Leslie M. Hicks

Leslie Hicks is an American associate professor of analytical chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work primarily focuses on the study of proteomics and protein post-translational modifications using mass spectrometry, and identifying biologically active peptides in plants.[1]

Leslie M. Hicks
Education
  • B.S., Chemistry, Marshall University
  • Ph.D, Analytical Chemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Alma mater
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Doctoral advisorNeil L. Kelleher
WebsiteGroup Page

Career

Hicks earned her bachelor's degree at Marshall University in 2001, and went on to earn her doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2005. She was an Assistant Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center from 2006 to 2013, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis before beginning her current position as a professor at UNC.[2] She was named Sherman Fairchild Foundation Chancellor’s Science Scholars Term Associate Professor in 2022.[3]

Research

Hicks' research focuses largely on the development and implementation of mass spectrometric methods for protein identification and characterization. Recent work in the Hicks Lab has focused primarily on two areas. The first is the study of post-translational modifications and their role in regulation and development. The second involves a novel analytical pipeline for the discovery and characterization of antimicrobial peptides.

Hicks' research in post-translational modifications typically employs bottom-up proteomics using label-free quantification. Much of this research involves the model organism C. reinhardtii, an important organism in biofuel research due to its tendency to accumulate triacylglycerols. The Hicks Lab has studied the phosphoproteome of C. reinhardtii in order to examine underlying biological processes.[4][5] Work has also been done to understand cell regulatory pathways, especially the algal analog of the mammalian TOR pathway.[6] To a similar end, Hicks' group has extended its work to examine how the reversible oxidation of thiols plays a role in signaling[7] and effector-triggered immunity.[8]

The increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance has produced a need for novel antimicrobial agents.[9] The Hicks Lab has investigated antimicrobial peptides as a potential source for new antibiotics. Recent work has involved the development of a comprehensive analytical approach using LC-MS for the identification of novel antimicrobial peptides from botanical,[10][11] fungal,[12] and bacterial[13] sources.

Awards and honors

References
  1. "Contributors to the emerging investigators issue". Analytical Methods. 7 (17): 6937–6946. 2015-08-20. doi:10.1039/C5AY90060C. ISSN 1759-9679.
  2. "Department of Chemistry Leslie Hicks". www.chem.unc.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  3. "Carolina's newest distinguished professors". The Well. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  4. Wang, Hongxia; Gau, Brian; Slade, William O.; Juergens, Matthew; Li, Ping; Hicks, Leslie M. (September 2014). "The global phosphoproteome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveals complex organellar phosphorylation in the flagella and thylakoid membrane". Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 13 (9): 2337–2353. doi:10.1074/mcp.M114.038281. PMC 159653. PMID 24917610.
  5. Werth, Emily G.; McConnell, Evan W.; Gilbert, Thomas S. Karim; Couso Lianez, Inmaculada; Perez, Carlos A.; Manley, Cherrel K.; Graves, Lee M.; Umen, James G.; Hicks, Leslie M. (2017). "Probing the global kinome and phosphoproteome in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via sequential enrichment and quantitative proteomics". The Plant Journal. 89 (2): 416–426. doi:10.1111/tpj.13384. PMID 27671103.
  6. Werth, Emily G.; McConnell, Evan W.; Couso Lianez, Inmaculada; Perrine, Zoee; Crespo, Jose L.; Umen, James G.; Hicks, Leslie M. (2019). "Investigating the effect of target of rapamycin kinase inhibition on the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii phosphoproteome: from known homologs to new targets". New Phytologist. 221 (1): 247–260. doi:10.1111/nph.15339. PMID 30040123.
  7. McConnell, Evan W.; Werth, Emily G.; Hicks, Leslie M. (2018-07-01). "The phosphorylated redox proteome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: Revealing novel means for regulation of protein structure and function". Redox Biology. 17: 35–46. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2018.04.003. ISSN 2213-2317. PMC 6006682. PMID 29673699.
  8. McConnell, Evan W.; Berg, Philip; Westlake, Timothy J.; Wilson, Katherine M.; Popescu, George V.; Hicks, Leslie M.; Popescu, Sorina C. (2019). "Proteome-Wide Analysis of Cysteine Reactivity during Effector-Triggered Immunity". Plant Physiology. 179 (4): 1248–1264. doi:10.1104/pp.18.01194. ISSN 0032-0889. PMC 6446758. PMID 30510037.
  9. "WHO | WHO's first global report on antibiotic resistance reveals serious, worldwide threat to public health". www.who.int. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  10. Kirkpatrick, Christine L.; Broberg, Christopher A.; McCool, Elijah N.; Lee, Woo Jean; Chao, Alex; McConnell, Evan W.; Pritchard, David A.; Hebert, Michael; Fleeman, Renee (2017-01-04). "The "PepSAVI-MS" Pipeline for Natural Product Bioactive Peptide Discovery". Analytical Chemistry. 89 (2): 1194–1201. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03625. PMC 8609470. PMID 27991763. S2CID 19255313.
  11. Parsley, Nicole C.; Kirkpatrick, Christine L.; Crittenden, Christopher M.; Rad, Javad Ghassemi; Hoskin, David W.; Brodbelt, Jennifer S.; Hicks, Leslie M. (August 2018). "PepSAVI-MS reveals anticancer and antifungal cycloviolacins in Viola odorata". Phytochemistry. 152: 61–70. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2018.04.014. ISSN 0031-9422. PMC 6003877. PMID 29734037.
  12. Kirkpatrick, Christine L.; Parsley, Nicole C.; Bartges, Tessa E.; Cooke, Madeline E.; Evans, Wilaysha S.; Heil, Lilian R.; Smith, Thomas J.; Hicks, Leslie M. (2018-02-05). "Fungal Secretome Analysis via PepSAVI-MS: Identification of the Bioactive Peptide KP4 from Ustilago maydis". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 29 (5): 859–865. Bibcode:2018JASMS..29..859K. doi:10.1007/s13361-017-1880-z. ISSN 1044-0305. PMC 5983367. PMID 29404970.
  13. Kirkpatrick, Christine L.; Parsley, Nicole C.; Bartges, Tessa E.; Wing, Casey E.; Kommineni, Sushma; Kristich, Christopher J.; Salzman, Nita H.; Patrie, Steven M.; Hicks, Leslie M. (2018-07-16). "Exploring bioactive peptides from bacterial secretomes using PepSAVI-MS: identification and characterization of Bac-21 from Enterococcus faecalis pPD1". Microbial Biotechnology. 11 (5): 943–951. doi:10.1111/1751-7915.13299. ISSN 1751-7915. PMC 6116741. PMID 30014612.
  14. "82nd Alumni Awards Banquet". Marshall University Alumni Association. April 13, 2019.
  15. Sahl, Lars. "Young Investigator Award". Department of Chemistry. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  16. "Awards". www.ushupo.org. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  17. "NSF Award Search: Award#1552522 - CAREER: Uncoupling Growth and Triacylglycerol Accumulation in Algae". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  18. "PSNA Awards". www.psna-online.org. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  19. Hicks, Leslie (April 10, 2017). "Leslie Hicks, Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). UNC Chemistry. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
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