcher at the Clyburn center, Martin Morad, Ph.D., BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Health. He directs the work of teams in his Cardiac Signaling Center, a group collaborating with scientists from MUSC’s other high-profile cardiac research efforts to develop new therapies that address heart problems involving electrical, rhythmic and muscular disturbances. “Rhythm problems are very common and sometimes life-threatening,” he said. “Implantable pacemakers have been used for generations to make damaged hearts function more efficiently, but that means living with wires, batteries, uncertainty — things that can make life difficult. A big part of our research is doing roughly the same thing, but on a cellular level that delivers a lifelong fix.”
Researchers have access to state-of-the-art technologies. Instead of implanting a device that paces the heart with electrical pulses, his researchers are working to correct the heart's own signaling network. It all starts with adult stem cells, the most basic part of the body’s system for repairing and replacing aged or damaged tissues. After harvesting cells from the patient’s bone marrow and other sources, Morad’s molecular biology teams induce them to take on new functions or characteristics, including training them to become functioning heart cells. “You can actually see the ones that become cardiac cells because they start to beat,” said Morad. “When you combine them, they teach themselves to beat in unison. We see them do the same thing when they come in contact with cells in the heart muscle.” Since the cardiac cells are developed from a patient’s own cells, they can be introduced into the heart without the kind of rejection problems seen in cellular transplants from other sources. Experimental models have already shown that this technique can correct rhythm disturbances that cause the heart muscle to beat irregularly or too weakly. As dramatic as the discoveries may seem, the therapeutic benefits may be just the tip of a research iceberg. Creating viable cardiac cells for study outside the body may prove even more useful in efforts to understand how signaling mechanisms within cells go wrong — and how they can be modified to improve cardiac functioning in patients from infants to adults.
Apps, resulted in a smart phone-delivered stress reduction program. This program includes real time monitoring of heart rate with immediate feedback charts following each meditation session and motivational messages to help sustain the practice over time. Products will include software and information systems for mobile smart phones, iPad tablet technologies and other methods, all of which will help implement lifestyle programs and medical regimens, and monitor related behavioral or biological functions. Another group excited to have the bioengineering teams nearby are fellow researchers in MUSC’s Center for Rehabilitation Research in Neurological Conditions within the College of Health Professions. The center’s co-director, Steve Kautz, Ph.D., said his group pursues cutting-edge research in neurorehabilitation and has three bioengineers on faculty. Having the Bioengineering Building just across the street from their primary laboratories moves them closer to the goal of placing MUSC at the leading edge of neurorehabilitation research. Swaja said the research center’s infrastructure is designed for the way collaborative research will happen in this century. “It is hard to overstate what a difference that makes as we work to grow our scientific community. We expect that the groundbreaking research to come from the investigators in the center who will provide a rich source for translation into clinical interventions for rehabilitation.”
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FosTering ParTnershiPs Frank Treiber, Ph.D., South Carolina SmartState Endowed Research Chair, said he’s excited to see how the Clyburn center will impact the state’s latest Center of Economic Excellence, the Technology Applications Center for Healthful Lifestyles (TACHL). The TACHL, a partnership involving MUSC, the University of South Carolina and Clemson, will develop, evaluate and commercialize technology for individuals, worksites, community groups and health care provider networks. The goal is to foster disease prevention and health care management. A recent collaboration involving MUSC, Clemson and a local software application company, Reaction
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Dr. Donna S. Harrison, associate professor in SCCP, loves the lab funded by CVS, and Dr. Patrick Woster, right, is an expert in medicinal chemistry.
