University of Virginia Health System

Autopsy pathology

 RESEARCH:

My research has involved studying the organization of glycolipids in lipid bilayers and plasma membranes using the morphological techniques of freeze-etching and electron microscopy. Ultrastructural labels such as native antibodies, Fab fragments and other markers have been used to localize glycolipids on the outer surface of membranes in order to study their distribution and interaction with other membrane components.

REFERENCES:

• Yang J, Tamm LK, Tillack TW and Shao Z: New approach for atomic force microscopy of membrane proteins: The imaging of cholera toxin. J Molec Biol 229:286-290, 1993.
• Palestini P, Allietta M, Sonnino S, Tettamanti G, Thompson TE, and Tillack TW: Gel phase preference of ganglioside GM1 at low concentration in two-component, two-phase phosphatidylcholine bilayers depends upon the ceramide moiety. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1235:221-230, 1995.
• Rock P, Alliette M, Young WW Jr, Thopson TE, Tillack TW. Ganglioside GM1 and asialo-GM1 at low concentration are preferentially incorporated into the gel phase in two-component, two-phase phosphatidylcholine bilayers. Biochemistry. 1991 Jan 8;30(1):19-25.
• Rock P, Alietta M, Young WW Jr, Thompson TE, Tillack TW. Organization of glycosphingolipids in phosphatidylcholine bilayers: use of antibody molecules and Fab fragments as morphologic markers. Biochemistry. 1990 Sep 1;29(36):8484-8490.