PHYSICS

Paul R. Anderson

• Studies of quantum fields in cosmological and black hole spacetimes
  Awarded $120,000 for the period 8/1/09 to 7/31/12
  Source: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Evidence indicates that, early in its history, the universe expanded or inflated exponentially, and it may be doing so again. Undergraduate and graduate student participants will be trained in numerical and analytical research techniques that will elucidate phenomena ranging from the expansion of the universe to the effects of quantum fields on black holes. If quantum fluctuations destabilize an exponentially expanding universe, predictions of its future and most inflationary scenarios will be affected. If calculations for reheating in some chaotic inflation scenarios are invalidated, then more sophisticated calculations will be necessary. Investigating particle production during and after gravitational collapse will clarify what happens to information about black-hole formation. Finding that zero-temperature black holes do not exist could have important consequences for thermodynamics.

• Studies of Classical and Quantum Effects in Gravity
  Awarded $32,198 for the period 4/2/07 to 6/30/08
  Source: NSF

  Current cosmological observations imply that the universe may have recently begun a second period of exponential expansion. This project addresses several questions with implications for accepted theory. First, it will study whether quantum fluctuations in the density and pressure of matter and radiation might be unstable during such a period, with serious consequences for the fate of the universe. The semi-classical approximation to quantum gravity, at the foundation of most models of inflation, would be invalid during at least part of this period and would have to be replaced by some more sophisticated theory.

  Second, the project will study whether quantum fluctuations would be large enough to invalidate the types of calculations that have previously predicted the amount of particles produced at the end of inflation in popular chaotic inflationary models. The amount of particle production determines the temperature to which the universe reheats after it finishes inflating, which largely determines its evolution.

  Third, the project will develop a new method to compute the self-force of a particle orbiting a nonrotating black hole and emitting scalar radiation. If successful, it could be generalized to the realistic case of a particle orbiting a rotating black hole and emitting gravitational radiation. One of the primary sources of gravitational waves for a space-based detector, like LISA, is a compact object spiraling into a super massive black hole. Its trajectory is necessary to get the waveform for the gravitational waves that are emitted and can be obtained by solving the radiation reaction problem in gravity. To date, the self-force has only been computed in cases of high symmetry, such as circular orbits or radial infall. Fourth, the project will investigate the important case of zero temperature black holes. Due to the Hawking effect, black holes radiate and can be assigned thermodynamic properties, such as temperature and entropy. Quantum effects can alter the spacetime geometry near the event horizon to change its temperature and entropy.If the project finds that zero temperature black holes cannot exist, results will have important consequences for black hole thermodynamics.

  Finally, the project supports undergraduate and graduate student training in both numerical and analytical research techniques.

Keith Bonin

• Accelerating Drug Discovery: On-chip selection of DNA-Encoded Chemical Libraries
  Awarded $20,000 for the period 7/1/12 to 6/30/14
  Source: NanoMedica LLC

• Accelerating Drug Discovery: On-chip selection of DNA-Encoded Chemical
  Libraries
  Awarded $100,000 for the period 7/1/12 to 6/30/14
  Source: North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBC)

This novel, proprietary NextGeneration Sequencing-enhanced drug discovery platform promises to increase throughput of Wake Forest University’s proprietary Lab-on-Bead technology dramatically, while reducing the time required to identify new drug candidates and corresponding labor and material costs. Commercial development targets discovery of new drug leads and diagnostic reagents for treating and managing cancer.

• Cell Mechanics and Protein Mobility during Neoplastic transformation
  Awarded: $400,000 for the period 7/15/11 to 6/30/14
  Source: NSF

Recent reports indicate that cancerous and normal cells have different physical and mechanical properties, but how these properties change for different cancer cells is ambiguous. For example, some researchers report that cancer cells are softer than normal cells, while others report they are stiffer. This project aims to determine whether these cells were at different stages in their progression from normal to cancerous (neoplastic transformation) or different tumor and cell types. Specifically, it will quantify changes in mechanical properties of human mammary endothelial (HME) cells during neoplastic transformation through particle tracking,  cell squeezing, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) of membrane proteins. FRAP will also be used to determine changes in cytoplasmic and nuclear protein mobility. This work will establish how and why the mechanical properties of HME cells change as they progress from normal to cancerous, which may improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

• with Eugeny Budyain, Physiology
  Mathematical modeling of subsecond dopamine fluctuations in rat brain
  Awarded $12,500; $6,250 Reynolda campus, $6,250 Health Sciences Source: WFU Cross-Campus Collaborative Research Fund

The origin and functional significance of phasic dopamine transmission in an intact mammalian brain is not clearly understood. This project aims, first, to develop a mathematical model for the patterns of subsecond dopamine fluctuations in brain areas that are essential to the circuitry involved in addiction. Second, a micromotor-driven manipulator with several significant advantages over current manual manipulators for obtaining data from ambulatory mammals will be developed. Results will offer critical insights into the neurobiology underlying drug abuse and inform the development of therapeutic agents for addicts.

• Optical Torquing and Nanofluidics
  Awarded: $49,771 for the period 1/1/05 to 12/31/06
  Source: Research Corporation

Research and technology are driving toward smaller scales in hope of creating faster and more powerful computers, more sensitive and accurate environmental and biological sensors, less invasive medical instruments, and more effective medicines. This project will use laser light to trap and to manipulate very small cylindrical rods or tubes, rotating them and placing them on specially prepared surfaces that will change their electrical properties. Watching how their rotation changes as they move close to a surface will elucidate surface interactions. The project will also study how the properties of the surrounding medium (water, dilute solutions of flexible rods) change the nanorods’ rotation. This research will aid novel nanodevice development, lead to a new understanding of nanofluidic flow near surfaces, and stimulate and guide experimental and computational work by others. Two undergraduates will learn cutting-edge research. The project will also greatly improve departmental capabilities in single-molecule research and encourage collaborations between researchers in different physics areas and at the Medical School.

David Carroll

• PF-DT WOLED Development
  Awarded $200,000 for the period 2/11/13 to 7/31/13
  Source: CeeLite Technologies, LLC

This project examines the feasibility and commercial impact of the newly developed WFU PF-BT white-emitting homopolymer family; specifically, its performance in two device architectures: field-induced polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) and white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs).

• Nanotubes in tumor imaging and therapy
  Awarded $20,250 for the period 3/1/11 to 2/29/12
  Source: NIH/Wake Forest Baptist Health

Wake Forest investigators have developed prototype multifunctional, multiwalled carbon nanotubes that can image and treat tumors simultaneously. They will fabricate nanotubes of different lengths, architectures, and composition to assess their effectiveness in tissue culture and mouse models. The goal is a therapy that can be precisely directed with low nonspecific toxicity, compatible with standard clinical imaging instruments, and easily cleared by the body.

