Jason P Li Email and Phone Number

I contributed to 3 projects:1) Identification of processing bodies, which are involved in mRNA stability, in autoimmune disease. I studied the role of processing bodies, a cytoplasmic component of cells involved in mRNA stability, in patients with primary biliary cholangitis and interstitial lung disease. Building on my previous project in 2015, I am trying to identify novel processing bodies and their interactions in the hopes of finding potential diagnostic methods. To do this, I used protein macroarrays and microarrays as a screening process for autoimmune antigens, some of which are located on processing bodies. The sera of patients with autoimmune disease were incubated on the arrays and fluorescent secondary antibodies against patient antibody were visualized by infrared imaging. From the screening, the detectable antigens' sequences are made into cDNA and transfect into Hep2 cells for overexpression. Staining the transfected Hep2 cells with patients' sera will verify the autoimmune process and help advance new avenues of diagnosis for autoimmune diseases.2) Investigation of Bone Morphogenetic Protein's role in vascular calcification in MGP-deficient mice. I used qPCR and aortic tissue samples to quantify/stain for downstream mRNA/protein markers of BMP signaling. Results showed that while MGP-deficient mice experienced severe vascular calcification that can be decreased by inhibiting BMP signaling, the vascular calcification itself was not due to increased BMP signaling.3) Study of nuclear bodies' role in B cell development. After stimulating the humoral response in mice, their serum and spleen were collected for PCR analysis to identify class switch recombination (CSR), and lack thereof with hypothesized CSR inhibitor, JQ1, in B cell lines. CSR is the mechanism through which B cells produce mature classes of immunoglobulin. We hypothesized JQ1 to bind Sp110, a nuclear body with a bromodomain.

• Utilized HPLC/DAD, GC/FID, and GC/MS for analytical study of leachable compounds from plastic inhalers following SOPs and test protocols.• cGMP trained and utilized Aglient ChemStation • Worked on Drinker Project; the purpose of the project is to assess the validity of the group's, Extractables and Leachables Safety Information Exchange Materials Information Working Group, proposed methods at obtaining extractables from Polyethylene and PVCmaterials.

• Research Area: Muscle contraction and regulation of thin and thick filament • Pinpointed the curvature of tropomyosin and myosin molecules from EM images and calculated persistence length of tropomyosin and myosin using Matlab

• Used Sigma Plot and Matlab to sort large sets of data and composing graphs. Analyzed data.