Lighting up inflammation outside the body using chemistry and microfluidics

Life is sustained through a delicate balancing act of the immune system, a complex network of molecular and cellular interactions from which health or disease can emerge.  Despite a long catalogue of the cells and signaling proteins in this system, traditional experimental approaches have struggled to explain how they are organized in organs such as the lymph node to dynamically protect against infection, cancer, and autoimmunity.  The overarching goal of my laboratory is to develop bioanalytical methods to visualize where, when, and how cells interact during immunity and inflammation, to i

Borane Lewis Acids and B-N Lewis Pairs: From Molecules to Materials

The incorporation of main group elements into conjugated materials is known to result in unusual properties and to enable new functions.[1] In particular, the ability of tricoordinate boron to participate in p-delocalization can have a dramatic effect on the optoelectronic properties of conjugated materials by selectively lowering the LUMO orbital levels. The electron-deficient character of boron also enables the reversible formation of Lewis pairs (LPs) by interaction of Lewis acids with Lewis bases.

Illuminating the Biochemical Activity Architecture of the Cell

The complexity and specificity of many forms of signal transduction require spatial microcompartmentation and dynamic modulation of the activities of signaling molecules, such as protein kinases, phosphatases and second messengers. In this talk, I will focus on cAMP/PKA, PI3K/Akt/mTORC1 or Ras/ERK signaling pathways and present studies where we combined genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors, advanced imaging, targeted biochemical perturbations and mathematical modeling to probe the biochemical activity architecture of the cell.

Expanding the Chemical Toolbox for Acoustic-based Imaging of Cancer

Many disease states are characterized by molecular level changes that occur before detectable symptoms have begun to manifest. In order to maximize treatment outcomes it is essential to accurately detect such alterations at an early stage. Chemical probes designed to selectively image such molecular processes have the potential to not only aid in disease diagnosis but can also provide unique insights into disease progression.

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