• Purelux Optimization
  Awarded $23,543 for the period 9/1/10 to 6/30/11
  Source: PureLux, Inc.

The project uses nanotechnology to produce visible light directly rather than by heating a filament or gas. Very thin, lightweight, and energy efficient, the resulting product could serve a wide range of residential, commercial, and military applications.

• Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Composite Solar Cells for Efficient, Low-Cost, Photoelectric Energy Conversion
  Awarded $102,500 for the period 9/1/09 to 8/31/10
  Source: US Department of Energy (DOE)/University of South Carolina

This project aims to assemble, fabricate, and test organic photovoltaic devices to serve as solar cells.

• Nanocomposite Distal Tips for Guidewires Awarded $45,000 for the period 9/25/09 to 9/24/10
  Source: Cook Medical

No abstract.

• PureLux
  Awarded $18,000 for the period 7/1/10 to 7/31/10
  Awarded $2,127 for the period 8/1/10 to 8/16/10
  Awarded:  $22,595 for the period 8/25/10 to 8/26/10
  Source: PureLux, Inc.

  The project will use nanotechnology to produce visible light directly rather than by heating a filament or gas. Very thin, lightweight, and energy efficient, it could serve a wide range of residential, commercial, and military applications.

• FiberCell
  Awarded $200,000 for the period 12/31/09 to 3/31/10
  Source: FiberCell, Inc.

Wake Forest and New Mexico State University scientists will improve the efficiency of solar cells based on a novel architecture that uses nanotechnology and optical fibers.

• Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Composite Solar Cells for Efficient, Low-Cost, Photoelectric Energy Conversion
  Awarded $99,999 for the period 9/1/08 to 8/31/09
  Source: DOE/USC

  No abstract.

• Nanocomposites for energy utilization
  Awarded $11,400 for the period 11/16/08 to 11/15/09
  Source: Thai Government

  No abstract.

• Targeted CNx NAnowire-Drug Complexes for Enhanced Chemotherapeutic Efficacy
  Awarded $ for the period 9/1/08 to 9/30/09
  Source: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program

• Conference for Nanomedicine
  Awarded $5,000 for the period 11/1/07 to 4/8/08
  Source: North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBC)

  The Focused Workshop in NanoMedicine: Therapeutic Hyperthemia Problems will bring approximately 100 scientists, engineers, medical researchers, and nanopharmaceutical representatives together for a three-day forum. Twelve invited and 24 contributed talks will discuss the development of nanotherapeutics used in hyperthermia treatments of disease and how it might be guided by traditional pharma. To our knowledge, this workshop will be the first nationwide that is designed to understand the integration of therapeutic development and scientific innovation for an entire class of therapeutics.

• MURI: Self-Assembled Soft Optical NIMS
  Awarded $115,677 for the period 10/1/09 to 9/30/10
  Source: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)/Kent State University

  Negative Index Materials (NIMs) promise a wide variety of exciting applications, such as flat, apertureless lenses; “perfect” lenses with subwavelength resolution; novel antennas; new beam-steering devices; sensor protection strategies; novel band-gap materials; and high-density optical storage. They do not occur in nature, but inherent obstacles have been overcome using such structures as split-ring resonators, which have large negative magnetic susceptibility in the frequency range of interest. To avoid scattering, their linear dimensions must be smaller than a wavelength. Great interest is focusing on VIS NIMs, which operate in the visible range of the spectrum, but the difficulty of creating the appropriate resonant structures on the required nanometer lengths has impeded development.

  This multidisciplinary team aims to realize NIMs in the VIS-IR range. The materials will consist of oriented dispersions of metallic nanoparticles, forming a liquid crystal phase, in a host matrix that may also be liquid crystalline. They will be created via self-assembly of the nanoparticles with functionalized surfactant/tethers and processed to form large, thick, 3D films. As liquid crystals, these NIMs will be soft and responsive, allowing easy processing and switching.

• Characterization of the Potential Toxicity of Metal Nanoparticles in Marine Ecosystems Using Oysters
  Awarded $66,336 for the period 4/05/07 to 3/04/09
  Source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/UNC Charlotte

  No abstract.

• Targeting the Glycocalyx (capsule/exopolysaccaride) to Reduce Bone/Implant Related Infections
  Awarded $39,696 for the period 7/1/06 to 6/30/08
  Source: Orthopaedic Research Education Foundation

  NANOTECH will collaborate with the WFUHS Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

• Novel Carbon Nitride (CNW) Conjugates for Breast Cancer
  Awarded $91,055 for the period 8/15/06 to 8/14/07
  Source: Department of Defense, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)

  Recently, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and Ag nanoshells have been shown effective in photo-ablating cultured cells. In both cases, penetrating infrared light generates heat in the nano-object to raise the temperature in surrounding cells. While promising, the applicability of these approaches to real therapeutics is limited because, in both cases, high amounts of light are required to initiate cell death in tissues. Further, these nanocarriers lack specificity or targeting modalities.

  Carbon-based nanoparticles can be chemically modified to selectively target breast cancer cells, and when coupled to carbon nitride nanotube variants, the resulting conjugates can be activated to photo-ablate tumors with an extraordinarily small amount of power. This program will test the concept that carbon nitride nanowires (CNWs), conjugated to Herceptin, a therapy for certain breast cancers, can selectively target and photo-thermally ablate HER2-positive breast cancer tissues, using penetrating near-infrared radiation. Initial results suggest that CNWs are far superior to SWNTs or silver nanoshells due to their metallic nature and aspect ratio. This unique property of CNWs opens a new therapeutic application at depths more clinically relevant than the simple subcutaneous limits of previous approaches and with reduced dermal injury. They can also carry multiple functionalities, such as contracting agents, for imaging the target area, which will allow them to be locally activated.

• Assessment of Status and Opportunities in Nanophase Transition Metal Oxide Coatings for Air Pollution Control and Mitigation
  Awarded $15,000 for the period 7/20/06 to 11/21/06
  Source: EPA

The project will generate a report on the state-of-the-art in nanoscale photocatalytic coatings based on transition metal oxides. This analysis of the literature and intellectual property should answer the following questions:
• What advantages does nanotechnology offer in developing efficient photocatalysis of pollutants?
• What mechanisms benefit from small size, surface proximity, high fields, defect exclusion, surface trapping, and extended coherence of excited states?
• Can nanotechnology enhance cross-sections, separate charges, or mitigate well-known tendencies toward poisoning of the catalyst in realistic environments?
• Can we conclude that current engineering technologies for broad area thin film fabrication are sufficient for practical implementation of such nanophase materials?

