Angel Martí

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering

Our research group is interested in the design and synthesis of multifunctional molecular constructs for the treatment and diagnosis of amyloid forming diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, in addition to the development of sensors and the in vivo and in vitro detection of DNA and mRNA. 5.2 million people suffer Alzheimer's in the United States. By 2050, this number will increase to 14 million unless a cure is found. Finding novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease represents a challenge that will involve different scientific disciplines. Our approach involves the use of molecular scissors to degrade and solubilize amyloid deposits. These amyloid scissors consist of a recognition element capable of selectively binding to amyloid plaques, bound to an artificial protease capable of cleave proteins, similar to those in amyloid plaques. We also aim to attach paramagnetic species such as gadolinium compounds to amyloid recognition elements for use as diagnosis tools in conjuction with MRI techniques. Other projects involve the design of probes for the detection and monitoring of DNA and mRNA in different media. This will include the use of hybridization probes with an oligonucleotide sequence complementary to the target sequence of interest, and a fluorescent reporter group capable of changing its photophysical properties upon binding to the target sequence. Our group is also interested in investigating the changes in structure that the protein alpha-synuclein undergoes when it binds to membranes and small molecules such as melanin. Alpha-synuclein has been associated with the pathology of Parkinson's disease. We will use spectroscopic methods such as FTIR and circular dichroism to determine the changes in structure of this protein when interacting with different molecular and supramolecular agents.

Publications

Cook, N. P.; Archer, C. M.; Fawver, J. N.; Schall, H. E.; Rodriguez-Rivera, J.; Dineley, K. T.; Martí, A. A.; Murray, I. V. J. Ruthenium Red Colorimetric and Birefringent Staining of Amyloid-β Aggregates In Vitro and in Tg 2576 Mice.  ACS Chem. Neurosci., 4 2013: 379-384

Diaz, A. Mosby, B. Bakhmutov, V. Martí, A. A. Batteas, J. Clearfield, A. Self Assembled Monolayers Based Upon a Zirconium Phosphate Platform.  Chem. Mater., 25 2013: 723-728

Jiang, C.; Saha, A.; Changsheng, X.; Young, C.; Tour, J. M.; Pasquali, M.; Martí, A. A. ncreased Solubility, Diameter Selectivity and Liquid Crystalline Phase of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Polyelectrolyte Dispersions.  ACS Nano, 7 2013: 4503-4510

Cook, N. P.; Kilpatrick, K.; Segatori, L.; Martí, A. A. Detection of α-Synuclein Amyloidogenic Aggregates In Vitro and in Cells using Light-Switching Dipyridophenazine Ruthenium(II) Complexes.  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134 2012: 20776-20782

Cook, N. P.; Martí, A. A. Facile Methodology for Monitoring Amyloid-β Fibrillization.  ACS Chem. Neurosci., 3 2012: 896-899

Saha, A.; Ghosh, S.; Weisman, R. B.; Martí, A. A. Films of Bare Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Superacids with Tailored Electronic and Photoluminescence Properties.  ACS Nano, 6 2012: 5727-5734

Peng, J.; Gao, W.; Gupta, B. K.; Liu, Z.; Romero-Aburto, R.; Ge, L.; Song, L.; Alemany, L. B.; Zahn, X.; Gao, G.; Vithayathil, S. A.; Kaipparettu, B. A.; Martí, A. A.; Hayashi, T.; Zhu, J. -J.; Ajayan, P. M. Graphene Quantum Dots Derived from Carbon Fibers.  Nano Lett., 12 2012: 844-849

Gupta, B. K.; Narayanan, T. N.; Vithayathil, S. A.; Lee, Y. Koshy, S.; Reddy, A. L. M.; Saha, A.; Shanker, V.; Singh, V. N.; Kaipparettu, B. A.; Martí, A. A.; Ajayan, P. M. Highly Luminescent-Paramagnetic Nanophosphor Probes for in Vitro High-Contrast Imaging of Human Breast Cancer Cells.  Small, 8 2012: 3028-3034

Huang, K.; Martí, A. A. (Journal Cover) Optimizing the Sensitivity of Photoluminescent Probes Using Time-Resolved Spectroscopy: A Molecular Beacon Case Study.  Anal. Chem., 84 2012: 8075-8082

Reddy, A. L. M.; Gupta, B. K.; Narayanan, T. N.; Martí, A. A.; Ajayan, P. M.; Walker, G. C. Probing on Time-Resolved and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy of Ni Encapsulated Ferromagnetic Boron Nitride Nanotubes.  J. Phys. Chem. C, 116 2012: 12803-12089

Huang, K.; Martí, A. A. Recent Trends in Molecular Beacons Design and Applications.  Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 402 2012: 3091-3102

Huang, K.; Bulik, I.; Martí, A. A. Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Spectroscopy for the Detection of Cysteine and Other Thiol Containing Amino Acids in Complex Strongly Autofluorescent Media.  Chem. Commun., 48 2012: 11760-11762

Jain, D.; Saha, A.; Martí, A. A. (Inside Cover) Non-Covalent Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complexes-Carbon Nanotubes Composites: An Alternative for Functional Dissolution of Carbon Nanotubes in Solution.  Chem. Commun., 47 2011: 2246-2248

Gupta, B. K.; Thanikaivelan, P.; Narayanan, T. N.; Song, L.; Gao, W.; Hayashi, T.; Saha, A.; Shanker, V.; Endo, M.; Martí, A. A.; Ajayan, P. M. Optical Bi-functionality of Europium Complexed Luminescent Graphene Nanosheets..  Nano Lett., 11 2011: 5227-5233

Gupta, B. K.; Rathee, V.; Narayanan, T. N.; Thanikaivelan, P.; Saha, A.; Govind, S.; Singh, P.; Shanker, V.; Martí, A. A.; Ajayan, P. M. Probing a Bifunctional Luminomagnetic Nanophosphor for Biological Applications: a Photoluminescence and Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Study.  Small, 7 2011: 1767-1773

Cook, N. P.; Torres, V.; Jain, D.; Martí, A. A. Sensing Amyloid-ß Aggregation using Luminescent Dipyridophenazine Ruthenium(II) Complexes.  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133 2011: 11121-11123

Saha, A.; Ghosh, S.; Behabtu, N.; Pasquali, M.; Martí, A. A. Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Shell Decorating Porous Silicate Materials: A General Platform for Studying the Interaction of Carbon Nanotubes with Photoactive Molecules.  Chem. Sci., 2 2011: 1682-1687