Drug discovery to speed development, training
I
magine trying to put a puzzle together with the pieces in different rooms. Now consider how much faster the process would be if the pieces were brought together first. That’s the analogy used by Charles Smith, Ph.D., the Charles and Carol Cooper Endowed Chair in Pharmacy and SmartState Endowed Chair to explain the significance of MUSC’s 114,000-squarefoot Drug Discovery Building. Holder of many patents, he was recruited to MUSC from Penn State University to direct the Drug Discovery Core. Smith is an expert in high throughput screening. He designs drugs to fight cancer by unlocking molecular mechanisms important for preventing tumor growth. Smith believes the building, which bundles research labs together, will heighten creative collaboration and productivity. “The building will help integrate the process of drug discovery and development. Proximity helps to generate collaboration, and the building brings together multiple disciplines,” said Smith. This coordination is essential, given the lengthy process of drug discovery. For example, it takes more than $800
million and 15 years to bring a new drug to market, and fewer are making it despite advances in understanding diseases processes. Private industry, driven by investors’ need for larger returns on guaranteed winners, has increasingly turned to lifecycle management of existing products rather than early-stage discovery. This opens up an opportunity for academic researchers to drive the early, more innovative steps in drug discovery. Nevertheless, academic institutions often lack the resources and infrastructure needed to conduct highrisk, high-reward drug discovery research that could lead to the next breakthrough. Despite this intimidating environment for discovery, business and educational leaders in South Carolina point to biomedical research as a potential economic powerhouse for the state. Enter the Drug Discovery Building, part of the James E. Clyburn Research Center, as a way to fill the gap. The building is situated on the MUSC campus, but the scientists within it represent direct collaboration among MUSC, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, as well as existing and new partnerships with the
private sector. Rick Schnellmann, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP), believes that innovative drug discovery has to be a collaborative process. “The most effective way to move from academic research to an FDAapproved product that can help a patient is through partnerships between the academic and private sectors,” said Schnellmann. “On our end, we need the right basic scientists in place to drive the research to the point that will appeal to private industry for further development, which will get the drugs patients need into the market,” added Schnellmann. The Drug Discovery Building plays a big part in getting the right basic scientists in place. The state’s investment in the Centers of Economic Excellence, designed to draw the nation’s top scientists to the state as SmartState Endowed Chairs, is paying off in part because of the promise MUSC's investment in drug discovery represented for candidates. Patrick Woster, Ph.D., is a prime example. Woster, a SmartState Endowed
Chair in Drug Discovery and Professor of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, arrived in 2011 bringing a much-needed specialization to the drug discovery process. “I was drawn to my position by the reputation of MUSC as an emerging power in biomedical research, and by the numerous opportunities to conduct collaborative research aimed at the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents,” said Woster. There are several cores and research foci represented in the new building, which will take advantage of the pooled expertise in drug discovery and state-ofthe-art technologies. In many ways, Smith and Andrew Kraft, M.D., director of Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) and Dr. William H. Folk Chair in Experimental Oncology, exemplify what the new Drug Discovery Building makes possible. Kraft is a medical oncologist and nationally recognized researcher who led HCC to become a National Cancer Institutedesignated cancer center. HCC is just one of 66 in the U.S., and the only center in South Carolina, to hold that designation from the National
See Discovery on page 9
The CaTalysT, October 28, 2011 9
DisCoVery
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Cancer Institute. This distinction is awarded to centers conducting the most advanced research and clinical trials. Smith and Kraft collaborated on research into inhibitors of Pim protein kinases, which play a role in the development of T-cell lymphomas and prostate cancer. They screened a library of 50,000 chemicals for novel Pim-1 inhibitors, identifying compounds that effectively inhibit the kinase, which could lead to novel anticancer drugs. The potential impact of this discovery on patients is significant. Very few
compounds have been identified as Pim inhibitors, and those that have are poorly selective, leading to non-specific toxicity and lack of clinical utility. Drug discovery is one mechanism for economic development. High tech, medically-focused technology is increasingly important as we try to develop safer and more effective drugs for many diseases. Building many new small companies to create a biotech cluster in Charleston could have a significant economic impact.
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Rep. James E. Clyburn smiles back at a bottle cap portrait of himself. knowledge-based economy of the state. The state also played a role in funding the construction of the almost $120 million project, with half of the cost paid through the Research University Infrastructure Act passed by the S. C. General Assembly in 2004. Greenberg said the result is a place where some of the state’s best minds in medicine, chemistry, physics, engineering, and genetics can accelerate the rate at which they can collect and apply new information. “If you want to know what our strategic plan for addressing the health needs of this state looks like,
just take a look at what will be happening in these two buildings.”
