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St. Jude Family of Websites
Explore our cutting edge research, world-class patient care, career opportunities and more.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Home
- Fundraising
Microbial Metabolomics/Lipidomics Collaborative Center
Using metabolomics and lipidomics to explore the governance of microbial cellular functions by biochemical processes
Overview
The Microbial Metabolomics/Lipidomics Collaborative Center specializes in handling complex in vivo and microbial samples to provide a comprehensive range of metabolomics, lipidomics, biochemistry, protein analyses, and drug discovery. The center offers an array of services including global metabolite profiling, focused metabolite quantitation, lipidomic “fingerprint” analysis, and quantitative analysis of different lipid species. With stable isotope tracing, the center can trace how metabolites are converted in bacteria, tissue culture cells, or even complex animal samples in real time in an in vivo setting. The center can also assist in the development of biochemical assays, expression and purification of proteins of interest, and aid in drug discovery efforts by measuring drug and metabolite levels in complex samples.
Areas of expertise
- Targeted and untargeted lipidomics and metabolomics
- Metabolic tracing with stable isotope precursors
- Targeted proteomics
- Protein expression and purification
- Biochemical and other assay development
- Drug discovery and analysis
Impact
Defining the metabolic lifestyle of both commensal and pathogenic microbes is essential for determining the interplay with the host and for understanding antimicrobial-resistance mechanisms. The center allows for identification and analysis of a suite of metabolites produced within a microbe. This biochemical approach offers a nuansced assessment of how experimental and environmental conditions impact microbial metabolites and biochemistry, and is well suited to identify infection-related metabolic changes, biomarkers, and potential drug targets.
Equipment
- Sciex 7500+ attached to a Shimadzu UPLC
- Sciex 4500 QTrap attached to a Shimadzu UPLC
- HP5890 gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector
- Waters e2695 HPLC attached to a UV-Vis, Fluorescence, ELS detectors
- Iatroscan reader
- Biotek Synergy H1 plate reader
- Typhoon FLA 9500
- Horiba FluoroMax-4
- AKTA Pure
- TriCarb 2910TR scintillation counter
About the Director
Matthew Frank received a BS in biochemistry from Saginaw Valley State University. During this time, he worked as a co-op student at Dow Chemical, researching polymer formulations and gaining experience in the operation of analytical equipment. In 2001, Mr. Frank joined St. Jude to work in the joint laboratory of Drs. Charles Rock and Suzanne Jackowski in what is the present day Department of Host-Microbe Interactions. For over 20 years, Mr. Frank used a variety of biochemical methods to study fatty acid and lipid metabolism and the coenzyme A biosynthetic pathway in bacteria and eukaryotic systems. His efforts resulted in three first-author publications and the analytical data he produced was included in over 94 manuscripts. In addition to expertise in biochemistry, lipidomics and metabolomics, Mr. Frank is well versed in molecular biology, cellular biology, murine models and drug discovery.
Contact us
Matthew Frank
Department of Host-Microbe Interactions
MS 221, Room D2002
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital