Expertise
My expertise focuses on using protein interaction methods to understand the biological details of pathogenesis and disease progression for further prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. I have significant input in the development of methods for detecting protein-protein interaction based on mass spectrometry methods of AP-MS and BioID. I have developed the mass spectrometry-based interactome approach to study the interaction networks associated with the signaling pathway and several human diseases.
Cellular compartment organization, signaling transduction, and regulatory processes are governed by protein-protein interactions (PPIs). The affinity purification coupled mass spectrometry (AP-MS) and proximity-labeling methods such as BioID have been widely applied to understand protein interaction networks. AP-MS methods are suited to identify and quantify protein interaction and protein complex stoichiometries, while the BioID method provides information regarding transient or close-proximity interactions. Both AP-MS and BioID can identify distinct interactions, and complementary provides a more comprehensive view of a protein’s interactome. In this study, we developed an integrated approach utilizing 'multiple approaches combined’ (MAC)-tag that utilizes both AP-MS and BioID in a single construct to parallel explore the protein interactive.
I am a systems pathologist, and my research focuses on the molecular level characterization of signaling pathways in health and disease using proteomics tools. So far, I am author or co-author of more than 20 original research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including two first-author papers and five second-author papers. The first-author article was released in March 2018, establishing my author’s novel method in detecting protein interaction and already got more than 40 citations. The collaboration projects involved to help diagnose and explore the progression of several ocular diseases and autoimmune disorders. Additionally, I teach the Protein-Proteome postgraduate course and help with the core facilities maintenance.