Deborah E. Leckband (born 1959) is an American chemist who is the Reid T. Milner Professor of Chemical Sciences and professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She works on biomaterials, tissue engineering and the nano mechanics of biomolecules. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Chemical Society.
Deborah Elaine Leckband | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959 (age 64–65) |
| Alma mater | Cornell University Humboldt State University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Thesis | A kinetic study of nucleotide interactions with chloroplast coupling factor (1988) |
Early life and education
editLeckband was born in Urbana, Illinois.[1] She was an undergraduate student at the Humboldt University of Berlin.[2] She moved to Cornell University for her doctoral research, where she studied nucleotide interactions.[3] She then moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked alongside Robert S. Langer on the immobilization of proteins.[4] She was a postdoctoral researcher with Jacob Israelachvili at the University of California, Santa Barbara, during which she became interested in surface science and how it impacts biology and cell adhesion.[5][6]
Research and career
editLeckband joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1988.[1] She develops experimental approaches to understand the nanomechanics of biomolecules and cell adhesion.[7] She is particularly interested in surface science in biological systems, and the fundamental mechanisms that drive cell adhesion.[8] These surfaces may include the coatings on drug containers, the surfaces of biosensors and other bioelectronic devices, and contact lenses. She has studied how the physio-chemical properties of surfaces impact biological function. Her research has identified new materials for optimized drug delivery and non-fouling contact lenses.[6] She has shown it is possible to engineer "smart" coatings to selectively modify interfacial responses.[6]
Leckband worked with Martin Gruebele to understand the stability of proteins in situ at sub-micron resolution. Their research has shown that polymers moderate protein function, which helps to design biomaterials with optimized stability and activity.[9]
Leckband has shown that the velcro-like cadherins are not only involved with holding cells together, but that they perform critical functions when they are under tension.[10][11] Under tensional stress, the cadherin growth factor interaction is disrupted, which switches on tissue growth signalling pathways.[12]
Awards and honors
edit- 2004 Britton Chance Distinguished Lecturer[13]
- 2005 Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering[14]
- 2005 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[15]
- 2009 Elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society[16]
- 2014 Elected Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society[17]
- 2021 Langmuir Lectureship[5]
Selected publications
edit- Leckband D; Israelachvili J (May 1, 2001). "Intermolecular forces in biology". Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics. 34 (2): 105–267. doi:10.1017/S0033583501003687. ISSN 0033-5835. PMID 11771120. Wikidata Q34480853.
- Quint le Duc; Quanming Shi; Iris Blonk; Arnoud Sonnenberg; Ning Wang; Deborah Leckband; Johan De Rooij (June 1, 2010). "Vinculin potentiates E-cadherin mechanosensing and is recruited to actin-anchored sites within adherens junctions in a myosin II-dependent manner". Journal of Cell Biology. 189 (7): 1107–1115. doi:10.1083/JCB.201001149. ISSN 0021-9525. PMC 2894457. PMID 20584916. Wikidata Q33950292.
- D Leckband (January 1, 2000). "Measuring the forces that control protein interactions". Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure. 29: 1–26. doi:10.1146/ANNUREV.BIOPHYS.29.1.1. ISSN 1056-8700. PMID 10940241. Wikidata Q30902051.
References
edit- ^ a b "Deborah E. Leckband | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ "Deborah Leckband". www.aiche.org. March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Leckband, Deborah Elaine (1988). "A kinetic study of nucleotide interactions with chloroplast coupling factor".
- ^ Leckband, Deborah; Langer, Robert (February 5, 1991). "An approach for the stable immobilization of proteins". Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 37 (3): 227–237. doi:10.1002/bit.260370305. ISSN 0006-3592. PMID 18597360. S2CID 37474131.
- ^ a b author//author/marcus-anderson (July 14, 2021). "2021 Langmuir Lectureship Award Winners Announced". ACS Publications Chemistry Blog. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c "Deborah E. Leckband | Chemistry at Illinois". chemistry.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Leckband, Deborah (August 1995). "The surface force apparatus — a tool for probing molecular protein interactions". Nature. 376 (6541): 617–618. Bibcode:1995Natur.376..617L. doi:10.1038/376617a0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 7637815. S2CID 28621303.
- ^ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Leckband cell-to-cell force sensing research published in Journal of Cell Science". chbe.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Drs. Leckband, Gruebele awarded NSF grant". chbe.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Sullivan, Brendan; Light, Taylor; Vu, Vinh; Kapustka, Adrian; Hristova, Kalina; Leckband, Deborah (January 25, 2022). "Mechanical disruption of E-cadherin complexes with epidermal growth factor receptor actuates growth factor–dependent signaling". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (4): e2100679119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11900679S. doi:10.1073/pnas.2100679119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 8794882. PMID 35074920.
- ^ "'Molecular Velcro' enables tissues to sense, react to mechanical force". EurekAlert!. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Yoksoulian, Lois. "'Molecular Velcro' enables tissues to sense, react to mechanical force". news.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ "Chance Lecture". Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ "Deborah Leckband, Ph.D. COF-0558 - AIMBE". Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ "Deborah Leckband was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. | Chemistry at Illinois". chemistry.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Kloeppel, James E. "Four professors at Illinois elected fellows of American Chemical Society". news.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ "List of Fellows - Biomedical Engineering Society". www.bmes.org. Retrieved March 26, 2023.