Christopher J. Easley - Faculty - Chemistry & Biochemistry - AU COSAM

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	Christopher J. Easley Assistant Professor Vanderbilt University Medical Center, NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, 2006-2008 University of Virginia, Ph.D., 2006 Mississippi State University, B.S., 2002 Phone: (334) 844-6967 Research Web Page E mail
Bioanalytical Chemistry: Novel microanalytical tools for studying fundamentals of glucose homeostasis and diabetes. Research in the Easley Laboratory is focused on the combination of several key techniques—microfluidics, quantitative fluorescence microscopy, electrophoresis, and molecular biology—to ultimately study fundamental chemical and biophysical mechanisms involved in cell-to-cell communication. A primary focus of ours is the study of the metabolic disease state, diabetes. We are making improvements upon well-established analytical and biological techniques, but we are also striving to discover new approaches for nanoliter- and picoliter-scale fluidic control as well as fluorescent and chemical sensing, providing us with a set of tools that are unique to our laboratory. *Fluid control strategies for collection, storage, and analysis of cellular secretions.* The microfluidic platform provides unique capabilities to precisely control the cellular microenvironment. Our group is capable of designing and fabricating microfluidic devices to trap or culture living mouse cells and sample their secretions using droplet fluidics. Secretions are confined into picoliter-volume droplets, providing high resolution temporal preservation of chemical information during secretory events. We are particularly interested in sampling peptide secretions (insulin, glucagon, amylin, somatostatin, C-peptide, pancreatic polypeptide) from live islets of Langerhans isolated from the pancreatic tissue of mice. Using microfluidics and fluorescence microscopy to sample and measure these secretion profiles during glucose-stimulated insulin secretion enables us to study the fundamental endocrine function of the pancreas at the level of a single islet. *Development of fluorescent nucleic acid sensors.* DNA or RNA aptamers are oligonucleotide fragments that have been selected for high affinity and specificity of their tertiary structure to targets ranging from small molecules to proteins. We are currently selecting aptamers against secretory peptide hormones from mammalian pancreatic islets (see list above). These high affinity aptamers can be used as fluorescent sensors, as well as blocking agents or stimuli of intercellular communication, providing our group with novel, customized control mechanisms to aid in our understanding of these processes.

Selected Publications: Easley, C. J.; Rocheleau, J. V.; Head, W. S.; Piston, D. W. “Quantitative measurement of zinc secretion from single pancreatic islets with high temporal resolution using droplet-based microfluidics.” Analytical Chemistry, 2009, published online Oct. 6. Leslie, D. C; Easley, C. J.; Seker, E.; Karlinsey, J. M.; Utz, M.; Begley, M. R.; Landers, J. P. “Frequency-specific flow control in microfluidic circuits with passive elastomeric features.” Nature Physics, 2009, 5, 231. - Editors' Choice, Science, 2009, 23, 1539. - Research Highlight, Lab on a Chip, 2009, 9, 861. Easley, C. J.; Benninger, R. K. P.; Shaver, J. H.; Head, W. S.; Piston, D. W. “Rapid and inexpensive fabrication of polymeric microfluidic devices via toner transfer masking.” Lab on a Chip, 2009, published online Jan. 2009. - Research Highlight, Nature Methods, 2009, 6, 194. Mao, S.; Benninger, R. K. P.; Jackson, D.; Yan, Y.; Petchprayoon, C.; Jackson, D. K.; Easley, C. J.; Piston, D. W.; Marriott, G. “Optical lock-in detection of fluorescence resonance energy transfer using synthetic and genetically-encoded optical switches.” Biophysical Journal, 2008, 94, 4515-4524. Easley, C. J.; Humphrey, J. A. C.; Landers, J. P. “Thermal isolation of microchip reaction chambers for rapid non-contact DNA amplification.” J. Micromech. Microeng., 2007, 17, 1758-1766. Easley, C. J.; Karlinsey, J. M.; Bienvenue, J. P.; Legendre, L. A.; Roper, M. G.; Feldman, S. H.; Hughes, M. A.; Hewlett, E. L.; Merkel, T. J.; Ferrance, J. P.; Landers, J. P. “A fully-integrated microfluidic genetic analysis system with sample in-answer out capability.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2006, 103, 19272-19277. - Editors' Choice, Science, 2007, 315, 5810. - Research Highlight, Nature Biotechnology, 2007, 25, 69. - Bio Sphere, Analytical Chemistry, 2007, 79, 809. Easley, C. J.; Karlinsey, J. M.; Landers, J. P. “On-chip pressure injection for integration of infrared-mediated DNA amplification with electrophoretic separation.” Lab on a Chip, 2006, 6, 601-610. - Chosen as cover article.