Welcome to the Frances Sharom lab.
Back row, left to right:
Pulari Krishnankutty Nair, David Ward, Ashley Parfitt, Dr. Frances Sharom, Adam Clay, Peihua Lu
Front row, left to right:
Kevin Courtney, Dr. Miguel Lugo, Jonathan Crawford, Joseph Chu;
not present, Dr. Gavin King (joining the lab in Fall 2010)
Proteins we are studying include:
- The P-glycoprotein multidrug transporter ABCB1; this ABC protein is involved in resistance of human cancers to treatment with chemotherapy drugs, and plays an important role in reducing drug/toxin absorption and penetration into the brain
- MsbA, a Gram-negative bacterial ABC protein believed to be a flippase for lipid A, a major component of the bacterial outer membrane
- GPI-anchored surface enzymes that are located in specialized plasma membrane microdomains called lipid rafts, and their cleavage by specific phospholipase C enzymes
- The NPC1 protein, which is defective in the fatal genetic disorder Niemann-Pick Type C disease, and plays a central role in intracellular cholesterol trafficking within all cells
One important approach that we take is to study the purified membrane proteins following reconstitution into phospholipid bilayer vesicles. A variety of biochemical and biophysical approaches are then used to probe the molecule under study. Techniques in current use in our lab include fluorescence spectroscopy (both intrinsic protein tryptophan fluorescence and extrinsic fluorescence probes covalently linked to proteins or lipids); rapid millisecond kinetics; NMR spectrometry, dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, as well as biochemical assays for transport and enzymatic activity.
Our research is generously supported by the following agencies:
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