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Biophysics Related ResearchPlease note: Words in italics are the official PIBS affiliations of the indicated faculty. David P. Ballou, Ph.D. Mechanisms of biological redox reactions and reactions with oxygen, especially metalloproteins and flavoproteins; physical and chemical studies, including rapid reaction techniques and instrumentation development. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics.
James Bardwell, Ph.D. Protein folding catalysts, from
genetics to 3-D structures: role of molecular chaperones
and disulfide catalysts. Biology. Biophysics. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Robert M. Bradley, Ph.D. Neurophysiology of the taste system; mechanisms of sensory processing in the gustatory system. Molecular & Integrative Physiology. Susan V. Brooks, Ph.D. Single skeletal muscle fiber mechanics; role of contraction-induced muscle injury in the changes that occur in skeletal muscle structure and function with aging and in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy. Molecular & Integrative Physiology. Heather Carlson, Ph.D. Computer modeling of protein-ligand complexes. Interested in the basic biophysics of the process as well as drug design; also mine protein-ligand databases for proteomic information about ligand recognition. Biophysics. Bioinformatics. Gordon M. Crippen, Ph.D. Novel methods in conformational analysis: distance geometry; computational studies of ligand binding; prediction of protein folding. Biophysics. Bioinformatics. R.
Keith Duncan, Ph.D. Early stages of signal processing
in the auditory periphery, particularly in the context of
hair cell physiology. Neuroscience
Carol A. Fierke, Ph.D. RNA Processing. Protein
Prenylation. Structure, Mechanism and Inhibition of
metalloenzymes and ribozymes. Protein engineering of
biosensors and biocatalysts. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Ari Gafni, Ph.D. Spectroscopic studies of protein structure; aging phenomena at the molecular level; protein folding mechanisms in vitro and in vivo; protein misfolding in aging and disease; mechanisms of amyloid generation and deposition in diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Jason Gestwicki, Ph.D. Use of organic chemistry to build new tools for exploring important biological questions. We are currently focused on generating new technologies for inhibiting protein-protein interactions in neurodegenerative diseases. Life Sciences Institute. Molecular & Cellular Pathology.
Gary Glick, Ph.D. Developing new methods to study the
structure, folding, and dynamics of both DNA and RNA.
Defining binding properties of anti-DNA autoantibodies
that arise in the autoimmune disorder systemic lupus
erythematosus. Chemistry. Immunology. Cellular & Molecular Biology.
Biophysics. Biochemistry. Ronald
W. Holz, MD, Ph.D. Molecular mechanisms of underlying neurotransmitter and hormone secretion; development and use of novel optical techniques based upon total internal reflection microscopy to study the biochemistry of events at the plasma membrane. Pharmacology. Neuroscience. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Bret A. Hughes, Ph.D. Structure, function, and regulation of ion channels in the retinal pigment epithelium. Ophthalmology. Physiology. Richard Hume, Ph.D. Growth cone guidance mechanisms and neurotransmitter receptors. Neuroscience. Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology. Alan Hunt, Ph.D. Among the most fundamental processes of life is the ability to move, at the cellular level these forces are generated by proteins knows as molecular motors. Two broad classes of molecular motors: 1) those that use energy derived from ATP to exert force against filaments, such as myosin, kinesin, and dynein, and 2) those that use energy stored in an electrochemical gradient across a membrane to drive rotational movements, such as the motors that drive bacterial flagella. Biophysics. Jorge Iñiguez-Lluhi, Ph.D. Eukaryotic Transcriptional regulation, transcription factor interactions,Steroid hormone receptors, structure, function and genetics. Pharmacology. Ursula Jakob, Ph.D. Oxidative stress and aging - Analysis of redox regulated proteins using biochemical, cell biological and proteomic tools. Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Robert Kennedy, Ph.D. Mechanisms and regulation of neurotransmitter and hormone secretion. Chemical basis of behavior and regulation by drugs. Novel technology for in vivo and single cell studies. Pharmacology.
