Member of the Technical Staff
Education
Bachelor’s Degree: Chemistry, Jilin University (1987-1991)
Master’s Degree: Chemistry, Jilin University (1991-1994)
Doctoral Degree: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico (1997-2001)
Postdoctoral Fellowships: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico (2001-2003)
Ye’s Ph.D. work was focused on protein engineering and enzyme kinetics. She developed a fluorescence reporting system to monitor the structural changes coupled with chemical events of pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK) catalyzed reaction, elucidated the compositions of PPDK active site in catalysis and substrate binding to assist rational design of chemical inhibitors of PPDK, and identified crucial molecular structure at the domain interfaces of PPDK.
Research Interests
Protein Engineering and Kinetics
Ye established the roles of chemical interactions in domain communication and catalysis of PPDK by employing steady state and transient state kinetic analysis. She facilitated the crystal structure analysis of conformational change of PPDK under different catalytic stages by altering the molecular structure of the enzyme, chemical interactions at domain interface, and domain linker structure. Additionally, Ye investigated the role of the domain linkers in separate site catalysis and examined the structure, stability, and catalytic potential in the Engineered Phosphoryl Carrier Domain of PPDK.
Cell Signaling Pathway Regulations
Ye examined the regulatory mechanisms of signaling pathways in cytokine induced intestinal epithelial tight junction malfunction and investigated the role of myosin light chain kinase in tight junction barrier modulation.
Nerve Agent Countermeasure Development
Ye assisted in the cell-free protein synthesis of rationally-designed unnatural amino acid to re-engineer a nerve agent degrading enzyme.
Biomarker Identification using Mass-Spectrometry
Ye developed NanoFlow-MS, UPLC-MS and ASAP-MS methods for biomarker identification.
Relevant Prior Positions
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine (2006–2012)
Research Associate Scientist II, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine (2003–2006)
Awards, Honors, and Memberships
2018 R&D 100 Award: Detergent-Assisted Fabrication (DAF) of Multifunctional Nanomaterials
Selected Publications
- Elisa La Bauve, Briana C. Vernon, Dongmei Ye, David M. Rogers, Cathryn M. Siegrist, Bryan Carson, Susan L. Rempe, Aihua Zheng, Margaret Kielian, Andrew P. Schreve, Michael S. Kent, “New method for measuring the unbinding energy of strongly-bound membrane-associated proteins”, Biochim Biophhys Acta, 2016, 1858(11): 2753.
- Dongmei Ye, Rana Al-Sadi, Michel Boivin, Shuhong Guo, Thomas Ma, “Interleukin-6 modulation of intestinal epithelial tight junction permeability is mediated by JNK pathway activation of claudin-2 gene”, PLos One, 2014, 9(3): e85345.
- Dongmei Ye, Shuhong Guo, Rana Al-Sadi, Thomas Ma, “MicroRNA regulation of intestinal epithelial tight junction permeability”, Gastroenterology, 2011, 141(4): 1323-33.
- Dongmei Ye, Thomas Y Ma, “Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms that Mediate the Basal and Tumor Necrosis Factor-a Induced Regulation of Myosin Light Chain Kinase Gene Activity”, J Cell and Mol Med., 2008, 12(4):1331-46.
- Dongmei Ye, Iris Ma, Thomas Y Ma, “Molecular mechanism of tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} modulation of intestinal epithelial tight junction barrier”, Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol., 2006, 290(3), G496-504.
- Dongmei Ye, Min Wei, Marielena McGuire, Kui Huang, Geeta Kapadia, Osnat Herzberg, Brain Martin and Debra Dunaway-mariano, “Investigation of the catalytic site within the ATP-grasp domain of clostridium symbiosum pyruvate phosphate dikinase”, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2001, 276, 37630.