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Barbara Ann Baird

Horace White Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Graduate Fields

Research Focus

The Baird laboratory employs a broad range of biophysico-chemical methods to investigate the structure and molecular mechanisms of cell membrane receptors that operate in immunological and other inflammatory responses. This biophysical characterization is carried out in conjunction with measurements of cellular activities to determine the features critical for the initiation and regulation of signal transduction. Many of our current studies focus on the receptor for immunoglobulin E (IgE). We apply similar methods to other receptors including the T cell receptor for antigen and the receptor for interleukin-1. The goal of these integrated studies is to understand complex biological systems on a molecular level; the information obtained also has important biomedical applications in drug design and clinical therapies.

Educational Background

  • PhD, Cornell University, 1979
  • BS, Knox College, 1973

Research Grants

  • MECHANISM OF LL-37 MEMBRANE PERMEATION - POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP FOR SARAH VEATCH
  • PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP FOR NATHANIEL CALLOWAY
  • STRUCTURE FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS OF IMMUNORECEPTORS

Selected Publications

PubMed Listings


Wu, M., D. Holowka, H.G. Craighead and B. Baird. 2004. Visualization of plasma membrane compartmentalization with patterned plasma membrane bilayers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:13798-13803.

Young, R.M., X. Zheng, D. Holowka and B. Baird. 2005. Reconstitution of Regulated phosphorylation of FcεRI by a lipid raft-excluded protein tyrosine phosphatase. J. Biol. Chem. 280:1230-1235.

Hammond, A.T., T. Baumgart, A.K Smith, D. Holowka, B. Baird and G.W. Feigenson. 2005. Crosslinking a lipid raft component triggers raft-like phases in model plasma membranes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:6320-6325.

Gosse, J.A., A. Wagenknecht-Wiesner, D. Holowka and B. Baird. 2005. Transmembrane sequences are determinants of immunoreceptor signaling. J. Immunol. 175:2123-2131.

Holowka, D., J.A. Gosse, A.T. Hammond, X. Han, P. Sengupta, N.L. Smith, A. Wagenknecht-Wiesner, M. Wu, R.M. Young and B. Baird. 2005. Lipid segretion and IgE receptor signaling: a decade of progress. Biophys. Biochim. Acta. 1746:252-259.

Larson, D.R, J.A. Gosse, D. Holowka, B. Baird and W.W. Webb. 2005. Temporally Resolved Interactions Between Antigen-Stimulated IgE Receptors and Lyn Kinase on Living Cells Revealed by Fluorescence Cross-correlation Spectroscopy. J. Cell. Biol. 171:527-536.

Senaratne, W., P. Sengupta, V. Jakubek, D. Holowka, C.K. Ober and B. Baird. 2006. Self-assembled monolayer functionalized surface arrays for investigating immune cell signaling. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128:5594-5595.

Swamy, M.J., L. Ciani, M. Ge, D. Holowka, B. Baird and J.H. Freed. 2006. Coexisting domains in the plasma membranes of live cells characterized by spin label ESR Spectroscopy. Biophys. J. 90:4452-4465.

Burns, A., P. Sengupta, T. Zedayko, B. Baird and U. Wiesner. 2006. Core-Shell Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticles for Chemical Sensing: Towards Single Particle Laboratories. Small 2:723-726.

Sengupta, P., D. Holowka and B. Baird. 2007. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Between Lipid Probes Detects Nanoscopic Heterogeneity in the Plasma Membrane of Live Cells. Biophys. J. 92:3564-3574.

Moran-Mirabal, J.M., A.J. Torres, K.T. Samiee, B.A. Baird and H.G. Craighead. 2007. Cell investigation of nanostructures: Zero-Mode Waveguides for plasma membrane studies with single molecule resolution. Nanotechnology 18: 195101-195111.

Sil, D., J.B. Lee, D. Luo, D. Holowka and B. Baird. 2007. Trivalent ligands with rigid DNA spacers reveal structural requirements for IgE receptor signaling in RBL mast cells. ACS Chemical Biology 2:674-684.