The answers to these questions will identify both the opportunities and bottlenecks to implementing such technologies in air pollution control/mitigation. The project will significantly enhance EPA’s knowledge base in this important science field, and the product will serve the strategic planning process as a screening tool for future research and future NCER and SBIR solicitations.

• Self-Assembled Soft Optical NIMs
  Awarded $115,677 for the period 10/1/06 to 9/30/07
  Source: AFOSR, MURI

  Negative Index Materials (NIMs) promise a wide variety of exciting applications, such as flat, apertureless lenses; “perfect” lenses with subwavelength resolution; novel antennas; new beam-steering devices; sensor protection strategies; novel band-gap materials; and high-density optical storage. They do not occur in nature, but inherent obstacles have been overcome by the use of specially constructed resonant structures, such as split ring resonators, that have large negative magnetic susceptibility in the frequency range of interest. To avoid scattering, their linear dimensions must be smaller than a wavelength. Their tremendous scientific and technological potential has generated great interest in VIS NIMs, which operate in the visible range of the spectrum, but none have been yet realized, due to the difficulty of creating the appropriate resonant structures on the required nanometer lengths. The multidisciplinary team aims to realize NIMs in the VIS-IR range. The materials will consist of oriented dispersions of metallic nanoparticles, forming a liquid crystal phase, in a host matrix that may also be liquid crystalline. They will be created via self-assembly of the nanoparticles with functionalized surfactant/tethers and processed to form large, thick, 3D films. This strategy will optimize the materials’ response to competing factors of index magnitude, loss, dispersion, and anisotropy. As liquid crystals, these NIMs will be soft and responsive, allowing easy processing and switching.

• Charge-Transfer Nanocomposites: The Effects of Scale Hierarchy
  Awarded $151,000 for the period 1/1/06 to12/31/06
  Source: AFOSR

  This research program will first quantify charge-transfer mechanisms and time scales relevant to nanoparticulite/electro-active polymer blends (charge-transfer nanocomposites). These features will be correlated with induced morphological modifications, modifications to optical absorption cross-sections, and localization effects. The program will then examine electronic and optical phenomena associated with degrees of matrix order and disorder, or scale hierarchy, to determine if nanotube/host interactions are modified when the nanoparticles are ordered over length scales commensurate with polarons/excitons or the wavelength of incident light. Finally, the program will integrate nanotube-based matrix composites into organic photovoltaic devices and organic optical sensing devices, such as CCDs (charge-coupled devices), which are used in digital and video cameras and optical scanners, and photodiodes.

• with Joel Stitzel, Biomedical Engineering, WFUSM
  Development of Electrospinning Apparatus for Tissue Engineering
  Awarded $14,700 for the period 5/6/05 to 5/15/06
  Source: WFU Cross-Campus Collaborative Research Fund

  The team aims to purchase a negative pressure glove box with an antechamber and to fabricate an electrospinning apparatus for the development of vascular scaffolds. These vascular scaffolds, when seeded with endothelial or other appropriate cells, hold promise as vein and potential organ replacements. The investigators propose (1) to generate vascular scaffolds from several types of protein components by electrospinning; (2) to optimize the synthesis of these scaffolds; and (3) to test the mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and biochemical characteristics of the synthetic scaffolds compared to decellularized scaffolds or native vascular vessels.

• Agile Response Coatings
  Awarded $1,443,000 for the period 4/1/05 to 3/31/08
  Source: AFOSR

  For twenty years, US forces have increasingly been required to respond to asymmetric situational threats, and Air Force technologies must perform multirole surveillance and tactical tasks. Reliance on slower, long-term, unmanned platforms with search-and-destroy capabilities like the Global Hawk system and stealth insertion using manned vehicles like the F-117 and B-2 demands agile coloration that can sense ambient thermal and lighting conditions; novel materials solutions to deterioration in aging and long-term deployed systems; and the ability to monitor all operational aspects of vehicle integrity, including structural and air frame components during flight.The Agile Response Coatings (ARC) program aims to develop a single coating system that biomimetically responds to its surroundings and airframe integrity, using sensing and electromagnetic modulation technologies based on novel nanostructured materials. The program has four specific task areas:

1. Electromagnetic Modulation. Novel electrochromic polymers will be coupled with metamaterial functionalities, agile coloration, and reflective technologies to respond to ambient thermal, lighting, and threat conditions in real time.
2. Sensor Embed Technologies. Nano-engineered material will be used to create novel, high-sensitivity sensor systems with self-diagnostic functions, including the ability to sense strain, corrosion, and IR, locally and globally, and pressure transduction.
3. Macro-electronic, distributed connectivity. Organic macro-electronics will create a networked interconnectivity among sensors, allowing the coating system to respond autonomously to a wide variety of stimuli.
4. Tangential functionalities. Several tangential functionalities will be added to the coating system, including corrosion retardation and active vibration damping.

The program teams Dr. Carroll with investigators from the University of Florida and New Mexico State University and corporate partners Foster Miller, Inc., and International Technology Corporation. Coordinated through WFU, each site is responsible for developing and integrating a component into the final coating system. The “distributed” management structure will enhance synergistic and shared activities among team members and rapid response to scientific developments.

Samuel Cho (see also COMPUTER SCIENCE)
Extrapolating the concept of protein corona for understanding nanoparticles at large
Awarded $93,491for the period 8/15/12 to 7/31/15
Source: National Science Foundation (NSF)/Clemson University  

These studies aim to decipher the basic mechanisms of biocorona formation using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (Cho lab) validated by experiment (Ke lab). Results will translate well-established theoretical and simulation approaches from protein folding to NanoEHS for great educational, economic, and environmental benefits. The Cho lab develops and performs MD simulations to examine the formation of AgNP-biocoronas at molecular resolution and to define the main determinants, such as time, free energy, and stability. Their GPU-optimized approaches perform 10-100x faster than traditional CPU approaches that preclude simulations at the relevant time and length scales. The Ke lab will validate these calculations experimentally; then additional simulations will guide the design of new NP-biocorona simulations. The Cho lab will also model NP binding interactions with proteins and glucose.

• Quasi-equilibrium BH-BH and NS-BH binary Initial Data
  Awarded $35,000 for the period 10/8/08 to 10/31/09
  Source: NSF

  The collision of a pair of compact objects, either black holes or neutron stars, is a dramatic event that gravitational wave observatories, such as LISA and LIGO, hope soon to detect. The simulations to be performed in this project, starting from compact binary initial data, will provide the theoretical foundation for interpreting much of the data these observatories obtain. This work aims to improve the techniques and numerical tools for constructing compact binary initial data, to explore the space of interesting solutions, and to train undergraduate and graduate students.

