Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Biophysics, and Medicine

M.D. 1982, Mayo Medical School

105 Johnson Pavilion
Tel.: (215) 898-9238
Email: axe@upenn.edu

Axelsen Lab Page

Research Themes

Infectious disease (antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides, antibiotic resistance, vancomycin); Neurodegeneration (amyloidogenesis, Alzheimer's disease); Cardiovascular disease (lipoprotein structure and function)

Focus Areas

Rational drug design and molecular recognition; Protein-lipid interactions (involved in protein folding, misfolding, and amyloidogenesis); Mechanisms and consequences of oxidative lipid membrane damage

Selected Publications

Kim, Y.S., Liu, L., Axelsen, P.H., and Hochstrasser, R.M. (2008) Two dimensional infrared spectra of isotopically diluted amyloid fibrils from Ab40. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105:7720-7725.

Liu, L., Komatsu, H., Murray, I.V.J., and Axelsen, P.H. (2008) Promotion of amyloid beta protein misfolding and fibrillogenesis by a lipid oxidation product. Journal of Molecular Biology 377:1236-1250.

Murray, I.V.J., L. Liu, H. Komatsu, K. Uryu, G. Xiao, J.A. Lawson, and P.H. Axelsen, (2007) Membrane mediated amyloidogenesis and the promotion of oxidative lipid damage by amyloid beta proteins. Journal of Biological Chemistry 282:9335-9345.

MacDonald, M.L., I.V.J. Murray, and P.H. Axelsen (2007) Mass spectrometric analysis demonstrates that BODIPY 581/591 C11 overestimates and inhibits oxidative lipid damage. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 42:1392-1397.

Murray, I.V.J., M.E. Sindoni, and P.H. Axelsen (2005) Promotion of oxidative lipid membrane damage by amyloid β proteins. Biochemistry 44:12606-12613.

Schneeweis, L.A., V. Koppaka, S. Lund-Katz, M.C. Phillips, and P.H. Axelsen (2005) Structural analysis of lipoprotein E particles. Biochemistry 44:12525-12534.

Jusuf, S. and P.H. Axelsen (2004) Synchronized conformational fluctuations and binding site desolvation during molecular recognition. Biochemistry 43:15446-15452.

Paul, C., J. Wang, W.C. Wimley, R.M. Hochstrasser, and P.H. Axelsen (2004) Vibrational coupling, isotopic editing, and beta sheet structure in a membrane bound polypeptide. Journal of the American Chemical Society 126:5843-5850.

Koppaka, V., C. Paul, I.V.J. Murray, and P.H. Axelsen. (2003) Early synergy between A beta 42 and oxidatively damaged membranes in promoting amyloid fibril formation by A beta 40. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278:36277-36284.