Understanding desiccation tolerance in extremophiles and providing this trait to desiccation-sensitive human cells and unstable cell products. Areas of expertise: analytical biochemistry, protein identification by mass spectrometry, carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry.
Funding:
DARPA: “Biomimetic Strategies for Desiccation-Tolerant Human Cells,” $2.06 million (June 2002-May 2005).
DoD-MURI: “Dryophile Genes to Engineer Stasis-Recovery of Human Cells,” $4.5 million (May 2001-April 2006)
Courses Taught:
CHEM 2514, Survey of Organic Chemistry
WOOD 3434, Wood Chemistry, Products and Processes
Selected Publications:
Engineering mammalian cells for solid-state sensor applications. F. Bloom, P. Price, G. Lao, J.-L. Xia, J. H. Crowe, J. R. Battista, R.F. Helm and M. Potts, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 16 (2001) 603-608.
Gene transfer to the desiccation-tolerant cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis. D. Billi, E.I. Friedmann, R.F. Helm and M. Potts, J. Bacteriol., 183 (2001) 2298-2305.
The use of the 2-aminobenzoic acid tag for oligosaccharide gel electrophoresis. Z. Huang, T. Prickett, M. Potts, R.F. Helm, Carbohydr. Res., 328 (2000) 77-83.
Active Fe-SOD and abundant sodF mRNA in Nostoc commune (Cyanobacteria) after 13-year desiccation. B. Shirkey, D.P. Kovarcik, D.J. Wright, G.B. Wilmoth, T.J. Prickett, R.F. Helm, E. M. Gregory and M. Potts, J. Bacteriol., 182 (2000) 189-197.
Structural characterization of the released polysaccharide of desiccation-tolerant Nostoc commune DRH-1, R.F. Helm, Z. Huang, H. Leeson, D. Edwards, B. Peery and M. Potts, J. Bacteriol., 182 (2000) 974-982.
Shaw E, Hill DR, Brittain N, Wright DJ, Tauber U, Marand H, Helm RF, Potts M. Unusual water flux in the extracellular polysaccharide of the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69 [2003] 5679-84.
Shirkey B, McMaster NJ, Smith SC, Wright DJ, Rodriguez H, Jaruga P, Birincioglu M, Helm RF, Potts M. Genomic DNA of Nostoc commune (Cyanobacteria) becomes covalently modified during long-term (decades) desiccation but is protected from oxidative damage and degradation. Nucleic Acids Res. 31 [2003] 2995-3005.
Slotta, DJ, Heath, LS, Ramakrishnan, N., Helm, R., Potts, M. Clustering mass spectrometry data using order statistics Proteomics, 3 [2003]1687-1691