Jacquelyn Fetrow (see also Computer Science)

• Analysis of redox-modulated signaling networks in response to ionizing radiation
  Awarded $11,209 for the period 3/1/10 to 2/28/13
  Source: NIH/WFBH

This project applies advanced systems biology methods to define the consequences of combined kinase mutations in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). It tests the hypothesis that subsets of kinase mutations, unique to each patient, rewire the signaling pathways that modulate responses to radiation and drug therapies and could point to patient-tailored therapies with higher cure rates and lower toxicity.

• Integrin Function in Cartilage
  Awarded $1,459 for the period 8/1/11 to 7/31/12
  Source: NIH/WFUHS

These studies will provide new information on the molecular mechanisms by which chondrocyte integrin receptor signals regulate production of enzymes that cause excessive degradation of the cartilage matrix in arthritis to develop novel therapeutic targets.

• A systems biology approach for discovery of novel pathways in osteoarthritis
  Awarded $27,947 for the period 8/1/09 to 7/31/10
  Source: Arthritis Foundation/WFUHS

No abstract.

• WFU Older Americans Independence Center, Molecular Science Resource Center
  Awarded $15,295 for the period 6/1/09 to 7/31/10
  Source: NIH/WFUHS

• Computational modeling of dendritic cell maturation
  Awarded $84,112 for the period 5/1/10 to 4/30/11
  Source: NIH

  Dendritic cells (DC) activate the adaptive immune system to clear infections. First, however, their potency must increase in a tightly regulated process termed maturation that involves gene expression changes, intracellular trafficking, cytoskeletal modifications, and mobilization to lymphoid organs. Very few studies have examined the full time-course of this process, and none have attempted to model it. This project aims to explain DC maturation at a systems level. First, following treatment with a model viral infection, significantly expressed DC genes will be identified and clustered over time to assess the dynamics. Second, the relationships between significantly expressed genes will be studied to identify networks of interactions. Finally, genes involved in subnetworks will be modeled to identify cause-and-effect, rather than merely correlative, relationships. Because DC maturation is so pivotal to protective immunity, a broader understanding of its gene expression program and the comprehensive transcriptional regulatory network underlying it is necessary for the design and development of vaccines and therapies against infectious agents.

• with David J. John, Computer Science, and Edward E. Allen, Mathematics
  Algebraic and Statistical Models of Redox Signaling
  Awarded $123,379 for the period 4/1/08 to 3/31/09
  Source: NIH

An interdisciplinary research group spanning the Reynolda and Health Sciences campuses aims to develop theory, algorithms, computational tools, and research methodologies for network modeling of redox-regulated events in human cells. Recent research indicates that redox-regulated networks are central to cellular communication under a variety of normal and diseased conditions, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging. This project will (1) identify a comprehensive set of cellular proteins modified at cysteine residues as a result of redox-dependent signaling; (2) correlate the concentration of a given cellular perturbant and its associated redox signal; 3) associate networks with particular perturbants; and 4) produce both topological and dynamic models of the cellular network associated with these pathways. These models will then be compared to other data on protein/protein interactions and kinase cascades to produce a more comprehensive model of cellular regulation and its biological outcomes.

• Integrated Process for Functional Site Feature Analysis
  Awarded: $167,800 for the period 8/1/07 to 7/31/08
  Source: NSF

  Sequence and structural genomics projects have identified and predicted molecular functions in proteins, yet researchers still cannot determine the biological mechanisms of, for example, catalysis or substrate specificity or inhibitor binding, without detailed biochemical and biophysical analysis of each protein. While structural genomics projects are providing the necessary data, they are not being used to reveal the general principles underlying biological mechanism.

  This project uses sequence, structure, bioinformatics, and biophysical to characterize the molecular function sites of 6 protein superfamilies, with the following objectives: 1) characterizing the sequence and structure of functional site features and using the results to develop methods for clustering the peroxiredoxin family; 2) analyzing the electrostatics at peroxiredoxin functional sites and testing them experimentally; 3) integrating electrostatic, sequence, and structural information to create a robust profiling method that can identify peroxiredoxin subfamilies; and 4) using it to create active-site signatures and profiles for a well-studied and important set of protein superfamilies. The data will be made widely available.

  This detailed functional site analysis of 6 superfamilies will yield insights into biological mechanisms, leading to hypotheses that can be experimentally tested. In the long term, the methods will enable more accurate functional site identification from sequence. The development of general concepts for identifying and classifying molecular functional site features will advance the design of enzymes with improved, altered, or novel activity and inhibitors (or lead compounds), an early step in the drug-discovery process. Students involved in this project will gain cross-disciplinary molecular biophysics training that will fuel successful scientific careers. In addition, the project informs a new interdisciplinary molecular biophysics course in which students are introduced to computational methods and work to interpret data in terms of protein structure. Graduate and undergraduate students from biochemistry, biology, chemistry, and physics as well as researchers from a local biopharmaceutical company studied the peroxiredoxin family in this course and were introduced to the ideas and communication skills necessary in an interdisciplinary research project.

• with Elizabeth Hiltbold, Microbiology and Immunology, WFUHS
  Modeling Networks of Dendritic Cell Maturation Induced by Bacteria
  Awarded $20,000 for the period 5/06 to 5/07
  Source: WFU Cross-Campus Collaborative Research Fund

  Dendritic cells (DCs) are uniquely qualified to activate naive T cells because of their ability to sense and to capture pathogens, to degrade them within the cell, and to present their antigens on the cell surface. In a process known as maturation, DCs are transformed from poor T cell stimulators to highly potent T cell activators through a series of morphological and functional changes. This process is tightly regulated at the transcriptional level, and while several aspects have been well characterized, the program that drives it remains unclear, especially in response to intact, live bacteria, a physiologically relevant stimulus.

  Most bacteria express a variety of components that stimulate several pattern-recognition receptors, and many are able to access distinct groups of receptors at several intracellular sites, including the plasma membrane, phagosomes, and even cytoplasm. The PIs hypothesize that the interactions between multiple pattern-recognition receptors that are triggered by live Listeria are critical for maximal activation of antigen-presenting cells.

  Microarray technology is a powerful methodology for systemically studying the time-course of global changes in many biological systems. The project couples this technology with computational biology to develop network models of functional classes of genes expressed when bacterial infection induces DC maturation. Completion of the two specific aims will provide the preliminary data and framework models of DC maturation necessary to develop a competitive R01 application.

