Current laboratory members (left to right): Brianna Leckie (BCMB, Class of 2023), Merc Kemeh (PhD student), Joseph Tramontozzi (BCMB, Class of 2024), Nathaniel Collins (BCMB, BA/MS expected in 2024), and Noel Lazo
CURRENT TOPICS: PROTEIN/PEPTIDE AGGREGATION ASSOCIATED WITH LATE ONSET DISEASES; PROTEOLYTIC DEGRADATION OF AMYLOIDOGENIC PROTEINS; DEVELOPMENT OF SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF PROTEIN COMPLEXES
Proteins of interest:
Amyloid-β (Aβ), the peptide that aggregates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD); ApoE4, the apolipoprotein E isoform that is the most important genetic risk factor for AD; insulin-degrading enzyme, a major Aβ-degrading protease; islet amyloid polypeptide, the protein that aggregates in the pancreata of many patients with type 2 diabetes; and, insulin and glucagon, two key metabolic hormones
Methods:
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), circular dichroism spectroscopy, limited proteolysis combined with mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and computer simulations
LAB NEWS…
- Medicine Innovates featured Merc’s article that was published in 2023 in ACS Chemical Neuroscience. Here’s the link: How Aβ Peptides Modulate Insulin Degradation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Diabetes – Medicine Innovates
- Merc presented a poster (“Differential Susceptibilities of Apolipoprotein E Isoforms to Proteolytic Degradation by Brain Enzymes”) in Neuroscience 2022 (San Diego, CA). Congratulations, Merc!
