Renjiang Alan Huang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral research fellow

Education
Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, 2000.

Lab
Albert Wang

Research Interests
Application of biochemistry and molecular biology to the study of the structure and function of caldesmon and other smooth muscle proteins.

Smooth muscle builds the walls of hollow organs such as the blood vessels or gastrointestinal tract. Dysfunction leads to serious health problems e.g. hypertension or atherosclerosis. I apply molecular biology, biochemical and biophysical techniques to obtain information on the structure and function of caldesmon as well as its interactions with calmodulin, actin and myosin. One of the techniques I am using is mass spectrometry, which allows me to detect phosphorylation and other post-translational modifications of proteins. Using this method, in combination with fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements, fluorescence quenching and crosslinking experiments, we have been able to determine the mechanism by which caldesmon regulates the actomyosin ATPase activity in smooth muscle cells.

Recent Publications:
Foster DB, Huang R, Hatch V, Craig R, Graceffa P, Lehman W, Wang CL. (2004) Modes of caldesmon binding to actin: sites of caldesmon contact and modulation of interactions by phosphorylation. J Biol Chem. 279(51):53387-94.

Huang R, Li L, Guo H, Wang CL. (2003) Caldesmon binding to actin is regulated by calmodulin and phosphorylation via different mechanisms. Biochemistry. 42(9):2513-23.

Contact Info
email: ahuang@bbri.org, tel. 617-658-7827