• with Jason Grayson, Microbiology & Immunology, WFUHS
  Computational Modeling of Reactive Oxygen Intermediate Signaling in CD8+ T Cells
  Awarded $15,000 for the period 5/6/05 to 5/15/06
  Source: WFU Cross-Campus Collaborative Research Fund

  CD8+ T cells are critical for clearing viruses, tumors, and certain bacteria. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that control these cells’ proliferation and death is critical for optimizing HIV and cancer vaccines and developing treatments for autoimmunity. Recently, the team demonstrated that treatment with MnTBAP, an anti-oxidant, reduces both the expansion and contraction of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vivo during viral infection. With treatment, proliferation decreased ten-fold, while the contraction phase was almost completely blocked. This result demonstrates that increased immunological memory can be generated from a smaller expansion of virus-specific cells. Despite these intriguing results, the molecular mechanisms by which reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) affect proliferation and death have not been determined.

The team hypothesizes: (1) cellular proliferation pathways are very sensitive to ROI levels, but activating death pathways requires a higher and chronic level of stimulation; and (2) different levels of ROI induce different redox responses that can be identified as part of a biological network. These hypotheses will be tested by (1) identifying cellular proteins oxidized at cysteine residues by high- throughput proteomics following T cell activation in vitro; and (2) developing framework models of the proteins involved in redox signaling networks in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and compaing their topologies for different incubation conditions and different segments of the culture cycle.

• with S. Bruce King, Chemistry
  Profiling of Redox-Sensitive Signaling Proteins
  Awarded $18,478.36 for the period 5/1/06 to 4/30/07
  Source: NIH

  Reynolds Professor Fetrow will direct the bioinformatics component of this ambitious project to devise large-scale methods to identify proteins that respond to cellular redox changes. The team aims to integrate analytical protein chemistry, cell biology, and bioinformatics to test the hypothesis that redox signaling affects the initiation of cell proliferation and transformation. Successful development of this technology will lead to future broad-scale research with implications for cancer prevention and treatment.

Martin Guthold

• Lab-on-Bead-enabled, next-generation sequencing for cancer drug discovery
  Awarded $113,111 for the period 11/1/12 to 10/31/13
  Source: NIH; NanoMedica LLC

This project combines an encoded macrocycle library screening and candidate molecule selection to discover new anticancer drug candidates. This next generation Lab-on-Bead sequencing and selection method is designed to discover more with less: it requires only tiny amounts of target molecules and library candidates and may ultimately be able to screen up to 108 drug candidates in less than a day.

• Accelerating Drug Discovery: Front-end Library Screening for Biological Relevance
  Awarded $250,000 for the period 1/1/11 to 12/31/12
  Source: NCBC

The development of vast, nucleotide-encoded chemical libraries holds extraordinary promise for discovering new drug candidates, diagnostic reagents, and chemical probes, but their exploitation requires an effective selection process. This collaboration among Cancer Biology, Chemistry, and Physics teams and an NC-based commercial partner, NanoMedica, Inc., couples novel, highly efficient capillary electrophoresis and whole-cell preselection methods to create nanobeads functionalized with multiple copies of a unique, nucleic-acid-encoded chemical, followed by the identification and extraction of target-bound beads using inverted and atomic force microscopes or a micropipette system. Nanoselected candidates will be identified by PCR amplification of their coding sequences followed by validation assays.

• Mechanical Properties of Native and Variant Fibrin Fibers
  Awarded $20,000 for the period 7/1/09 to 6/30/10
  Source: American Heart Association

This project studies the mechanical properties of individual fibrin fibers and fibrin fiber junctions in a fibrin clot. The strength and failure mechanisms of branching points will be compared to those of individual fibers. The goal is to construct a realistic mechanical model of a blood clot. Atomic force microscopy will be used to record force data while stretching a fiber, and an inverted fluorescence microscope allows the manipulation to be viewed and recorded. The stress/strain curves produced can be used to determine the visco-elastic modulus, elastic modulus, force relaxation rates, modulus stiffening at high strains, and energy loss.

• Determining the Mechanical Properties of Single Fibrin Fibers
  Awarded $225,000 for the period 7/01/07 to 6/30/10
  Source: NSF

  Blood clots perform the essentially mechanical task of stemming blood flow. However, the mechanical properties of clot constituents are largely unknown. Besides platelets, which initially aggregate at the site of a wound, the major structural component is a branched network of fibrin fibers. A novel technique, combining atomic force and fluorescence microscopy in a single instrument, will be used to systematically study the mechanical properties of single fibrin fibers and a variety of mutants under a variety of conditions.

• Visco-elastic properties of fibrin fibers
  Awarded $10,000, Spring 2007
  Source: WFU Science Research Fund

The mechanical properties of blood clot constituents are largely unknown, which has seriously hampered our full understanding of clotting and development of good models. Their major structural component is a network of fibrin fibers that critically depends on the fibers’ mechanical properties and the properties of the junctions between fibers. Little is known about these nanoscopic features because a good technique to study them has been lacking. This project aims to develop a novel technique, combining atomic force and fluorescence microscopy, to study the mechanical properties of single fibrin fibers. The tip of the atomic force microscope (AFM) will be used to laterally stretch fluorescently labeled fibrin fibers that are suspended across channels in a striated substrate, while the fluorescence microscope images this process. This experimental design yields a well-defined, easy-to-analyze geometry ideal for measuring stress-strain curves of fibrin fibers. The 16 viscoelastic characteristics of fibrin fibers that define their mechanical behavior will be quantified for several parameters, such as temperature and fiber radius. Fibrinogen variants will provide insights into their molecular mechanisms and the fibrin-fibrin interactions that affect them. This pioneering technique should apply to many biological and nonbiological fibers and provide an entirely new understanding of blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, and related diseases. The project will include two graduate and three undergraduate students.

• Kinesin Force-Velocity in Curves when 1, 2, or 3 Motors Transport a Single Load
  Awarded $5,013 for the period 8/1/07 to 7/31/08
  Source: NIH

  The project’s long-term objective is to elucidate, at the molecular level, how the motor protein kinesin transports vesicles from a neuron’s cell body to its axon tip, a distance of as much as 1 meter, in only 4 days. The velocity/force relation of one kinesin motor is well understood when the motor is in solution, and the viscous work load on it is small. However, within a cell, the viscolelastic drag force opposing the motor is at least 100 times greater, so 2-5 motors are probably required to pull a single vesicle. Quantitative velocity/force curves have been obtained for 1 kinesin but not for the 2, 3, or more active motors actually needed to pull a single load in vivo, and qualitative data on the effect of multiple motors are contradictory.

  The project will test the hypothesis that 2 or more motors pulling a single cargo will share the load equally. It aims to measure velocity/force curves for 1, 2, and 3 kinesins over a physiologically realistic force range. Using speckled microtubules to provide numerous fiduciary marks along the length of each microtubule will greatly improve the spatial precision of tracking over classical gliding assays, which use uniformly labeled microtubules, and the temporal precision will be 0.1s or better. If the gliding microtubule can be tracked for 5-10s, the pattern of velocity changes will reveal the number of active motors. Force will be generated by viscous drag and magnetic beads bound to the gliding microtubule.

