Bruce Armitage
Carnegie Mellon University, PA·Chemistry
Inside cells, some proteins and RNAs gather into droplet-like compartments called biomolecular condensates (BMCs). These compartments have no membrane around them.
- Fields
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Neuroscience
- Topics
peptide nucleic acid
biomolecular condensates
phase separation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Design fluorescent peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes that bind unmodified C9orf72 repeat RNAs, so these RNAs can be seen in biomolecular condensates by microscopy.
- Use PNAs that bind G4C2 and C4G2 repeat RNAs to block them from interacting with proteins or other RNAs, testing whether this keeps them out of condensates.
- Build reversible PNA binding that can later release the target RNA, letting researchers control when it joins condensates and assign roles to specific components in ALS/FTD.
More about the research
They can speed up chemical reactions or store molecules during stress. When they form abnormally, they are linked to a growing list of diseases. Researchers need tools to watch and control which molecules enter these droplets, ideally without changing the molecules themselves.
Why it matters
ALS and frontotemporal dementia are fatal neurodegenerative diseases. Repeat RNAs from the C9orf72 gene are central to how they develop. RNA-targeting PNA probes could help reveal how faulty condensates contribute to these diseases. The probes could be adapted to other repeat-expansion disorders. Because PNAs bind tightly and can target both repeat RNAs, they may also inform future antisense-style therapies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Steven Boeynaems
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Neuroscience·Early-career
Define the biophysical rules by which neuropathological proteins form condensates with nucleic acids that mimic antimicrobial peptides and boost Toll-like receptor immune signaling, using in vitro biophysical approaches.
X. Shawn Liu
Columbia University, NY·Neuroscience
Test whether reactivating the healthy MECP2 copy on the silenced X chromosome, by removing promoter methyl tags with dCas9-Tet1, rescues Rett syndrome symptoms in female mouse models.
Jailson Brito Querido
University of Michigan, MI·Biochemistry
Determine how expanded GGGGCC repeats in C9orf72 mRNA physically engage the ribosome to trigger non-AUG start site selection, using cryo-electron microscopy with biochemical and genetic approaches.
The school
Carnegie Mellon University: 28 labs on PI Pages, $505M a year on research, 346 research doctorates a year.
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