Mark Melton

Areas of General Research Expertise
I have technical and research experience in a number of areas of biotechnology including the pharmacology of neuronal acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) signal transduction and their possible role in the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. I also have an interest in the molecular genetics of nucleotide excision repair mechanisms, particularly the role of UvrABC endonuclease enzyme complex activity. Most recently I have gained an interest in the genetic regulation of genes expressed during embryonic development of the central nervous system. Below are recent collaborative articles on nAChRs and UvrA activity.
 
Elaine A. Gay, Rebecca C. Klein, Mark A. Melton, Perry J. Blackshear and Jerrel L. Yakel (2008). Inhibition of Native Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors by Myristolated Alanine-Rich C Kinase Substrate Peptide Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 237(3): 884-890.
 
Deborah L. Croteau, Matthew J. DellaVecchia, Hong Wang, Rachelle J. Bienstock, Mark A. Melton and Bennett Van Houten (2006). The C-terminal Zinc Finger of UvrA Does Not Bind DNA Directly but Regulates Damage-specific DNA Binding Journal of Biological Chemistry 281(36): 26370-26381.
 
Lamb, P.W., Melton, M.A. and Yakel, J.L. (2005). Inhibition of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes by B-amyloid 1-42 peptide Journal of Molecular Neurosciences 207:13-21.
 
Specific Research Involvement for this NSF Project
I will organize and coordinate two special lab ‘hands –on’ sessions on bioinformatics each year at Saint Augustine’s College. NCSU project people will teach these sessions. In this project, I will be responsible for recruiting and selecting students from Saint Augustine’s College for summer internships and be an active participant with students working in the lab on microarray based gene expression analysis and other related methods. I will also be actively involved in research activities with the postdoc and graduate students in the Cheng lab during the academic year. I will attend the monthly progress review meetings during the summer, and during the academic year to discuss results and evaluate student progress. I also have some experience in tissue culture and am is interested in becoming more current with genetic transformation technologies by participating in the transgenic production tasks of the project. I will use this participation as an opportunity to incorporate some aspects of this genomics and systems research into the classroom learning environment at St. Augustine’s College.

Mark Melton
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