  The exceptional length of some neurons places exceptionally stringent demands on their vesicle transport systems and suggests that some neuronal disease may originate in a transport system failure. Mutations in microtubule motor proteins have been shown to cause disease phenotypes in Drosophila and degenerative diseases of the human nervous system. A more quantitative analysis of multiple motor mechanics will expedite the identification of degenerative diseases associated with defective transport and facilitate rational intervention.

• Kinesin Force-Velocity Curves when 1, 2, or 3 motors transport a single load
  Awarded $20,000 for the period 1/27/06 to 1/26/07
  Source: Dreyfus Foundation

  Dr. Holzwarth is one of 14 national winners of the prestigious Senior Scientist Mentor Award for 2006. Faculty with emeritus status who maintain active research programs in the chemical sciences are awarded grants of $10,000 annually for two years to support undergraduate research under their guidance.

  The maximum force generated by 1 kinesin motor protein molecule in vitro is 7 pN. There is indirect evidence that in cells, several kinesin motors must cooperate to move a single vesicle, because the drag force that must be overcome is 5 pN. We will measure velocity-force curves for 2, 3, or 4 kinesin motors pulling a single load in vitro against a carefully measured viscous or magnetic force.

N. A. W. Holzwarth

• with Timo Thonhauser, Physics, and Akbar Salam, Chemistry
  ES12: 24th Annual Workshop on Recent Developments in Electronic Structure Theory
  Awarded $10,000 for the period 6/1/12 to 5/31/13
  Source: US Department of Energy (DOE)

The workshop brings investigators in electronic structure theory from around the world to the WFU campus. Invited presentations and contributed posters describe new methods for computing previously inaccessible properties of materials, breakthroughs in computational efficiency and accuracy, and novel applications of these methods to the study of molecules, liquids, and solids. It represents a valuable opportunity for students, postdocs, and senior researchers to present their ideas and learn from each other. Funding contributes to its success especially by keeping participant costs low and making attendance more widely accessible.

• ES12: 24th annual workshop on recent development in electronic structure theory
  Awarded $5,000 for the period 5/15/12 to 5/14/13
  Source: Army Research Office (ARO)

Wake Forest University will host the workshop from 5-8 June 2012 (http://es12.wfu.edu). Organized with Timo Thonhauser, Physics, and Akbar Salam, Chemistry, it will bring together electronic structure theorists from universities, colleges, institutes, and laboratories around the world. Invited presentations and contributed posters will describe new methods for computing previously inaccessible properties of materials; breakthroughs in computational efficiency and accuracy; and novel applications to study molecules, liquids, and solids. Funding will keep participant costs low and make attendance more accessible.

• First Principles Simulations of Battery Materials
  Awarded $200,000 for the period 9/1/11 to 8/31/13
  Source: NSF

Advances in battery capacity, safety, and stability are needed to meet projected energy storage needs. First principles simulations of their materials will provide a detailed, atomic-level understanding of their conduction mechanisms to explore optimal stoichiometries and structures. Simulations using simple atomic level models will also explore the relationship of the electrolytes’ microscopic and macroscopic properties. Another project is designed to increase the physical accuracy of the simulation techniques for materials containing the localized orbitals typically found in cathode materials. Training students to perform computational materials research is a large part of this effort. With the help of colleagues at Winston-Salem State University, it hoped that minority students will be among those attracted to this effort.

• Computational Study of Transition Metal Phosphate Materials
  Awarded $143,000 for the period 6/30/04 to 6/29/07
  Source: NSF

  This project will perform a systematic computational study of several crystalline transition metal phosphate materials exhibiting a wide range of interesting physical and chemical properties that are not completely understood. Several are naturally occurring minerals of geological interest; many have various polymorphic geometric and magnetic structures; and some, whose electrochemical properties show technological promise in the battery industry and catalysis applications, have recently generated a wealth of experimental results.

The proposed computer simulations will develop our qualitative and quantitative understanding of these materials' structural and magnetic transformations and properties of technological interest. Because of the special properties of transition metals in narrow band gap materials, some aspects of the proposed calculations will challenge the current state-of-the-art in computational formalism and coding. In particular, their electron/electron interactions are critical for determining the materials' properties but difficult to evaluate accurately. A tangential project will develop a new approach for examining many electron systems based on the knowledge of their electron pair states.

• Computational Tools for Detailed Simulations of Materials
  Awarded $336,000 for the period 7/1/04 to 6/30/09
  Source: NSF

This project aims to develop computational tools for accurate and efficient modeling of the bulk and surface properties of materials for fundamental studies and technological design. The main goals are:

(1) To investigate and to incorporate several new state-of-the-art optimization and iteration acceleration methods into the materials modeling codes, such as the use of surrogate functions and dynamic accuracy techniques;
(2) To develop algorithms and codes for the efficient solution of boundary value problems arising in the study of surfaces and interfaces of materials, incorporating input from bulk simulations;
(3) To share the codes and results with the research community, providing a forum for comparing the accuracy and efficiency of the leading computational methods.

Preliminary results on the use of surrogate functions for structural optimization and the development of surface algorithms are very encouraging. Based on the so-called projector augmented wave (PAW) method of Bloechl, a code for density functional calculations of periodic solids is shared with the electronic structure community from the website http://pwpaw.wfu.edu and through various collaborations. The PAW method combines the best features of pseudopotential and all-electron approaches.

Oana Jurchescu

• Spintronics for novel device application and metrology advancement
  Awarded $117,140 for the period 10/1/12 to 9/30/13
  Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology

With recent advances in technology, the demand for faster data processing and greater memory capacity is urgent in the electronics industry. Current metal oxide semi-conductor field effect transistors (MOSTFETs) are rapidly reaching their physical limit. This project exploits an alternative approach to achieve drastic improvements. Spin electronics, or spintronics, can provide greater performance with lower power consumption and integrate with current electronics technology. This project will develop novel devices by discovering materials that enable a long spin transport; developing methods for efficient spin generation and detection; and integrating spintronic functionality in current electronic systems.

