Noel Lazo, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of The Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology
Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Department of Biology
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610
Office: S335, Sackler Sciences Center
Phone: 508-793-7602
Email: nlazo@clarku.edu
Education
Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 1991
M.S. SUNY at Syracuse
B.S. University of the Philippines
Research Summary
Research in the Lazo Lab is focused on the biophysics of misfolding and self-assembly of proteins associated with disease. Proteins of interest include the amyloid β-protein in Alzheimer's disease, islet amyloid polypeptide associated with type 2 diabetes, the prion protein in various forms of prionoses, and skin proteins linked to epidermolysis bullosa, a disease characterized by skin blistering following little or no trauma. A combination of biophysical and biochemical methods including NMR spectroscopy and limited proteolysis/mass spectrometry is used to elucidate the early events of protein misfolding and self-assembly.
Selected Publications:
Zheng Q, Lee B, Kebede MK, Ivancic VA, Kemeh MM, Brito HL, Spratt DE, Lazo ND. Exchange broadening underlies the enhancement of IDE-dependent degradation of insulin by anionic membranes. ACS Omega 2022, 7, 24757-24765.
Zheng Q, Kebede MK, Lee B, Krasinski CA, Islam S, Wurfl LA, Kemeh MM, Ivancic VA, Jakobsche CE, Spratt DE, Lazo ND. Differential effects of polyphenols on insulin proteolysis by the insulin-degrading enzyme. Antioxidants 2021, 10, 1342: 1-11.
Zheng Q,Carty S, Lazo ND. Helix dipole and membrane electrostatics delineate conformational transitions in the self-assembly of amyloidogenic peptides. Langmuir 2020, 36:8389-8397.
Zheng Q, Kebede MK, Kemeh MM, Islam S, Lee B, Bleck SD, Wurfl LA, Lazo ND.Inhibition of the Self-Assembly of Ab and of Tau by Polyphenols: Mechanistic Studies. Molecules 2019, 24, 2316: 1-20.
Ivancic VA, Krasinski CA, Zheng Q, Meservier RJ, Spratt DE, Lazo ND. Enzyme kinetics from circular dichroism of insulin reveals mechanistic insights into the regulation of insulin-degrading enzyme. Bioscience Reports 2018, 38(6), 1-10.
Commentary: http://www.bioscirep.org/content/38/6/BSR20181555
Krasinski CA, Ivancic VA, Zheng Q, Spratt DE, Lazo ND. Resveratrol sustains insulin-degrading enzyme activity towards Ab42. ACS Omega 2018, 3(10):13275-13282.
Krasinski CA, Zheng Q, Ivancic VA, Spratt DE, Lazo ND. The longest amyloid-b precursor protein intracellular domain produced with Ab42 forms b-sheet-containing monomers that self-assemble and are proteolyzed by insulin-degrading enzyme. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9: 2892-2897.
Zheng Q, Lazo ND. Mechanistic studies of the inhibition of insulin fibril formation by rosmarinic acid. J. Phys. Chem. B 2018, 122, 2323-2331.
Ivancic VA,Ekayanake O, Lazo ND. Binding mode of thioflavin T on the surface of amyloid fibrils. ChemPhysChem 2016, 17, 2461-2464.
Selmani V, Robbins KJ, Ivancic VA, Lazo ND. K114 (trans, trans)-bromo-2,5-bis (4-hydroxystyryl) benzene is an efficient detector of cationic amyloid fibrils. Protein Science 2015, 24, 420-425.
Robbins KJ, Liu G, Selmani V, Lazo ND. Conformational analysis of thioflavin T bound to the surface of amyloid fibrils (2012). Langmuir, 28,16490-16495
Liu, G, Gaines JC, Robbins KJ, Lazo ND. Kinetic profile of amyloid formation in the presence of an aromatic inhibitor by nuclear magnetic resonance (2012). ACS Med. Chem Lett. 3, 856-859
Liu G, Robbins KJ, Sparks S, Selmani V, Bilides K, Lazo ND. Helix dipole effects in peptide self-assembly to amyloid (2012). Biochemistry, 51(20): 4167-4174.
Sparks S, Liu G, Robbins KJ, Lazo ND. Curcumin modulates the self-assembly of the islet amyloid polypeptide by disassembling a-helix (2012). Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 422(4): 551-555
Robbins KJ, Lin G, and Lazo ND. Detection of strongly bound thioflavin T species in amyloid fibrils by ligand-detected 1H NMR (2011).J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2, 735-740
Lui G, Prabhakar A, Aucoin D, Simon M, Sparks S, Robbins KJ, Sheen A, Petty SA, and Lazo ND. Mechanistic studies of peptide self-assembly: Transient α-helices to stable β-sheets (2010). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 18223-18232