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Our laboratory is focused on gene expression monitoring tools. More specifically, we work on the development
of new tools for measuring protein expression and we apply existing mRNA and protein expression profiling tools
to the study of problems relevant to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries as well as problems in human
health. Each of these areas is outlined in some more detail in this website and a general description of the
projects is:
1) Development of new technologies (microfluidic devices) for proteomic analysis
2) The application of genomic and proteomic tools to the study of protein secretion
3) The application of proteomic tools to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases
4) The mathematical modeling of cellular processes such as the mRNA-protein relationship
Studies of living systems have been driven recently by advances in available technologies. For example, the
development of automated high-throughput DNA sequencing instruments has enabled the completion of the genomes
of a number of organisms. The more recent development of "DNA chips" have permitted one to take a snapshot
picture of the expression of all of the expressed genes in a genome by measuring the mRNA content. mRNA molecules
are derived from the DNA sequence of an organism. The ability to measure protein expression has also recently
been aided by mass spectrometry and other "proteomic" tools which permit one to relate protein expression
information to the underlying DNA sequence. Proteins are derived from the mRNA content of cells. Our group has
focused on the application of any and all of these tools, as appropriate, to the problems outlined above. However, our main
expertise is in the area of Proteomics with an emphasis on mass spectrometry as a tool to monitor and to help quantify
changes in protein expression levels among interesting samples. We feel
that it is critical to measure information at all of the different levels (DNA, mRNA and protein) and to integrate
this information using a systems biology perspective to permit a better understanding of gene expression regulation.
Ultimately, this understanding will permit the targeted manipulation and control of cells for applications in the pharmaceutical
industry and in agricultural biotechnology and to permit more
accurate diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases.
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