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Mary L. Kraft Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biophysics Ph.D. 2003, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Development of chemical imaging techniques to visualize the distribution of different components in cell membranes, and to understand how cell membrane structure and composition relates to disease progression Mary L. Kraft 208 RAL, Box C-3, MC-712 600 S. Mathews Urbana, IL 61801 217-333-2228 mlkraft@illinois.edu

Current Research

Our research focuses on understanding how cell membrane composition and organization influences disease progression. Compositionally distinct lipid domains in the cell membrane are believed to mediate many important cellular processes, including protein sorting, signal transduction, and viral infection. However the composition of small regions of the cell membrane cannot be determined with current methodologies. We are developing chemical imaging approaches to directly visualize the distributions of different lipids, complex carbohydrates, and proteins within the membranes of individual cells with high lateral resolution. We are using these approaches to analyze the membrane composition at the site of influenza virus budding, and to determine how changes in the membrane composition at this site affect virus budding. We are also using these techniques to identify and image cell membrane glycans that are associated with cancer progression.