Michelle Knowles
University of Denver, CO·Biophysics
Cells send messages to each other by releasing exosomes, tiny fat-coated packets that carry molecules through the body to other cells. Exosomes can change how the receiving cells behave, for better or worse.
- Fields
Biophysics
Chemistry
Biochemistry
- Topics
exosomes
extracellular vesicles
cell-cell communication
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Map in space and time where phospholipase D (PLD), a lipid-modifying enzyme, is present and where its product phosphatidic acid (PA) forms during exosome secretion, using quantitative fluorescence microscopy in live cells.
- Measure exosome numbers and how often cells release them, combining fluorescence imaging with standard biochemical methods to follow formation, transport and membrane fusion.
- Change PLD activity and levels to test when and where PLD and phosphatidic acid are needed for building exosomes or releasing them, both steps that need highly curved membranes.
More about the research
Yet scientists do not fully understand how cells decide to make and release them. Both making and releasing exosomes require cell membranes to bend sharply. This project asks whether a lipid-modifying enzyme and the lipid it produces help control these steps.
Why it matters
Exosomes carry molecules between cells and can change how distant cells function, for better or worse. Understanding how phospholipase D and phosphatidic acid control exosome formation and release adds basic knowledge about how cells communicate. This could eventually inform work on processes that depend on exosome signaling. The project also shows how biophysical and chemical biology tools can uncover how cells regulate themselves.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Simou Sun
Stony Brook University, NY·Biophysics
Determine how signals inside a donor cell are translated into the mix of extracellular particles it releases, analyzing particle subtypes one by one with quantitative fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy.
Yongli Zhang
Yale University, CT·Biophysics
Reconstitute the full primed SNARE complex, adding complexin and the calcium sensor synaptotagmin-1 to Munc18-1, syntaxin-1, VAMP2 and Munc13-1, and characterize its stability, structure and dynamics on membranes.
Maciej Stawikowski
Florida Atlantic University, FL·Chemistry
Design and synthesize environment-sensitive fluorescent cholesterol probes (CNDs) built on a 1,8-naphthalimide dye, using computational chemistry to tune their properties for different imaging uses.
The school
University of Denver: 4 labs on PI Pages, $56M a year on research, 138 research doctorates a year.
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