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359 Chemistry Research Laboratory Ph: (304) 293 – 3435×6436 Fax: (304) 293 – 4904 Email: justin.legleiter@mail.wvu.edu |
Professional Preparation:
2000 B.S. (ACS certified) in Chemistry, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2005 Ph.D. in Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
2005-2008 Postdoctoral Fellow, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, The J. David Gladstone Institutes, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Research Interests:
The long term goal of our research program is to understand disease related alterations of basic nanoscale physicochemical properties of cells, organelles, and membranes. Our current focus is elucidating the nanoscale molecular mechanisms that underlie neurodegenerative disorders associated with protein misfolding and aggregation, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntington’s disease (HD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), with a particular interest in the potential role cellular surfaces, such as lipid membranes and organelles, may play in these events. To accomplish this goal, we use a wide array of biochemical and biophysical techniques, with atomic force microscopy (AFM) as our primary tool. We are also actively involved in further developing AFM techniques that will allow us to directly study the structural and physical properties of biological surfaces with nanoscale resolution. Such techniques include methods to reconstruct tip-sample forces during tapping mode imaging in liquid environments.
Recent Publications:
1. Cheng, I. H., K. Scearce-Levie, J. Legleiter, J. J. Palop, H. Gerstein, N. Bien-Ly, J. Puoliväli, S. Lesné, K. H. Ashe, P. Muchowski, & L. Mucke. Enhancing the Fibrillization and Deposition of the Amyloid-b Peptide Reduces Its Negative Impact on Behavior and Synaptic Activity-Dependent Proteins. J. Biol. Chem. (2007).
2. Ehrnhoefer, D. E., M. Duennwald, P. Markovic, J. L. Wacker, S. Engemann, M. Roark, J. Legleiter, J. L. Marsh, L. M. Thompson, S. Lindquist, P. J. Muchowski, and E. E. Wanker. Green tea (-)-epigallocatechin-gallate modulates early events in huntingtin misfolding and reduces toxicity in Huntington’s disease models. Hum. Mol. Genet. (2006) 15, 2743-2751.
3. Legleiter, J., M. Park, B. Cusick, & T. Kowalewski. Scanning probe acceleration microscopy (SPAM) in fluids: mapping mechanical properties of surfaces at the nanoscale. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. (2006) 103, 4813-4818.
4. Kowalewski, T & J. Legleiter. Imaging stability and average tip-sample force in tapping mode atomic force microscopy. J. Appl. Phys. (2006) 99, 064903.
5. Legleiter, J. & T. Kowalewski. Numerical simulations provide insights into fluid tapping-mode atomic force microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. (2005) 87, 163120-3.
6. Legleiter, J. & T. Kowalewski. Tapping, pulling, poking: the atomic force microscope in drug discovery. Drug Discovery Today: Technologies. (2004) 1(2), 163-169.
7. Wahrle, S.E., H. Jiang, M. Parsadanian, J. Legleiter, X. Han, J. D. Fryer, T. Kowalewski, & D. M. Holtzman. ABCA1 is required for normal CNS apoE levels and for lipidation of astrocyte-secreted apoE. J. Biol. Chem. (2004) 279(39), 40987-40993.
8. Legleiter, J., R. Demattos, D. Holtzman, & T. Kowalewski. In situ AFM studies of astrocyte-secreted apolipoprotein E and J-containing lipoproteins. J. Colloid Inter. Sci. (2004) 278(1), 96-106.
9. Legleiter, J., D. Czilli, R. Demattos, B. Gitter, D. Holtzman, & T Kowalewski. Effect of different anti-Ab antibodies on Ab fibrillogenesis as assessed by atomic force microscopy. J. Mol. Bio. (2004) 335(4), 997-1006.
10. Legleiter, J. and T. Kowalewski. Improvement of tapping mode AFM imaging stability by operation far below resonance frequency of a cantilever. Proceedings of ASME: Symposium on Nanoscale Dynamics, Sensing, and Control, Washington D.C., (2003). IMECE2003-55551.
11. Tristam-Nagle, S., Y. Lui, J. Legleiter, & J. Nagle. Structure of gel phase DMPC determined by X-ray diffraction. Biophysical J. (2002), 83(6), 3324-3335.
Personal or Group website:
http://legleiterlab.wvu.edu
