Aditi Das

Research Interests

• Dietary consumption of ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids changes the overall physiology in animals and humans. One of the pathways to change the overall physiology is the conversion of ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids into epoxide derivatives via the enzymes in the epoxygenase (EPOX) pathway. Most of these epoxides are anti-inflammatory in nature. The prime research direction in our laboratory is to elucidate the biochemical mechanism of the enzymes in the EPOX pathway and to study the biological role of the novel anti-inflammatory ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acid epoxides. Another important research direction in the laboratory is the study of endocannabinoid metabolism by cytochrome P450 leading to the discovery of novel endocannabinoid epoxides that are anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory.

Primary Research Area

• Bio-Micro and Nanotechnology

Other Publications

• McDougle, D.R., Watson, J., Abdeen,A., Adili, R., Caputo, M., Krapf, J., Johnson, R., Kilian, K., Holinstat, M., Das, A*, "Anti-inflammatory Omega-3 Endocannabinoid Epoxides", PNAS http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/E6034.abstract, Highlighted in Forbes , Bioscience Technology, Nutrition Insight, Medical News Today, Nutraingredients , Eurekalert
• Rouck, J.*, Krapf, J.* Roy, J. Huff, H. and Das, A.*, "Recent Advances in Nanodisc Technology for studying Membrane Proteins (2012-2017)". FEBS Letters 2017, Accepted
• Arnold, W., Baylon, J, Tajkorshid, E.* and Das, A.*,"Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) preferentially binds to cardiovascular CYP2J2 and inhibits arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism" Biochemistry. 2016, 55(50):6969-6980.
• Roy, J. Adili, Raymond, Kulmacz, R., Holistat, M., and Das, A*,"Development of Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid Derivatives of Aspirin for Inhibition of Platelet Function", Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2016 Oct;359(1):134-41. doi: 10.1124/jpet.116.234781.
• Lim, SJ, McDougle, D., Das, A* and Smith, A.*, "Lipoprotein Nanoplatelets: Fluorescent, Zwitterionic Probes for Molecular and Cellular Imaging." J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2016, 138 (1), pp 64–67.
• Bradley*, WB., Rouck*, J.E., Kambalyal, A., Das, A*. and Parayil, A*., " Orthogonal assays uncover enzyme promiscuity and chemical isomerization and remove ambiguity surrounding key P450 mediated oxygenation in Taxol biosynthesis.” ACS-Chemical Biology, 2016, 11 (5), 1445–1451.
• Roy, J. Pondenis, H., Fan T.*, Das, A*, "Direct Capture of Functional Proteins from Mammalian Plasma Membranes into Nanodiscs" Biochemistry, 2015, 6299–6302.
• McDougle, D*., Baylon, J.* Meling D., Kambalyal, A., Tajkorshid, E.*, and Das, A* "Incorporation of Charged Residues in the CYP2J2 F-G Loop Disrupts CYP2J2-Lipid Bilayer Interactions" Biochimica et Biophysica Acta -Biomembranes, 2015, 2060-2470.
• Zelasko, S., Arnold, W., Das, A* "Endocannabinoid Metabolism by Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenases.", Prostaglandins and Other Lipid Mediators. 2015, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098882314000744
• McDougle, D., Kambalayal, A., Meling, D. and Das, A*. "Endocannabinoids - Anandamide and 2- Arachidonoylglycerol are Substrates for Human CYP2J2 Epoxygenase" Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2014, 616-27.

Honors

• Outstanding Researcher Award at NSF-NSEC Center for excellence in collaborative research
• National Scientist Development Grant American Heart Association (2015)
• NIEHS Travel Award for Meritorious abstract, Winter Eicosanoid meeting (2014)
• Moog Lecturer, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (2013)
• Pew Scholar’s Award Nominee (One person from the UIUC campus) (2013)
• FMC Corporation Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry, Princeton (2005)
• First year Science and Engineering Fellowship, Princeton University (2001)