Research Topics
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Ph.D. (2003) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Topics
Research Interests
We are developing a chemical imaging approach to directly visualize the lateral distribution of different lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins within the cell membrane with high lateral resolution. We employ imaging secondary ion mass spectrometry, tissue culture, synthetic organic chemistry and quantitative engineering principles to elucidate how cell membrane structure relates to the development of diseases such as influenza and cancer.
1) Influenza virus assembly: The site of influenza virus assembly in the host cell is hypothesized to be enriched with cholesterol and sphingolipids. To evaluate this hypothesis, the lipid composition must be determined at the small region of the cell membrane that is abundant in viral envelope proteins. We are developing an approach that combines multiple isotope imaging mass spectrometry and metabolic labeling strategies to measure the abundance of cholesterol and sphingolipids at the site of virus budding. This will be a direct test of the hypothesis that the influenza virus assembles at compositionally distinct membrane domains. These studies will also establish a basic methodology to evaluate the role of membrane organization in cellular function.
2) Cancer Progression: Glycosylated cell membrane components modulate cell adhesion, migration, differentiation, and recognition. The expression of some abnormal glycan structures have been linked to increased metastatic potential in cancer cells, but the full range of structural changes and the functional roles of the altered glycans remain undiscovered. We are developing an imaging secondary ion mass spectrometry approach to analyze the glycan composition in cell membranes. This strategy to identify and image membrane glycan structures that are associated with specific phenotypes can lead to a better understanding of their functional significance in disease progression.
Key Words Membrane structure and function, chemical imaging, virology, glycosylation, imaging secondary ion mass spectrometry
Current Funding Burroughs Wellcome Fund