• NSF-NIST collaborative research on electrical and optical properties of novel binary donor-acceptor compounds
  Awarded $75,126 for the period 8/1/12 to 7/21/14
  Source: NSF/UNC-Chapel Hill

The seemingly-infinite variety of organic compounds presents the prospect of tailoring materials with any desired properties—truly “materials by design.” To date, monomolecular organic semiconductors, such as oligoacenes, oligothiophenes, and their derivatives, have shown the best performance, but it is becoming clear that their range of properties is rather restricted. The transition to binary- and multicomponent materials promises discovery of unexpected properties. Charge-transfer (CT) compounds (salts) composed of two different organic molecules, one acting as donor (D) and the other as acceptor (A), are an example of an organic binary system. The intermolecular interactions between D and A, especially electron transfer, allow novel functionalities. This project grows single crystals of binary compounds formed from organic or inorganic donors or acceptors and explores their physical properties to identify the most promising candidates for electronic devices, light-emitting diodes, and solar cells.

• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
  Awarded $8,531 for the period 5/1/12 to 9/30/12
  Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

With recent advances in technology, electronics industry demand for faster data processing and higher memory capacity is urgent. The metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) currently in use are rapidly reaching their physical limit, and implementing faster, higher capacity requires very high energy use, which is detrimental to the environment and not economically feasible. This project focuses on an alternative approach – spin electronics, or spintronics, which is not volatile and consumes very little power. A Wake Forest Physics major, Alyssa Brigeman (2013), will spend 10 weeks this summer, working “elbow-to-elbow” with some of the world’s leaders in spintronics from the NIST NanoElectronic Device Metrology Group of the Physical Measurement Laboratory.

• High-conductivity in Binary Organic Single Crystals for Electronic Applications
  Awarded $54,696 for the period 8/1/11 to 7/31/12
  Source: NSF

The study of new binary organic compounds could open a large range of functionalities not manifest in monomolecular solids and create new electronics and optoelectronics applications. The graduate students who participate in this project will gain broad experience in a range of physical characterization techniques, device fabrication and characterization, quantum-chemical computational methods, and crystal growth. Undergraduates will be exposed to exciting interdisciplinary topics and a stimulating collaborative training environment. Results will be integrated into courses taught by the co-PIs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including special-topics courses in organic electronic materials and devices. They will also be used in public outreach activities sponsored by local science museums.

• Patterning Organic Thin-Film Transistors by Differential Microstructure
  Awarded $330,000 for period 6/1/11 to 5/31/14
  Source: NSF

The ability to pattern organic thin films is crucial to manufacturing organic electronic devices with better performance and reduced power consumption. Progress has been impeded by many conceptual and practical problems related to their degradation when exposed to conventional lithography processes. This project will develop reliable, reproducible methods to simultaneously deposit and pattern organic field-effect transistors at low-cost and moderate temperatures. The presence/absence and type of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) will promote different orientations in the organic semiconductor molecules forming the thin film. A high degree of order will enhance conductivity, while mixed orientations will lead to low conductivity regions where organic semiconductors can be selectively deposited on pretreated surfaces to achieve self-patterning at low cost. Results will elucidate physical processes that originate at organic/dielectric and metal/organic interfaces and lead to development of low-cost, high-yield methods for fabrication of high-performance organic electronic devices.

• Low-cost Organic Electronics: Let Molecules Do the Work
  Awarded $5,000 for the period 6/1/10 to 5/31/11
  Source: Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Despite remarkable achievements in the field of organic (plastic) electronics, many problems remain. Patterning is a critical step in fabricating organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs); it reduces power consumption and increases performance by minimizing parasitic current paths. However, photolithography techniques developed for inorganic semi-conductors damage weak organic semi-conducting materials and degrade device performance. Unfortunately, methods to solve this problem limit resolution and fail when scaled to large-area processing. This project will exploit unique film-forming properties to develop novel, low-cost, large-area patterning techniques for organic electronic devices. Patterning will be efficiently induced by manipulating the chemical and physical interactions so that differential microstructure forms at the contacts, dielectric materials, or self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on their surface. The program offers exciting collaborative and interdisciplinary research opportunities and a stimulating environment for student training.

• Nondestructive deposition of electrical contacts on organic semi-conductors
  Awarded $126,741 for the period 6/30/11 to 9/30/12
  Source: NIST

Despite recent improvements in the performance of organic electronic devices, efficient contact deposition remains a major obstacle to reliability. Conventional methods damage the weak organic materials below the metal electrodes. This project will use nano-transfer printing (NTP), which preserves organic semi-conductor quality at the interface with metals, while its low thermal budget enables fabrication of large-area, light-weight, low-cost, flexible electronics on plastic substrates. NIST researchers have successfully used it to fabricate electronic devices; this project will fabricate high-performance organic field-effect transistors. A second goal is to fabricate devices with competitive performance and use them to gain correct information on charge injection and transport and charge trapping and detrapping in organic semi-conductors.

Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro

• Role of nitrite reduction to NO by hemoglobin in control of fetal vascular tone
  Awarded $32,880 for the period 6/1/11 to 5/31/12
  Source: NIH/Loma Linda University Adventist Health and Science Center

Hypoxic/ischemic insult (HI) is a common cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous defense against it, dilating blood vessels to increase oxygen delivery and decreasing oxygen consumption at the mitochondrial level. Although hemoglobin rapidly scavenges free NO, limiting its half-life in blood to milliseconds, de-oxyhemoglobin can reduce nitrite to NO, which provides significant protection during HI in adults. The higher concentrations of nitrite, hemoglobin, and H+ in fetal blood favor the reaction; when hemoglobin is 40-60 percent oxygenated, compared to 0 or 100 percent, nitrite reduction is up to 60-fold greater, again suggesting high NO production from nitrite and de-oxyhemoglobin in the fetus. These studies will provide the first thorough assessment of this hypothesis and show how nitrite might be used to treat perinatal HI. Dr. Kim-Shapiro directs EPR measurements performed mainly by a graduate student and contributes to the design and analysis of experiments performed at both universities.

• Storage lesions in banked blood due to disruption in nitric oxide homeostasis
  Awarded $137,496 for the period 8/1/12 to 7/31/13
  Source: NIH/University of Pittsburgh

Storing red blood cells can impair their functionality and integrity, contributing to poor transfusion results. This project tests the hypothesis that storage lesion is largely due to dysregulation of nitric oxide (NO) homeostasis. Cell-free hemoglobin and microparticles released during hemolysis increase NO scavenging and decrease NO production. An array of clinical, molecular biology, biophysical, and biochemical tools will be applied to characterize the NO storage lesion in vitro and in chimeric mouse models, a canine model, and human studies. Therapeutics to restore NO homeostasis will be explored in these systems.

