Weiguo Andy Tao

The mission of our research group is to bridge technology with biomedical discovery. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics is the kind of research that is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together biology, chemistry, instrumentation, statistics, and bioinformatics. Proteomics thus holds significant promise for the discovery of diagnostic or prognostic protein markers, for the detection of new therapeutic targets and as a powerful tool to further our understanding of basic biological processes and mechanisms. The realization of these expectations relies on the development of novel chemistry and instrumentation.

Our group focuses on the development of novel strategies and reagents to efficiently target and discover proteins of important biological relevance as potential biomarkers. Such proteins of interest are typically low in abundance, dynamically expressed, and post-translationally modified. The subject, called targeted proteomics, therefore involves the integration of a number of technologies including the selective targeting of proteins with activities of interest, multi-step sample preparation, and mass spectrometry. Examining changes in these proteins within cells under different physiological conditions will offer insights into understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms that cannot currently be obtained through traditional biological studies that usually focus on the detailed analysis of individual biomolecules.

Current projects in my group are:

1. Chemical proteomics ito identify receptors and protein interacting partners
2. Developing phosphoproteins in extracellular vesicles as disease biomarkers
3. Molecular signaling in cancer cells: phosphoproteomics

2011-2016 Purdue University Faculty Scholar

2007-2012 NSF CAREER Award

2007 Seed for Success Award, Purdue University

2006 American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Research Award

2002-2004 Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellowship

1.  5R01GM088317 (PI: Tao)                         09/01/10-08/31/17

     NIH/NIGMS

     New Proteomic Technologies for the Analysis of Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Pathways

2.  1R01GM111788-01A1 (Tao)                     09/15/15 - 09/14/18                

NIH/NIGMS                                                                                                                     

A Proteomic Platform to identify and Validate Biomarkers in Metabolic Syndrome and Coronary Artery Disease                                                      

3.  1R41CA210772 (PI: Tao)                          09/01/16-08/31/17

     NIH/NCI

     Developing Novel RPPA for the Detection of Metastatic Prostate Cancer

4. 0057997 (PI: Tao)                                       07/01/15-06/30/17

International Foundation for CDKL5 Research

Identification of CDKL5 direct substrates based on kinase assay linked phosphoproteomics

5. CH1506752 (PI: Tao)                                 07/01/15-06/30/18

NSF

New Proteomic Strategy to Visualize and Analyze Phosphoprotemoes

1. Chen IH, Xue L, Hsu CC, Paez JS, Pan L, Andaluz H, Wendt MK, Iliuk AB, Zhu JK, Tao WA (2017). Phosphoproteins in extracellular vesicles as candidate markers for breast cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 114(12):3175-3180.
2. Pan L, Aguilar HA, Wang L, Iliuk AB, Tao WA (2016). Three-dimensionally Functionalized Reverse Phase Glycoprotein Array for Cancer Biomarker Discovery and Validation. J Am Chem Soc. 138(47):15311-14.
3. Wang L, Yang L, Pan L, Kadasala NR, Xue L, Schuster RJ, Parker LL, Wei A, Tao WA (2015). Time-Resolved Proteomic Visualization of Dendrimer Cellular Entry and Trafficking. J Am Chem Soc. 137(40):12772-5.
4. Xue L, Wang W, Hu L, Iliuk A, Geahlen RL, Tao WA (2012), Sensitive kinase assay linked with phosphoproteomics for identifying kinase substrates, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.  109(15):5615-20.
5. Pan L, Iliuk A, Yu S, Geahlen RL, Tao WA (2012). Multiplexed quantitation of protein expression and phosphorylation based on functionalized soluble nanopolymers. J Am Chem Soc 134(44): 18201-4.