Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology & Biotechnology

department of mppb

The Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology is a basic science department within Brown Medical School, and is a full participant in the undergraduate-based Program in Biology within the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University. The department supports graduate and postdoctoral education by providing a highly interdisciplinary framework for individual and thematic training programs within both classical and newly emerging areas in the biomedical sciences.

The department's overall research mission is to discover new biomedical knowledge and to apply the insights gained from basic science studies to further advance therapeutic strategies. What distinguishes our group and makes these objectives more concrete and tangible is that we draw on a distinguished group of faculty with extensive experience in the biotechnology and biomedical device industry.

Our faculty's research interests range from molecules to cells, tissue, organs, and whole organisms and are grounded in a solid base of chemistry, physics, math and biology. Specialty areas of study include: molecular and structural pharmacology; signal transduction; drug design; neuropharmacology and neurophysiology; the molecular and cellular basis for drug addiction; macromolecular structure; cellular, comparative, and organ systems physiology; biomaterials; novel drug delivery modalities; organ replacement, tissue engineering, gene therapy, and regenerative medicine.

Within the Medical School, the department's educational mission is to provide medical students and MD/PhD candidates with a solid foundation in basic science and to help prepare them for a lifetime of learning and problem solving. Our department consists of fourteen full-time on-campus faculty. We offer 26 courses as listed in the Course Announcement and we have 53 graduate students.

The multidisciplinary nature of our faculty is a major strength of our department and is exemplified by the diverse array of professional societies with which our faculty are affiliated. These include: the American Chemical Society; American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE); American Peptide Society; American Physiological Society; the American, European, and International Societies of Artificial Internal Organs; American Society for Bone and Mineral Research; American Society for Cell Biologists; American Society for Nephrology; American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET); American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB); Biomaterials Society; Biophysical Society; Controlled Release Society; International Bone and Mineral Society; International Society of Blood Purification; International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD); Material Research Society; North American Membrane Society (NAMS), Society of General Physiologists (SGP); Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology; Society for Neuroscience; Society for Regenerative Medicine; and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

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MPPB NEWS

Nicotine May Have More Profound Impact Than Previously Thought

Brown University researchers have identified 55 proteins that interact with a receptor in mice known previously to bind with nicotine. The findings, detailed in an April 3 article in the Journal of Proteome Research, could have broad implications for future treatments for nicotine addiction, the search for new drug targets and treatments for diseases such as schizophrenia.
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Do You Know About the NSF/EPScoR Proteomics Facility?

We would like to bring to your attention the capabilities of the NSF/EPSCoR Proteomics Facility at Brown University. The facility, located at 70 Ship Street, maintains the following state-of-the-art instrumentation:

1. A Jasco J-815 Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometer, with Pelitier temperature control, an automated titration system and a stop-flow setup, can be used to study the secondary structure of macromolecules.

2. The Biacore T100 Surface Plasmon Resonance instrument can be used to investigate protein:protein and protein:ligand interactions.

3. A MicroCal VP-DSC microcalorimeter measures the thermal transitions of DNA, proteins or peptides as they are heated or cooled.

4. A MicroCal VP-ITC calorimeter can be used to study the thermodynamics of protein:protein and protein:ligand interactions.

5. Our Thermo-Finnigan LTQ tandem mass spectrometer, coupled to an Agilent 1200 series µHPLC system, is capable of “bottom-up” proteomic identifications.

In addition, the facility will be receiving shortly a FluoroMax 4 spectrofluorometer from Horiba Jobin Yvon.

The facility charges modest fees for the use of this equipment. NSF/EPSCoR funds are available to eligible faculty for grant awards to offset the cost of using the facility (instrument time and supplies.)

If you would like more information, please visit our website http://biomed.brown.edu/epscor_proteomics/ or contact the facility manager, Jim Clifton (james_clifton@brown.edu).

3-D Petri Dish

A team of Brown University biomedical engineers has invented a 3-D Petri dish that can grow cells in three dimensions, a method that promises to quickly and cheaply produce more realistic cells for drug development and tissue transplantation.
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Growing Nerve Cells in 3-D Dramatically Affects Gene Expression

Nerve cells grown in three-dimensional environments deploy hundreds of different genes compared with cells grown in standard two-dimensional petri dishes, according to a new Brown University study. The research, spearheaded by bioengineer Diane Hoffman-Kim, adds to a growing body of evidence that lab culture techniques dramatically affect the way these cells behave.
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Brown Team Creates Uncanny Cell Replicas for Treatment, Research

Call them genuine fakes. Brown University biomedical engineer Diane Hoffman-Kim and her research team have made plastic replicas of real cells through a novel two-part molding process. The copies looked so authentic, Hoffman-Kim couldn't tell if they were real or rubber at first.
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Diane Hoffman-Kim's Lab Featured in Genome Technology for Tissue Engineering Paper

Diane Hoffman Kim's lab group's work is featured in an article on page 10 of the July/August 2007 Issue of Genome Technology. The article also includes a photo of the all-women-scientist team that authored the paper in Tissue Engineering that prompted the article.

American Society of Artificial Organs President

Michael Lysaght assumed the presidency of the American Society of Artificial Organs on June 9, 2007, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society.

US Patent Award

On April 3, 2007, Jill O'Loughlin, Jan Bruder, and Michael Lysaght were awarded US Patent 7,198,785 for " Systems and Methods Related to Degradation of Uremic Toxins."