Richard M. Higashi, PhD.

Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry

Belknap Research Building, rm 347

2210 S. Brook Street
University of Louisville
rick.higashi@louisville.edu

Areas of Research Interest:

Analytical Biochemistry research in Dr. Higashi's laboratory is currently comprised of cancer metabolism, neurological disease biochemistry, environmental [bio]chemistry, and biodefense subjects.  As co-Director of CREAM, he is responsible for Mass Spectrometry Development, utilizing all of the CREAM instruments.  In addition, techniques used in his own laboratory include pyrolysis GC-MS, SPME-based GC techniques, FTIR reflectance & ATR, FTIR-microscopy, photon-correlation spectroscopy, and fluorescence techniques (excitation-emission matrix, polarization/anisotropy, FRET, lifetime, and fluorescence imaging).  Prior his appointment at UofL, his laboratory at Univ. of California - Davis has worked on aspects of second-hand smoke biochemistry, wildlife ecotoxicology, biogeochemistry of pollutants and natural products, sourcing of dust and sediment by chemical signatures, oxidant impacts on pines, volatile organic profiling of biogenic sources of ozone precursors, trace element volatilization and biogeochemistry, plant nutrition/ion transport, and phyto/microbioremediation.

Recent Publications.

Fan, T.W-M., R.M. Higashi, A.N. Lane, and O. Jardetzky.  (1986) Combined use of 1H NMR and GC/MS for metabolite monitoring and in vivo 1H NMR Assignments.  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta  882: 154-167

Fan, T.W-M., R.M. Higashi, and A.N. Lane (1986).  Monitoring of hypoxic metabolism in superfused plant tissues by in vivo 1H NMR.  Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 251(2): 674-687.

Fan, T.W.-M., R.M. Higashi, and A.N. Lane.(1988)  An in vivo 1H and 31P NMR investigation of the effect of nitrate on hypoxic metabolism in maize roots.  Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 266(2): 592-606.

Fan, T. W-M. and R.M. Higashi. (1989) Reproducible NMR surface coil fabrication by combining computer-aided-design and photoresist process.  Analytical Chemistry 61: 636-638.

Fan, T.W-M., R.M. Higashi, J. Norlyn, and E. Epstein. (1989) In vivo 23Na and 31P NMR measurement of a tonoplast Na+/H+ exchange process and its characteristics in two barley cultivars.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 86: 9856-9860.

Higashi, R.M., T. W-M. Fan, and J.M. Macdonald. (1989) Monitoring of metabolite responses of intact Haliotis (abalones) under salinity stress by 31P surface probe localized NMR.  Journal of Experimental Zoology 249: 350-356.

Fan, T.W.-M., R.M. Higashi, and J.M. Macdonald. (1991) Emergence and recovery response of phosphate metabolites and intracellular pH in intact Mytilus edulis as examined in situ by in vivo 31P NMR.  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1092: 39-47.

Tjeerdema, R.S., T.W.-M. Fan, D.G. Crosby, and R.M. Higashi. (1991)  Effects of pentachlorophenol on intermediary metabolism and intracellular pH in abalone (Haliotis rufescens) as measured by in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy.  Journal of Biochemical Toxicology 6(1): 45-56.

Fan, T. W.-M., R.M. Higashi, and A.N. Lane (1992).  Temperature dependence of arginine kinase reaction in the tail muscle of live Sycionia ingentis as measured in vivo by 31P NMR driven saturation transfer.  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1135: 44-49

Higashi, R.M., G.N. Cherr, J.M. Shenker, J.M. Macdonald, and D.G. Crosby. (1992) A polar high molecular mass constituent of bleached kraft mill effluent is toxic to marine organisms.  Environmental Science and Technology, 26: 2413-2420.

Fan, T.W.-M, A.N. Lane, and R.M. Higashi. (1992) