Markus Hardt, Ph.D.
Scientist
Functional and quantitative proteomics, peptidomics, proteolytic processing
Email: hardt at bbri.org

Research Summary
My research focuses on the roles that proteolytic networks play in normal and pathological processes. Biological sys­tems, exemplified by the human body, have a daunting complexity.  As catalogues of genomes, proteomes and metabo­lomes are compiled, the next great scientific challenge — the detailed understanding of the vast networks of biomol­ecules, their interactions, dynamics, and regulation looms large. This endeavor, collectively known as systems biol­ogy, requires the integration of ‘ome’-type data into a coherent molecular picture of a biological system. Due to their ubiquitous roles in biological processes, proteinases are particularly interesting targets.  While individual proteinases and families have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about their interactions with their inhibitors/acti­vators, or their peptide products in the relevant biological compartments, e.g., cells, tissues or body fluids. My research centers on dynamic, functional and quantitative mass spectrometry-based (MS) approaches to characterize these pro­cesses in health and disease.  The ultimate goal is to translate this knowledge into better strategies for diagnosing, treat­ing and preventing human diseases that are causally related to aberrant proteolysis.

Selected Publications
Denny, P.*, Hagen, F. K.*, Hardt, M.*, Liao, L.*, Yan, W.*, Arellanno, M., Bassilian, S., Bedi, G. S., Boontheung, P., Cociorva, D., Delahunty, C. M., Denny, T., Dunsmore, J., Faull, K. F., Gilligan, J., Gonzalez-Begne, M., Halgand, F., Hall, S. C., Han, X., Henson, B., Hewel, J., Hu, S., Jeffrey, S., Jiang, J., Loo, J. A., Ogorzalek Loo, R. R., Malamud, D., Melvin, J. E., Miroshnychenko, O., Navazesh, M., Niles, R., Park, S. K., Prakobphol, A., Ramachandran, P., Richert, M., Robinson, S., Sondej, M., Souda, P., Sullivan, M. A., Takashima, J., Than, S., Wang, J., Whitelegge, J. P., Witkowska, H. E., Wolinsky, L., Xie, Y., Xu, T., Yu, W., Ytterberg, J., Wong, D. T., Yates, J. R., 3rd & Fisher, S. J. (2008). The proteomes of human parotid and submandibular/sublingual gland salivas collected as the ductal secretions. J Proteome Res 7, 1994-2006.
* These authors contributed equally to the work.

Robinson, S., Niles, R. K., Witkowska, H. E., Rittenbach, K. J., Nichols, R. J., Sargent, J. A., Dixon, S. E., Prakobphol, A., Hall, S. C., Fisher, S. J. & Hardt, M. (2008). A mass spectrometry-based strategy for detecting and characterizing endogenous proteinase activities in complex biological samples. Proteomics 8, 435-45.

Hardt, M., Witkowska, H. E., Webb, S., Thomas, L. R., Dixon, S. E., Hall, S. C. & Fisher, S. J. (2005). Assessing the effects of diurnal variation on the composition of human parotid saliva: quantitative analysis of native peptides using iTRAQ reagents. Anal Chem 77, 4947-54.

Hardt, M., Thomas, L. R., Dixon, S. E., Newport, G., Agabian, N., Prakobphol, A., Hall, S. C., Witkowska, H. E. & Fisher, S. J. (2005). Toward defining the human parotid gland salivary proteome and peptidome: identification and characterization using 2D SDS-PAGE, ultrafiltration, HPLC, and mass spectrometry. Biochemistry 44, 2885-99.

PubMed:
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