Michael Bowser
University of Minnesota, MN·Chemistry
Cells talk to each other by releasing chemical messengers such as hormones, neurotransmitters and immune signals, and these releases can change within seconds. Most lab tests that use antibodies to detect such molecules give only a single snapshot in time.
- Fields
Chemistry
Biomedical Engineering
Biochemistry
- Topics
micro free flow electrophoresis
µFFE
microfluidics
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2027
What they work on
- Develop antibody-based affinity micro free flow electrophoresis (µFFE) assays for neuropeptide Y, leptin and TNF-α, and test detection limit, response time, smallest detectable change and stability.
- Develop matching assays that use aptamers, short folded DNA or RNA strands that bind a target, and compare them directly with the antibody versions.
- Use the optimized assays to continuously monitor baseline and stimulated release of messengers from neurons, fat cells (adipocytes) and mast cells held in a microfluidic perfusion chamber.
More about the research
One reason is that antibodies let go of their targets slowly, so the reading cannot follow fast changes. The tests also degrade over time, and molecules stick to surfaces and foul the device. This project aims to build a flow-through test that tracks these messengers continuously, in real time, as living cells release them.
Why it matters
Many signaling systems change too fast for snapshot tests to follow. Real-time measurements of messengers like neuropeptide Y, leptin and TNF-α could let researchers see, for the first time, how nerve signaling, energy regulation and immune responses change from second to second or react to a stimulus. That could give biomedical researchers better data on how these systems work and respond to outside triggers.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Yi Xiao
North Carolina State University, NC·Chemistry
Develop NA-SELEX, an aptamer selection method that uses DNA-cutting nucleases so neither target nor library sits on a solid support, to find aptamers that bind tightly and stay bound under body-like conditions.
Theodore Nowicki
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Microbiology & Immunology
Compare TNF-alpha-armed and conventional TCR and CAR T cells in humanized mouse xenografts, testing tumor killing, toxicity and T-cell entry into tumors across several TCRs, CARs and tumor types.
Abbie C Chapman
Binghamton University, NY·Physiology
Test how chronic hypertension changes the constricting and dilating function of hippocampal arterioles, the small vessels feeding the memory center, by studying isolated pressurized vessels from normotensive and hypertensive rats.
The school
University of Minnesota: 88 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 722 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.