About

Robin Brown is a professor with expertise in cultural ethnography, education and institutions, literacy and critical pedagogy, popular culture, rhetoric, theory, and sociology of knowledge and taste. His work also encompasses cultural studies of science and technology, as well as culture and the environment. He has held roles such as the professional director of the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature and the director of the University of Minnesota Humanities Institute. His research and teaching focus on understanding cultural phenomena through critical and theoretical lenses, contributing to the fields of cultural studies, science and technology studies, and education. He has been recognized with awards including the College of Liberal Arts 'Red' Motley Teaching Award and the Morse Amoco/Alumni Teaching Award at the University of Minnesota. His courses include topics such as pedagogy in cultural studies, rhetoric of science and race, and critical pedagogy, reflecting his commitment to exploring the intersections of culture, communication, and knowledge.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Genetics
• Computational biology
• Cell biology
• Biology

Selected publications

• Use of Bicelle-Generated Lipid Bilayer Vesicle Nanoparticles for In Vitro Measurement of Lipid Intermembrane Transport

  Methods in molecular biology · 2024-12-19

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score® Test in Node-Negative Early Breast Cancer

  DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2022-09-01

  articleOpen access

  Vladislav Berdunov,1 Steve Millen,2 Andrew Paramore,2 Jane Griffin,3 Sarah Reynia,2 Nina Fryer,2 Rebecca Brown,1 Louise Longworth1 1PHMR Ltd, London, UK; 2Exact Sciences, London, UK; 3Jane Griffin Associates, East Molesey, UKCorrespondence: Vladislav Berdunov, PHMR Ltd, Berkeley Works, Berkley Grove, London, NW1 8XY, UK, Tel +44 20 3432 7450, Email vlad.berdunov@phmr.comBackground: The 21-gene assay (the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score® test) is a validated multigene assay which produces the Recurrence Score® result (RS) to inform decisions on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-), hormone receptor positive (HR+) early invasive breast cancer. A model-based economic evaluation estimated the cost-effectiveness of the 21-gene assay against the use of clinical risk tools alone based on the latest evidence from prospective studies.Methods: The proportion of patients assigned to chemotherapy conditional on their RS result was obtained from retrospective data from the Clalit registry. The probability of distant recurrence with endocrine and chemo-endocrine therapy conditional on RS result was obtained from TAILORx and NSABP B-20 trials. The cost-effectiveness of the 21-gene assay compared to using clinical risk tools alone was estimated in terms of cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) over a lifetime horizon.Results: The 21-gene assay was more effective (0.17 more quality-adjusted life years) at a lower cost (-£ 519) over a lifetime compared to clinical risk alone. The model results were sensitive to assumptions around the magnitude of benefit of chemotherapy in the high RS result subgroup. Other assumptions underpinning the model, such as the proportion of patients assigned to chemotherapy in the low and mid-range RS result subgroups and long-term distant recurrence probabilities, had a smaller impact on the results.Conclusion: The analysis showed that the cost-effectiveness of the 21-gene assay is sensitive to assumptions for chemotherapy sparing for patients with RS 0– 25 whose outcomes with endocrine therapy are no worse compared to chemotherapy-assigned patients, and a chemotherapy benefit in the RS 26– 100 group. Future studies need to incorporate a wider set of tumour profiling tests other than the 21-gene assay to allow a direct comparison of their cost-effectiveness.Keywords: cost-effectiveness, multigene assay, breast cancer, chemotherapy, the Oncotype DX test, 21-gene assay

  Publisher

• Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)¹

  Autophagy · 2021 · 2557 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Biology
  • Computational biology

  autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.

  DOI

• Purification of Cytosolic Phospholipase A2α C2-domain after Expression in Soluble Form in Escherichia coli

  BIO-PROTOCOL · 2021-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Previous expression/purification strategies for cytosolic phospholipase A2α C2-domain in Escherichia coli have relied on refolded protein recovered from inclusion bodies and sometimes containing C-terminal Cys139Ala and Cys141Ser substitutions to eliminate potential refolding complications induced by Cys residues. The protocol presented herein describes an effective method for the expression of cytosolic phospholipase A2α C2-domain in soluble form in E. coli and subsequent purification to homogeneity. This protocol, which utilizes a cleavable 6xHis-SUMO tag, has recently been used to gain insights into the structural basis of phosphatidylcholine recognition by the C2-domain of cytosolic phospholipase A2α (Hirano et al., 2019)

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein promotes sphingolipid reorientation needed for binding during membrane interaction

