Claflin University

INBRE TeamAngela W. Peters, Co-P.I. (Chair of Chemistry)Verlie Tisdale, Dean, School of Natural Sciences & MathematicsRebecca Bullard-Dillard, Asst. Vice Pres. for Research Arezue Boroujerdi, New Target Faculty (Asst. Prof. Chemistry)Kamal Chowdhury, Target Faculty (Interim Chair of Biology)Nick Panasik, Mentor (Asst. Prof. Biology/Chemistry-former Target Faculty)Florence Anoruo, Mentor (Asst. Prof. Biology-former Target Faculty)Randall Harris, Mentor (Asst. Prof. Biology-former Target Faculty)

Highlights for Year 1Student Training, Pipeline Development, and

Outreach•Support for academic year training for 10 undergraduate students and summer support for 4 undergraduate students.

Students participated in the 2nd annual Open House & Research Day, March 25-26, sponsored by the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

50% of senior thesis projects are from INBRE research. INBRE seniors graduating in May, 2011 have been accepted to:

MUSC-Medical School Pharmacy School Post-Baccalaureate Program

Faculty Development•Support for Target Faculty who have seed projects to further develop them.

Kamal Chowdhury, Target Faculty - Development of subunit Malaria Vaccine in TomatoRecent publication: “Identification of most organogenic-responsive variety of tomato using variety x medium interaction”, Romanian Biotechnological Letters, Vol 15 (5): 5640 – 5645, 2010.

Nick Panasik, former Target Faculty – Thermodynamic and Structural Mechanisms in Protein Fold Adaptation and Thermostability NSF CAREER Award

Faculty Recruitment Arezue Borourjerdi was hired in January 2011.She is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and teaches Biochemistry. Through INBRE support, she receives 50% release time and a start-up package.

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Arezue F. B. BoroujerdiReceived Ph.D. in 2008

at Mississippi State University with Dr. John K. Young

NMR Structure Calculation of the Halophilic Binary hvDHFR1:folate

Complex

Boroujerdi, A. F. B., et al. Biomol. NMR Assign. 2007, 1, 139.

Boroujerdi, A. F. B., et al. Bioploymers 2009, 91, 140-144.

Boroujerdi, A. F. B., et al. Bioploymers 2009, 91, 140-144.

Adenosine Binding Loop

2-3 Loop

L21 Loop

6-7 Loop

Will salt restrict motion as binding does?

Metabolic Responses of the Metabolic Responses of the Temperature-Dependent Coral Temperature-Dependent Coral Pathogen Pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticusVibrio coralliilyticus

Arezue F. B. Boroujerdi Daniel W. Bearden

National Institute of Standards National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)and Technology (NIST)

Hollings Marine Laboratory, Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston, SCCharleston, SC

Boroujerdi, A.F.B. et al. Environmental Science & Technology, 2009, 43:7658-7664.

Tissue or biofluid sample

Measure the metabolite profile

Treat profile as ‘fingerprint’ for classification purposes

Explore profile to gain mechanistic insight into the

biological response

Statistical/Chemometric tools

Bioanalytical tools• Mass spectrometry• NMR spectroscopy (1H , 13C, 31P)

Overview of the Metabolomics Process

Treatment Toxicological exposure

Field collection

Modified from Mark Viant, et al (2003)

• Pattern recognition• Quantitative modeling

Workhorse: PCA, PLS

Environmental Metabolomics – study of low MW metabolites in cell, tissue, or biofluid (metabolome) in response to a stress

NMR-Based Metabolic Exploration of Serum from Female College

Students at USC and CU in Relation to Nutritional and Lifestyle

Determinants of High-Risk HPV Persistence

Arezue F.B. Boroujerdi, Ph.D. Claflin UniversityLucia Pirisi, M.D.

University of South Carolina School of MedicineThe Carolina Women’s Care Study (CWCS)

Biomedical Metabolomics at Claflin University

• minimally invasive biofluid samples (urine, blood, saliva, etc.) provide a wealth of metabolic information for health assessment and disease diagnosis and treatment

• NMR-based metabolomics provides an excellent means for collaborative research

• wide range of topics can be addressed specifically in relation to diagnosis, monitoring of treatment or recurrence, application to translational medicine research or dietary interventions

• NMR-based metabolomics research is ideal for undergraduate research – learn hands-on bench chemistry techniques

• polar and non-polar metabolite extractions• solvent and buffer preparation• NMR sample preparation

– become experienced with collecting and interpreting NMR spectra with the use of multivariate statistical approaches such as principal components analysis (PCA)