Tom Kerppola, Ph.D. Regulation of gene expression by
proto-oncogene transcription factors; protein
interactions in living cells and organisms; and
nucleoprotein complex architecture. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Raoul Kopelmann, Ph.D. Biomedical nanosensors embedded in single cells and fiber-optic biochemical nanosensors; novel supermicroscopy techniques via Near-Field optics, laser fluorescence, and energy transfer. Biophysics. Ming Lei, Ph.D. Structural and functional studies of the molecular mechanism of human telomere and its regulation. with an emphasis in a multi-subunit complex (telosome) which forms the protective cap of the telomere. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Jennifer J. Linderman, Ph.D. Digital imaging of single cells; signal transduction; mathematical modeling of receptor-mediated cell behavior. Biophysics. Chemical Engineering. Anatoli Lopatin, Ph.D. Regulation of potassium channels by polyamines. Neuroscience. Molecular & Integrative Physiology. David Lubman, Ph.D. The use of proteomics to study cancer biomarkers and the progression of disease. Our methods include protein fractionation techniques, liquid separations, mass spectrometry and spectroscopic methods. Surgery. Bioinformatics. Molecular and Cellular Pathology. Neil Marsh, Ph.D. Enzymology: Structure and mechanism of coenzyme B12 and S-adenosylmethionine-dependent radical enzymes. Protein Design: synthesis of "Teflon" proteins - introducing new properties into proteins using fluorinated amino acids. Biophysics. Biological Chemistry. Jens-Christian Meiners, Ph.D. Experimental biophysics with single DNA molecules. Mechanics of transcriptional control in prokaryotes; statistical mechanics of DNA molecules; knots and entanglements in DNA; development of laser tweezers for ultra-sensitive force measurements. Biophysics. Joseph M. Metzger, Ph.D. Viral-based gene transfer into the heart; cellular and molecular mechanisms of contraction in skeletal and cardiac muscle; cardiac gene expression and function; gene therapy for the heart. Molecular & Integrative Physiology.
Daniel Michele, PhD Molecular & Integrative Physiology Molecular mechanisms of human cardiomyopathies
and skeletal myopathies, with a focus on muscular
dystrophy, using mouse models. Extracellular matrix
receptors in central nervous system development and
muscle Richard Neubig,
MD, Ph.D. Molecular mechanisms of signal
transduction; spectroscopic and rapid kinetic studies of
receptors, G proteins and their regulators; NMR structure
of receptor and G-protein peptides; mechanism of
alpha-adrenergic receptors. Bioinformatics. Biophysics.
Pharmacology. Bruce Palfey, Ph.D. Mechanistic enzymology with a focus on flavoproteins involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis, tRNA maturation, inhibitor design, and structure/function relationships. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Vincent L. Pecoraro, Ph.D. Biological chemistry of manganese and vanadium; de novo design of metallopeptides. Biophysics. Chemistry. James E. Penner-Hahn, Ph.D. Structural characterization of metalloprotein metal sites; molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis; investigation of Zn biochemistry and the roles of Zn in development; EXAFS and X-ray absorption spectroscopy of proteins. Biophysics. Malini Raghavan, Ph.D. Biochemical and molecular interactions underlying immune recognition events: interactions and biochemical mechanisms of function of the transporters associated with antigen processing; mammalian and viral Fc receptors and their interactions with immunoglobulin G. Microbiology & Immunology. Immunology. Biophysics. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Stephen W. Ragsdale, Ph.D. We are studying the microbial metabolism of one-carbon compounds (CO, CO 2 , methane) and xenobiotics (e.g., PCBs); oxygen sensing in the human carotid body; and the roles of metal ions in biology, including the mechanisms of nickel, B 12 , heme, and iron-sulfur enzymes. We use transient and steady-state kinetics, spectroscopy, and molecular biology to uncover mechanistic information. Biological Chemistry. Chemical Biology. Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, Ph.D. Structure, dynamics and function of membrane-associated proteins. Biophysics. Rudy J.
