Signal transduction within and between cells is at the core of biological activity in all living systems. Signaling networks are required for regulating biological functions, including growth, development and survival. Deregulation of signaling cascades has been linked to chronic and acute diseases and disorders This thesis focuses on mass spectrometry...
Proteins are essential to all biological systems. Proteins participate in numerous cellular processes by interacting with other proteins, other metabolites and membranes in a dynamic environment. Studying the structural and conformational properties of proteins in the solution phase is necessary to understand their protein folding and interaction dynamics. This research...
Dysfunction of mitochondria has been linked to aging and the pathogenesis of many degenerative diseases. Aside from their primary function in energy production, mitochondria are considered as a major source and target of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) in cells as well. The mitochondrial thiol proteome is a subset...
State-of-the-art, high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques for acquisition of metabolomic and lipidomic data coupled with advanced computational methods provide new opportunities for interpreting large and complex datasets and comprehending the underlying biological processes of diseases. Both metabolomics and lipidomics strive to obtain comprehensive analyses of small molecules, i.e., metabolites and lipids,...
Metabolomics has recently gained momentum in biomolecule research and complements the genomics and proteomics research space. Metabolomics strives to detect, identify, and quantify all metabolites present in biological samples. In particular, biomolecular analysis using ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) has become increasingly important for metabolomic analyses. Similarly,...
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) continues to be one of the major public health problems in the United States and worldwide. Complicated by factors including gender, polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, immunologic factors, exposures to other substances/drugs, hepatic viral infections, nutritional deficiencies, and obesity, ALD is a complex disease that requires a...
The adduction of proteins and other biomolecules by electrophilic lipid peroxidation products such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), 4-oxo-2-nonenal (ONE), malondialdehyde (MDA) or acrolein (ACR) is thought to be an initiating and/or propagating factor in the pathophysiology of several diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other age-related disorders. The identification...
Oxidative stress is recognized as an important underlying factor in the
pathogenesis of many degenerative diseases as well as normal senescence. The
free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and electrophiles produced during
oxidative stress are capable of modifying nucleic acids, lipids and proteins. There
are a variety of oxidative modifications...
Mass Spectrometry has emerged as an analytical core technique in omics sciences, in particularly mass spectrometry has advanced the fields of proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics in recent years. Mass spectrometric techniques have enabled the characterization and determination of abundance levels of a wide range of biomolecules at molecular and system-wide...
Oxidative stress is defined as an imbalance that favors the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) over an organism's antioxidant defense. ROS have the ability to damage, either directly or indirectly, biomolecules including DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Various pathological conditions and environmental and chronic diseases have been associated with...