• Exercise, Weight Loss, and Arterial Stiffness in Obese Older Adults
  Awarded $16,174 for the period 7/1/12 to 6/30/13
  Source: American Heart Association/WFBH

Several studies associate obesity with arterial stiffness in the elderly, possibly due, in part, to reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity and increased oxidative stress. Weight loss and aerobic exercise training are generally effective in improving arterial stiffness in middle-aged adults, but in older individuals, who are largely overweight or obese, exercise alone is ineffective, possibly due to the vasculature’s impaired ability to increase NO with exercise. This project will determine whether combining an exercise intervention with diet-induced weight loss improves arterial stiffness more than exercise alone in older, obese adults enrolled in a 5-month randomized controlled trial.

• with S. Bruce King, Chemistry
  Effects of Nitric Oxide in Sickle Cell Blood
  Awarded $ 392,420 for the period 5/1/12 to 4/30/13
  Source: NIH

The project will elucidate the biochemistry and biophysics of nitric oxide (NO) in sickle cell blood and its use as a treatment for the disease. NO may benefit patients as a vasodilator, decreasing red blood cell sickling and sickle cell adherence and improving oxygen transport. However, NO biology in both sickle cell and normal blood is not well understood, and previous studies report contradictory results. Results from sickle blood will be compared to those in 1) normal blood; 2) preparations of isolated normal and sickle red blood cells; and 3) purified hemoglobins. A variety of spectroscopic and other biophysical tools, some developed specifically for this project, include microscopy, ektacytometry, ultracentrifugation, stopped and quench-flow mixing, laser photolysis and diffraction, chemoluminescence, electron spin resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance, and absorption spectroscopy.

• Enzymatic activity of myoglobin as a nitrate reductase that regulates hypoxic NO
  Awarded $27,413 for the period 4/1/12 to 3/31/13
  Source: NIH/University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Kim-Shapiro and his team will perform kinetic analysis on myoglobin mutant proteins using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and model reactions of myoglobin and nitrite in the cardiomyocyte.

• Noncompetitive Supplemental Application for R37 HL58091
  Awarded $10,000 for the period 3/1/10 to 4/30/10
  Source: NIH

In sickle cell disease, a mutant form of hemoglobin polymerizes when exposed to low oxygen tension. The red blood cells become rigid, blocking vessels and causing significant morbidity and mortality. Sickle red blood cells are also fragile, rupturing in the circulation. For many years, this problem was not viewed as crucial, but several groups have recently proposed that efficiently released cell-free hemoglobin scavenges NO, leading to an NO-related deficiency associated with sickle cell disease. Nitric oxide (NO) is currently being tested as a treatment; synthesized in blood vessel endothelial cells, it diffuses to neighboring smooth muscle cells, where it signals muscle relaxation and vasodilation.

This project aims to elucidate how hemoglobin mutation increases red blood cell fragility and why NO scavenging is reduced in red cell-encapsulated, as opposed to cell-free, hemoglobin. Differences in how NO reacts in sickle cell and other blood will be determined, and a mechanism using the anion nitrite to restore effective NO response explored. The participating laboratories have recently shown that, contrary to the existing paradigm, nitrite acts as a vasodilator in human circulation, possibly due to a novel, allosterically controlled function of hemoglobin. The study employs an array of biophysical techniques and has developed techniques to study whole blood to assess physiologically relevant conditions.

• A Multifunctional Blood Substitute (MBS) for Field Resuscitation of Polytrauma Combat Casualties with Brain Injury and Concomitant Hemorrhagic Shock
  Awarded $15,000 for the period 9/15/09 to 9/14/10
  Source: Army Research Office (ARO)/University of Pittsburgh

  Currently, no blood substitute is FDA approved, a major problem on the battlefield. Past and current attempts scavenge endogenous nitric oxide, which is critical to vascular tone and hemostasis, among other things. This project will build on the team’s recent discovery that hemoglobin produces nitric oxide from nitrite to optimize this function in a blood substitute. In particular, combinations of oxidized and nonoxidized hemoglobin products and nitrite will be explored for their ability to produce nitric oxide activity. The Wake Forest team will use electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to analyze blood or plasma samples containing the blood substitute to determine whether Hb submicromolar amounts of these hemoglobin species can be measured in the background of millimolar quantities of (EPR silent) deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin.

• with Bruce King, Chemistry; Gary Miller and Jack Rejeski, Health and Exercise Science; and Janine Jennings, Psychology
  Effects of Nitrite Diet on Functional Health in Older Adults: A Preliminary Study
  Awarded $9,375 for the period 1/1/09 to 12/31/09
  Source: WFU Science Research Fund

Until recently, nitrite was thought to be biologically inert. However, due, in part, to work in the Kim-Shapiro and King labs, it is now recognized as an important signaling molecule because it can be converted to the established signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO). Emerging evidence suggests that loss in NO bioavailability contributes to conditions associated with impaired health during aging. The long-term goal of this project is to examine the extent to which nitrite (dietary or otherwise) can improve functional health in older adults. It will test the hypothesis that nitrite can compensate for the loss in NO bioavailability with aging. Phase I will develop a diet that increases nitrite in the plasma. Phase II will explore the extent to which this diet affects older adults’ cognitive performance. Results will elucidate nitrite/NO biology and physiology and potentially improve the lives of untold numbers.

• EPR Work for Cardioxyl,
  Awarded $3,564 for the period 2/22/08-2/21/09
  Source: Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals aims to develop new therapeutic agents for treating cardiovascular diseases. In this project, Wake Forest will assess whether electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to measure the dosing of a particular therapeutic agent.

• with Bruce King, Chemistry
  Nitric Oxide Donor Compounds for the Treatment of Hemolytic Conditions
  Awarded $162,657 for the period 1/1/09 to 12/31/09 Source: NIH

Nitric Oxide (NO) is synthesized in the endothelial cells surrounding blood vessels and signals smooth muscles to relax and increase blood flow. Hemoglobin (Hb) actively scavenges NO. In normal physiology, its scavenging is reduced due to  its compartmentalization in red blood cells, but in several diseased conditions, including hemolytic anemias, such as sickle cell disease and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), thalassemia intermedia, malaria, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and cardiopulmonary bypass, Hb is released into the plasma compartment and can efficiently scavenge NO. This increased NO scavenging leads to a host of complications contributing to morbidity and mortality.

Administering NO through inhalation restores normal NO responsiveness and shows promise as a treatment, but it is not practical for chronic treatment. This project tests and, to some extent, synthesizes compounds that may eventually be taken intravenously or orally. Unlike many therapeutic compounds, they will be cell-impermeable, acting in the plasma compartment to react preferentially with cell-free Hb and inactivate its NO scavenging ability.

• with Janice D. Wagner, Comparative Medicine
  Effects of Short-Term Hyperglycemia on Arterial and Liver Redox-Active Iron Concentrations
  Awarded $15,672; $6,900 Reynolda campus, $8,772 Health Sciences
  Source: WFU Cross-Campus Collaborative Research Fund