Genomics and Systems Biology lab

Many recombinant therapeutics are complex glycoproteins for which mammalian cells are the preferred expression systems. With the advent of biosimilars, there is a further need to increase the productivity of these cell lines and accelerate process development. We are investigating the role of the protein secretion pathway in limiting the productivity of a panel of CHO cell lines that produce monoclonal antibodies at varying productivity levels from 5 pg/cell/day to 50 pg/cell/day. The experiments are coupled with a mathematical model to guide our efforts to modulate the levels of unfolded…

To identify mechanisms of resistance, our first model system is a nonpathogenic soil bacteria, Streptomyces coelicolor. Streptomyces species account for more than two-thirds of all antibiotics. These bacteria are resistant to both endogenously produced antibiotics and that encountered in the soil environment. Our first study explored the multiple mechanisms of resistance exhibited by Streptomyces coelicolor against ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone drug. Transcriptomic analysis using whole-genome microarrays suggests that in addition to the up-regulation of target genes,…