John E. Wiktorowicz, Ph.D.Dr. Wiktorowicz

Associate Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director, Proteomics Section, and Assistant Director Biomolecular Resource Facility

Phone: (409)772-2764
Fax: (409)772-8025
Email: jowiktor@utmb.edu

Research Summary

The comparatively new field of differential proteomics promises the design and implementation of pharmacological, immunological, or other interventional strategies affecting the expression and function of proteins in human disease. In addition, it holds the promise of identification of protein/peptide biomarkers that will permit early diagnosis and prognosis of human disease. The unmet challenge implicit in these tasks involves the detection and quantification of the uniquely expressed proteins that represent less than 1% of the total number of proteins expressed and are very low in abundance (<1000 copies/cell).

My lab is engaged in a two-tiered research strategy: 1. the development of highly sensitive and automated technology to separate, quantify, and isolate uniquely expressed disease-relevant low-abundance proteins, and 2. the application of these technologies to the detection and identification of cancer biomarkers, and to the identification and analysis of low-abundance proteins present in the nuclear domain 10 (ND-10) structures.

At a basic level, the ND-10 structures are repositories of transcription factors organized by the promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) in its sumoylated form (small ubiquitin-like modifier). Our research interest lies in the application of our technologies to the understanding the dynamic processes that lead to ND-10 protein accumulation and dispersal, as well as their temporal cellular distribution, that will yield important insights into viral control of host metabolic processes, development of cancer, as well as cellular response to environmental stress.

Differential proteomics also holds significant promise to impact the clinical outcomes of many diseases, in particular the insidious forms of gynecological cancer. Thus, in addition to ND-10 composition and function, and through collaboration with our clinical research colleagues, we are pursuing application of our highly sensitive proteomics technologies to the discovery and identification of protein biomarkers for the diagnosis, staging, and prognosis of the various gynecological cancers.

Selected Publications

  1. Tyagarajan, K., Pretzer, E.P., Wiktorowicz, J.E. Thiol-reactive dyes for fluorescence labeling of proteomic samples. (2003) Electrophoresis 24, 2348-58.
  2. Forbus, J., Spratt, H., Wiktorowicz, J., Wu, Z., Boldogh, I., Denner, L., Kurosky, A., Brasier, R.C., Luxon, B., Brasier, A. R. Functional Analysis Of The Nuclear Proteome Of Human A549 Alveolar Epithelial Cells By HPLC- High Resolution 2D Gel Electrophoresis. (2006) Proteomics 6, 2656-2672.
  3. Jabeen, R., Payne, D.A., Wiktorowicz, J.E., Mohammad, A.A., Petersen, J.R. Capillary Electrophoresis and the Clinical Laboratory. (2006) Electrophoresis 27, 2413-2438.
  4. Hu, X., Rea, H.C., Wiktorowicz, J.E., Perez-Polo, J.R. Proteomic Analysis of Hypoxia/Ischemia-Induced Alteration of Cortical Development and Dopamine Neurotransmission in Neonatal Rat. (2006) J. Proteome Res., 5, 2396 – 2404.