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Patrick A Limbach


Pat Limbach

Head of Department
Ohio Eminent Scholar


Professor, Chemistry

BS, Centre College, 1988
PhD, The Ohio State University, 1992
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Utah, 1993-1994

Biography

Pat Limbach is a bioanalytical chemist with research interests in mass spectrometry, ribonucleoprotein complexes and microfluidics. After earning an undergraduate degree from Centre College in 1988, he studied under the direction of Dr. Alan G. Marshall at The Ohio State University. While there, his graduate research focused on instrumentation improvements to Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry. He received his PhD from OSU in 1992. He then took a postdoctoral position at the University of Utah working with Dr. James A. McCloskey. While in Utah, he worked in the area of RNA chemistry and nucleic acid mass spectrometry. In 1995, he joined the faculty at Louisiana State University and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1999. In 2001, he moved to his current position in Cincinnati. He has received numerous teaching and research awards including the Young Investigator Research Award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the Sigma Xi Research Investigator Award.

Research: Bioanalytical Chemistry

  • mass spectrometry
  • structural investigation of RNA
  • characterization of ribonucleoprotein complexes
  • identification of posttranscriptionally modified nucleosides in RNA

With the completion of the Human Genome Project, attention is shifting toward other components of the cell, such as ribonucleic acids (RNA) and proteins, and understanding the relationships between them, particularly as related to disease. Our research interests focus on the development of new and improved mass spectrometry approaches for the characterization of RNAs and RNA:protein complexes. The questions we are trying to answer in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology and cancer genetics require that we develop advanced mass spectrometry techniques.

Structure-Function Relationships in Ribonucleic Acids One of the main areas of our research is the use of high resolution mass spectrometry to help elucidate structure-function relationships in RNAs. A specific focus of our group is to identify posttranscriptional modifications to RNA and determining their functional significance. We also are developing mass spectrometry-based assays for the characterization and quantification of mixtures of small RNAs, such as microRNAs and tRNAs, in a manner compatible with RNomics approaches which identify new RNA genes.

Structural Biology Our work here focuses on the use of MALDI-MS and (tandem)-LC-ESI-MS/MS to characterize proteins and RNAs isolated from a variety of ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs). In particular, we working on the development of new approaches for characterizing protein-nucleic acid sites of interaction by analysis of cross-linked products.

Medical Applications With new assays, methods and strategies in place that facilitate the characterization of RNAs and RNPs, our newest efforts have included research within areas of medical importance. Examples include a focus on higher throughput screening methods for identifying modified or mutated microRNAs and tRNAs, especially those smaller RNAs known or suspected to be significant in cancer development or various inherited diseases.


Contact Information
429 Rieveschl
P.O. Box 210172
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172
phone: 513-556-1871
fax: 513-556-9239
Pat.Limbach@uc.edu
http://bearcatms.uc.edu/


Last updated Monday June 13, 2008

  


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