  Journal of Lipid Research · 2021-11-19 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Lipid transfer proteins acquire and release their lipid cargoes by interacting transiently with source and destination biomembranes. In the GlycoLipid Transfer Protein (GLTP) superfamily, the two-layer all-α-helical GLTP-fold defines proteins that specifically target sphingolipids (SLs) containing either sugar or phosphate headgroups via their conserved but evolutionarily-modified SL recognitions centers. Despite comprehensive structural insights provided by X-ray crystallography, the conformational dynamics associated with membrane interaction and SL uptake/release by GLTP superfamily members have remained unknown. Herein, we report insights gained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations into the conformational dynamics that enable ceramide-1-phosphate transfer proteins (CPTPs) to acquire and deliver ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) during interaction with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine bilayers. The focus on CPTP reflects this protein's involvement in regulating pro-inflammatory eicosanoid production and autophagy-dependent inflammasome assembly that drives interleukin (IL-1β and IL-18) production and release by surveillance cells. We found that membrane penetration by CPTP involved α-6 helix and the α-2 helix N-terminal region, was confined to one bilayer leaflet, and was relatively shallow. Large-scale dynamic conformational changes were minimal for CPTP during membrane interaction or C1P uptake except for the α-3/α-4 helices connecting loop, which is located near the membrane interface and interacts with certain phosphoinositide headgroups. Apart from functioning as a shallow membrane-docking element, α-6 helix was found to adeptly reorient membrane lipids to help guide C1P hydrocarbon chain insertion into the interior hydrophobic pocket of the SL binding site.These findings support a proposed 'hydrocarbon chain-first' mechanism for C1P uptake, in contrast to the 'lipid polar headgroup-first' uptake used by most lipid-transfer proteins.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction: Structural basis of phosphatidylcholine recognition by the C2-Domain of cytosolic phospholipase A2α

  eLife · 2021-11-29

  erratumOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein (CPTP) regulation by phosphoinositides

  Journal of Biological Chemistry · 2021-01-01 · 15 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  interaction sites enhance CPTP activity by serving as preferred membrane targeting/docking sites that favorably orient the protein for function.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Measuring Lipid Transfer Protein Activity Using Bicelle-Dilution Model Membranes

  Analytical Chemistry · 2020-01-23 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  In vitro assessment of lipid intermembrane transfer activity by cellular proteins typically involves measurement of either radiolabeled or fluorescently labeled lipid trafficking between vesicle model membranes. Use of bilayer vesicles in lipid transfer assays usually comes with inherent challenges because of complexities associated with the preparation of vesicles and their rather short “shelf life”. Such issues necessitate the laborious task of fresh vesicle preparation to achieve lipid transfer assays of high quality, precision, and reproducibility. To overcome these limitations, we have assessed model membrane generation by bicelle dilution for monitoring the transfer rates and specificity of various BODIPY-labeled sphingolipids by different glycolipid transfer protein (GLTP) superfamily members using a sensitive fluorescence resonance energy transfer approach. Robust, protein-selective sphingolipid transfer is observed using donor and acceptor model membranes generated by dilution of 0.5 q-value mixtures. The sphingolipid transfer rates are comparable to those observed between small bilayer vesicles produced by sonication or ethanol injection. Among the notable advantages of using bicelle-generated model membranes are (i) easy and straightforward preparation by means that avoid lipid fluorophore degradation and (ii) long “shelf life” after production (≥6 days) and resilience to freeze–thaw storage. The bicelle-dilution-based assay is sufficiently robust, sensitive, and stable for application, not only to purified LTPs but also for LTP activity detection in crude cytosolic fractions of cell homogenates.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Emerging roles for human glycolipid transfer protein superfamily members in the regulation of autophagy, inflammation, and cell death

  Progress in Lipid Research · 2020-04-01 · 36 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response: Structural basis of phosphatidylcholine recognition by the C2–domain of cytosolic phospholipase A2α

  2019-04-27

  peer-reviewOpen accessSenior author

  The C2-domain of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α is structurally designed to target PC-rich membrane regions to increase the enzymatic efficiency of the catalytic domain, which prefers PCs with polyunsaturated acyl chains.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• The functional role of the cPLA2alpha/C1P interaction in sepsis resolution

  NIH · $4.0M · 2014–2020

• NIH Grant R01GM045928

  NIH · $6.1M · 2017

Frequent coauthors

• Helen M. Pike

  Hormel (United States)

  137 shared

• Julian G. Molotkovsky

  Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry

  123 shared

• Lucy Malinina

  University of Minnesota

  95 shared

• Peter Mattjus

  Åbo Akademi University

  70 shared

• Xiuhong Zhai

  Hormel (United States)

  69 shared

• Yong‐Guang Gao

  Xuzhou Central Hospital

  66 shared

• Howard L. Brockman

  University of Minnesota

  60 shared

• Dinshaw J. Patel

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  49 shared

Education

• Bachelor of Arts, Chemistry and Zoology

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Ph.D., Biochemistry

  Wake Forest University School of Medicine

• Post-Doctoral Res. Assoc., Biophysics & Biochemistry

  University of Virginia

Awards & honors

• College of Liberal Arts "Red" Motley Teaching Award, Univers…
• Morse Amoco/Alumni Teaching Award, University of Minnesota