Richardson, ScD, DABT Mechanisms of neurological
disorders, stroke and autoimmune diseases and their
modulation by xenobiotics, genetics and age. Biomarkers
of xenobiotic exposure or disease. Interactions of
ligands with macromolecules using kinetics, molecular
modeling and mass spectrometry. Environmental
epidemiology. Scientific basis of risk assessment and
public health policy. Neuroscience. Brian D. Ross, Ph.D. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and imaging of intact biological systems, with an emphasis in experimental neuro-oncology, oxidative stress, and gene therapy. Biological Chemistry. Gabrielle Rudenko, Ph.D. Determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins with important functions in the brain using x-ray crystallography, augmented with biochemical, biophysical as well as mutagenesis studies. Pharmacology. Life Sciences Institute. Richard H. Sands, Ph.D. Spin-label studies on keratinocyte membranes and structure and function of redox proteins using various physical-chemical techniques including EPR, ENDOR, and Mossbauer. Biophysics. Physics. Mark A. Saper, Ph.D. Structural biology of components of the type III secretion system essential for bacterial pathogenesis. Other current projects include a novel bacterial tyrosine kinase and phosphatase important for pathogenesis, and a family of aminotransferases essential for plant photorespiration. Protein crystallography is the main technique employed in the lab. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Roseanne Sension, Ph.D. Ultrafast spectroscopic studies of enzyme mechanism. Biophysics. Chemistry. Janet Smith, Ph.D. Structure-function studies of proteins using X-ray crystallography with an emphasis on complex enzymes and the replication proteins of flaviviruses and alphaviruses. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics Duncan G. Steel, Ph.D. Development and application of advanced laser spectroscopy methods to studies of protein structures in solution; protein dynamics and protein folding. Biophysics. Edward L. Stuenkel, Ph.D. Molecular and cellular regulation of neurotransmitter and neurohormone secretion; regulation of exocytosis at central synapses. Molecular & Integrative Physiology. Molecular and Chemical Neuroscience. Joel Swanson, Ph.D. Endocytosis in macrophages. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Microbiology & Immunology. Immunology. Biophysics. John Tesmer, Ph.D. Structural studies of heterotrimeric G protein signaling using X-ray crystallography and other biophysical techniques. Life Sciences Institute, Pharmacology. Biophysics. Raymond C. Trievel, Ph.D. Structural and functional studies of enzymes that catalyze post-translational modifications of proteins, especially those involved in transcriptional regulation and chromatin remodeling. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Nils G.
Walter, Ph.D. Folding and function of non-coding RNA; structural and single molecule RNA enzymology; ribosome and spliceosome function by single molecule microscopy; single molecule systems biology. Biophysics. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Lois Weisman, Ph.D. To uncover mechanisms of organelle inheritance, and to determine how these processes are spatially and temporally regulated. We have discovered that myosin V attaches to membranes via organelle-specific receptors. In addition inheritance requires a newly discovered signaling pathway. Cell & Developmental Biology. Cellular & Molecular Biology. Life Sciences Institute. Charles F. Yocum, Ph.D. Mechanisms of photosynthetic energy transduction. Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology. Biophysics. Matt Young, Ph.D. Regulatory mechanisms of the Cyclin Dependent Kinases and other protein kinases. Structural studies and computational modeling of molecular dynamics in signaling proteins. Biological Chemistry. Bioinformatics. Robert Zand, Ph.D. Studies of posttranslational modification in human normal and multiple sclerosis myelin basic protein. Also studies of demyelination in genetically modified mice. These studies involve spectroscopic methods such as UV-Vis, IR, CD, Mass Spectrometry, and NMR.. Biological Chemistry. Biophysics. Erik R. P. Zuiderweg, Ph.D. Determination of three-dimensional structures of biomolecules and complexes of biomolecules in solution, using multidimensional heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy; NMR studies of biomacromolecular conformation and dynamics in solution, concentrating on methodology developments and on applications involving domains of Hsp-70 chaperone and metal binding proteins such as matrix-metalloproteinase proteins. Biophysics. Biological Chemistry. Chemistry. |