BreeDing DisCoVery, growTh In addition to leveraging the state’s investment in research and education, the center also puts the state in a stronger position to recruit more worldclass researchers through the SmartState Centers of Economic Excellence Endowed Chairs program and other initiatives. Key in pushing health discoveries forward are the current endowed chairs and statewide collaboration across all three research institutions. Clemson University President James F. Barker said that the university has worked in biomaterials since the 1960s. However, faculty quickly determined that although there was a good understanding of biomaterials, they lacked such an understanding of medicine or surgery. Those strengths were found at MUSC and with other partners. When combined, there exists a real opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life of the people of our state, Barker said. “This partnership has been building for some time, and I’m delighted to see the program have a home at the James E. Clyburn Research Center at MUSC,” he said. “This facility will become home to some amazing advances in technology.” University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides, Ph.D., echoed Barker’s comments: “Congressman Jim Clyburn’s advocacy for the health
and well-being of the citizens of this state is well known. The research and clinical care that will take place here, through the collaboration of scientists and health care professionals from our state’s three research universities, will make a lasting impact on this state and be a fitting legacy for a leader who has devoted his career to improving the lives of South Carolinians.”
eliminaTing healTh DisPariTies The center was named after U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-SC) for his efforts to correct health disparities and for his support of biomedical research. Clyburn represents a congressional district home to some of the nation’s highest rates of stroke, diabetes and prostate cancer deaths. His district also has fewer than half the number of physicians per 1,000 people than the rest of the state. Technologies that come out of these buildings will fundamentally change how care is delivered, work to remove geography and diminish economics as barriers to health care. Clyburn said he is deeply honored to have his name associated with MUSC and the great work that will take place in these research facilities. “My commitment to addressing inequities in our health care system has been a lifelong passion, and it is an important mission here at MUSC. This research center is evidence of this university’s commitment to improving and advancing the delivery of health care, and I am proud to be a part of it,” he said.
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PETER DAVID BROWN, P.A. 749 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Suite A Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 www.peterdavidbrown.com • 843-971-0099 PRACTICING LAW IN CHARLESTON FOR 23 YEARS
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IP04-611498
CLASSIFIED P AGE
12 The CaTalysT, October 28, 2011
Unprecedented Offers from Mercedes-Benz G HWY 31MP
**
Stk. #MB2829
We proudly sponsor
2012 Mercedes-Benz C250 Sedan
399
$
/mo.
Mercedes-Benz Maintenance
Included For Lease Term!*
$2,000 Due At Signing/10,000 Miles Per Year/*48 Months*
YOU MAY QUALIFY TO TAKE DELIVERY WITH NO MONEY OUT OF POCKET. SEE DEALER FOR DETAILS. G HWY 31MP
**
2012 Mercedes-Benz C250 Coupe
448
$
/mo.
Mercedes-Benz Maintenance
Included For Lease Term!*
$2,000 Due At Signing/10,000 Miles Per Year/*48 Months* Stk. #MB2858
YOU MAY QUALIFY TO TAKE DELIVERY WITH NO MONEY OUT OF POCKET. SEE DEALER FOR DETAILS.
2012 Mercedes-Benz GLK350
499
$
/mo.
Mercedes-Benz Maintenance
Included For Lease Term!*
$2,000 Due At Signing/10,000 Miles Per Year/*48 Months* Stk. #MB2821 *Pymts based on 48 mos lease with 10,000 miles/year. $2000 total due out of pocket, w/a.c. Autopay required. Photos for illustration only. Offers expire 10/31/11. *For details, exclusions and limitations on Mercedes-Benz Star Service Prepaid Maintenance, contact your dealer, visit www.mbusa.com/maintenance, or call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES. **per MBUSA & government estimates.
BakerMotorCompany
www. .com 1511 Savannah Hwy, Charleston, SC 29407
843-852-4000
C07-631298