Christopher W. Borysenko Director, MCS Interdisciplinary Laboratories Assistant Teaching Professor, MCS Deans Office and Department of Biological Sciences Postdoctoral Appointment, Biogen, Inc. Ph.D., Brandeis University M.A., Harvard University School of Medicine cb1@andrew.cmu.edu 412-268-3542 (Office) 412-952-9324 (Cell) 412-268-9479 (ID Lab) 412-268-5146 (Fax) 1324 Doherty Hall 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213

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The Mellon College of Science (MCS) Interdisciplinary Laboratory (ID) is housed on one floor of a recently developed wing of Doherty Hall and in a satellite site in the basement of Doherty Hall for housing imaging equipment. The ID Laboratory adopts approaches, and contains resources, that permit undergraduate students to address scientific questions that cross traditional rubrics of the natural sciences. These endeavors are encountered in various ways, including formal laboratory classes, by independent research, and through participation in course development. Students in the ID Laboratory have access to a broad range of instrumentation, including an atomic force microscope, a flow cytometer, fluorescence and phase microscopes, spectrophotometers, and equipment to maintain and conduct experiments with eukaryotic cell lines and prokaryotes. These resources are employed by students to explore areas ranging from the material science of biologic polymers to forensics, as outlined below. For example, in one module of 09-322 Physical Chemistry Laboratory, students use the ID Laboratory to make DNA by using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycler, depositing the PCR reaction mixture on mica, imaging the double stranded DNA with the tapping mode of an atomic force microscope, and analyzing the contour lengths and end-to-end distances to determine the form(s) of DNA that they synthesized. The extent of interdisciplinary opportunities can be appreciated by perusing the above list of courses that I teach: 1) 03-398 Microbiology Laboratory; 2) 38-101 Eureka! Forensics Laboratory; 3) 38-412 Modeling Cell Growth and Differentiation; 4) 33-355 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Laboratory Component; Co-taught with Prof. Randall Feenstra); and 5) 09-322 Laboratory IV: Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics (Developed Atomic Force Microscopy of DNA). The extent of interdisciplinary opportunities can be appreciated by perusing the list below of courses that I teach.

The laboratory research in which I am engaged also follows an interdisciplinary direction. Publications involved in one of my projects “Selected Publications Establishing Specific Cytokines in Bone Development” illustrates the use of a broad approach to establish the novel existence and function of Death Receptor-3 (DR3) in bones. The approaches include Affymetrix Gene Screening, flow cytometry, theoretical comparative 3D modeling, plasmon resonance spectroscopy, and definitive experiments in mice strains. This work establishes that a single point mutation in the protein DR3 is the cause of rheumatoid arthritis.

Courses that I Developed and Teach at Carnegie Mellon:

1. 03-398 Microbiology Laboratory
2. 38-101 Eureka! Forensics Laboratory
3. 38-412 Modeling Cell Growth and Differentiation
4. 33-355 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Laboratory Component; Co-taught with Prof. Randall Feenstra).
5. 09-322 Laboratory IV: Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics (Developed Atomic Force Microscopy of DNA).

Selected Didactic Publications

Duffy J. Course Solves Mysteries Behind Crime Scene Investigating. The Piper. 11. 2009 Apr.

Borysenko CW. Who Dunnit? What Goes on in the Interdisciplinary Laboratory in the Mellon College of Science? Focus. 37(6): 5-7, 2008 May.

Ali S, Greenberger B, Lakata L, Powell C, Masiuk K, Shah R and Witherel K. Screening of Human Pathologies for Potential Drug Treatments with Molecular and Mathematical Models of Receptor/Ligand Binding. Faculty Advisor: Christopher W. Borysenko. Journal of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences. 25, 2007.

Ayres J, Burzynski E, DeLorenzo L, Johnson E, Kramer C, Lakhani P, Meisel J, Peeler J, Ruhling L and Styer A. Effects of Natural and Synthetic Antioxidants on Oxidative Stress in the Medicinal Yeast S. Boulardii using Atomic Force Microscopy and Viability Assays. Faculty Advisor: Christopher W. Borysenko. Journal of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences. 24:69, 2006.

Borysenko CW. Nanoscale Research Project for High School Students. Nanofurf, Inc. 2005. www.nanoscience.com/education/profiles/Chris_B/CB-2.html

Selected Research Publications

Robinson LJ, Borysenko CW and Blair HC. Tumor necrosis factor family receptors regulating bone turnover: new observations in osteoblastic and osteoclastic cell lines. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1116:432-43, 2007 Nov. Epub 2007 Jul 23. Review.

Borysenko CW, Garcia-Palacios V, Griswold RD, Li Y, Iyer AK, Yaroslavskiy BB, Sharrow AC and Blair HC. Death receptor-3 mediates apoptosis in human osteoblasts under narrowly regulated conditions. J Cell Physiol. 2006 Sep 19.

Borysenko CW, Furey WF and Blair HC. Comparative modeling of TNFRSF25 (DR3) predicts receptor destabilization by a mutation linked to rheumatoid arthritis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 328(3):794-9, 2005 Mar 18.

Garcia Palacios V, Robinson LJ, Borysenko CW, Lehmann T, Kalla SE and Blair HC. Negative regulation of RANKL-induced osteoclastic differentiation in RAW264.7 Cells by estrogen and phytoestrogens. J Biol Chem. 280(14):13720-7, 2005 Apr 8.

Bu R, Borysenko CW, Li Y, Cao L, Sabokbar A and Blair HC. Expression and function of TNF-family proteins and receptors in human osteoblasts. Bone. 33:760-770, 2003.