Maria D. Person, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Director, CRED Analytical Facility Core

Education:
BA Chemistry 1986, Carleton College
PhD Chemistry 1991, University of Chicago

Research Project:
Application of mass spectrometry to the study of proteins and other biomolecules advancing analytical methods and collaborating in research projects with multiple research groups in the College of Pharmacy, ICMB, and CRED members in MD Anderson Cancer Center in Science Park and Houston. Recent publications have successfully utilized protein identification in differential protein profiling experiments to understand the mechanism of carcinogenesis in transgenic mice. Peptide fragmentation by tandem MS is used to identify post-translational modifications such as methylation, phosphorylation as well as inhibitor binding and cross-linking sites, with protocol enhancement in the area of phosphopeptide enrichment. A new area of research is investigating stable isotope labeling for quantitative analysis. Another research focus utilizes a triple quadrupole-ion trap mass spectrometer to quantitate metabolites and other small biomolecules. We are developing reproducible methods for compound extraction from serum and tissue samples and optimizing HPLC and MRM methods for the highest sensitivity. This work is in collaboration with CRED labs for understanding mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and the links between nutrition, genetic risk factors and specific subtypes of cancer.

Selected Publications:

• G.J. Poelarends, H. Serrano, M.D. Person, W.H. Johnson, Jr., and C.P. Whitman; Characterization of Cg10062 from Corynebacterium glutamicum: implications for the evolution of cis-3-chloroacrylic acid dehalogenase activity in the tautomerase superfamily. Biochemistry, 47:8139-47, 2008.


• M. Yan, J. Shen, M.D. Person, X. Kuang, W.S. Lynn, D. Atlas, and P.K. Wong; Endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response in Atm-deficient thymocytes and thymic lymphoma cells are attributable to oxidative stress. Neoplasia, 10:160-7, 2008.


• A.J. Morrison, J.A. Kim, M.D. Person, J. Highland, J. Xiao, T.S. Wehr, S. Hensley, Y. Bao, J. Shen, S. R. Collins, J.S. Weissman, J. Delrow, N.J. Krogan, J.E. Haber and X. Shen; Mec1/Tel1 phosphorylation of the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex influences DNA damage checkpoint responses. Cell, 130:499-511, 2007.


• C. Lu, J. Zhu, Y. Wang, A. Umeda, R.B. Cowmeadow, E. Lai, G.N. Moreno, M.D. Person, and Z. Zhang, Staphylococcus aureus sortase A exists as a dimeric protein in vitro. Biochemistry 46:9346-54, 2007.


• J. Shen, P.K. Riggs, S.C. Hensley, L.J. Schroeder, A.R. Traner, K.J. Kochan, M.D. Person, and J. DiGiovanni; Differential expression of multiple anti-apoptotic proteins in epidermis of IGF-1 transgenic mice as revealed by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis/mass spectrometry analysis.  Mol. Carcinog., 5:331-340, 2007.


• J. Shen, A. Pavone, C. Mikulec, S.C. Hensley, A. Traner, T.K. Chang, M.D. Person, and  S.M. Fischer; Protein expression profiles in the epidermis of cyclooxygenase-2 transgenic mice by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. J. Proteome Res., 6: 273-86, 2007.


• D. Chandra, S.B. Bratton, M.D. Person, Y. Tian, A.G. Martin, M. Ayres, H.O. Fearnhead, V. Gandhi, and D.G. Tang; Intracellular nucleotides act as critical prosurvival factors by binding to cytochrome c and inhibiting apoptosome.  Cell, 125:1333-46, 2006.


• P.A. Golubkov, W.H. Johnson Jr., R.M. Czerwinski, M.D. Person, S.C. Wang, C.P. Whitman, and M.L. Hackert; Inactivation of the phenylpyruvate tautomerase activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor by 2-oxo-4-phenyl-3-butynoate.  Bioorg. Chemistry, 34:183-99, 2006.


• M.D. Person, J. Shen, A. Traner, S.C. Hensley, H.H. Lo, J.L. Abbruzzese, and D. Li; Protein fragment domains identified using 2D gel electrophoresis/MALDI-TOF.  J. Biomol. Tech. 17:145-56, 2006.


• E.M. Stone, T.H. Schaller, H. Bianchi, M.D. Person, and W. Fast; Inactivation of two diverse enzymes in the amidinotransferase superfamily by 2-chloroacetamidine: dimethylargininase and peptidylarginine deiminase.  Biochemistry 44:13744-52, 2005.


• E.M. Stone, M.D. Person, N.J. Costello, and W. Fast; Characterization of a transient covalent adduct formed during dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase catalysis. Biochemistry 44 :7069-78, 2005.


• R. Swiercz, M.D. Person, and M.T. Bedford; Ribosomal protein S2 is a substrate for mammalian PRMT3 (protein arginine methyltransferase 3).  Biochemical J. 386:85-91, 2005.


• M.D. Person, D.E. Mason, D.C. Liebler, T.J. Monks, and S.S. Lau; Alkylation of cytochrome c by (glutathion-S-yl)-1,4-benzoquinone and iodoacetamide demonstrates compound dependent site specificity. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 18: 41-50, 2005.


• J.J. Shen, M.D. Person, J.J. Zhu, J.L. Abbruzzese, and D. Li; Protein expression profiles in pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared with normal pancreatic tissue and tissue afffected by pancreatitis as detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Cancer Research 64: 9018-26, 2004.