Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD
Chairman and Professor of Biophysics
Director of the Free Radical Research Center
Department of Biophysics
Medical College of Wisconsin
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509
Phone: 414-456-4000
Fax: 414-456-6512
E-mail: balarama@mcw.edu
Publications
Education
I received my BS in Chemistry from the University of Madras (Madras, India) and my MS from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay, India). In 1978 I received my PhD in Chemistry from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL) and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC). In 1981 I joined the Biophysics Section of the Department of Radiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and in 1984 I became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology. Currently, I am Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biophysics. My research interests are centered on the application of EPR in free radical biology and understanding the role of free radicals in signal transduction and apoptosis. My specific research areas are outlined below. I serve as an Associate Editor for Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine, Free Radical Research, and the Biochemical Journal.
Research Team
Associate Professors, Postdocs, and Research Associates
- Joy Joseph, PhD
- Karunakaran Chandran, PhD
- Jacek Zielonka, PhD
- Adam Sikora, PhD
Laboratory Manager
Research Interests
Chemistry and Biophysics
- Detection of free radicals by EPR spin-trapping, fluorescence, optical stopped-flow, and HPLC techniques
- Syntheses of mitochondrially targeted spin traps, spin labels, and ROS-specific fluorescence probes
- EPR/ENDOR/NMR studies of active site geometry of redox-active enzymes (e.g., superoxide dismutase)
- Nitration of tyrosine- and tryptophan-containing peptides and protein (e.g., synucleins) in biological membranes
Mechanism of Signal Transduction/Cell Signaling
- Nitric oxide and cyclic nucleotide-dependent cell signaling and proteasomal activation
- Oxidant-induced iron signaling and apoptosis
- Redox proteomics
- Chemotherapeutic drug toxicity and prevention (e.g., doxorubicin); mechanism of apoptosis in tumor cells and normal cells
Mechanism of Diseases
- Role of mitochondria-derived oxidants in chemically induced Parkinsonism (e.g., MPTP, rotenone) in cell culture and animal models; mechanism of protein aggregation, proteosomal dysfunction, and apoptotic neuronal cell death
- Oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)/SOD1 mutants in cell culture and animal models; therapeutic intervention of disease progression in a G93A-transgenic animal model
|