Associate Professor of Chemistry
email: jtgroves@lbl.gov
office:408A Stanley Hall
phone:510.666.3602
lab:408A Stanley Hall
lab phone:510.666.3602
Research Interests
Physical chemistry of cell membranes — Principles of molecular organization in cell membranes
Cells interact with each other and their environment through myriad membrane associated receptors and signaling molecules. In addition to individual receptor-ligand binding, spatial rearrangement of receptors into complex patterns is rapidly emerging as a broadly significant aspect of cell recognition. We are mounting a quantitative investigation of the physical characteristics and principles governing molecular reorganization events during initial stages of cellular recognition and signaling.
The basic problem to be addressed is the collective interaction between populations of receptors and ligands in two apposed fluid membranes. We wish to understand how the binding kinetics, lateral mobility of the membrane proteins, membrane bending effects, etc. influence molecular organization and recognition. Our approach is aimed toward elucidating how these physico-chemical parameters determine the formation of spatio-temporal patterns at cell signaling junctions. A three-pronged investigative platform which combines novel membrane experiments in reconstituted lipid membranes and cell biology with theoretical calculations and computer simulations has been formulated to meet our goals.
In the experimental aspect of this project, we are utilizing a variety of supported membrane configurations to examine spontaneous pattern formation in a controlled setting. The use of supported membrane systems is an especially powerful aspect of these studies in that micron and nanometer-scale structures can be fabricated onto the substrate and used to confine and control the fluid membrane in practically any desired geometry. In addition to our studies of processes in cellular membranes, we are developing a variety of hybrid bio-solidstate devices which incorporate fluid membranes. The basic goal is to construct chip-based components which can manipulate, control, and measure membranes and associated molecules. We employ a range of microfabrication techniques including photo- and electron-beam lithography to fabricate micron- and nanometer-scale structures which interface with fluid membranes.
Biography
Associate Professor. Born 1970; B.S Physics and Chemistry (summa cum laude) Tufts University (1992); Ph.D., Biophysics, Stanford University, (1998); Visiting Scholar, Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan) (1998-1999); Division Director's Fellow, LB (1999-2000); Merrill Lynch Innovation Grants Competition Entrepreneurship Prize (1998); Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences (2000-); Searle Scholars Award (2002); MIT TR100 (2003); Beckman Young Investigator Award (2004); Langmuir Lecture Award of the America Chemical Society (2005); NSF CAREER Award (2005).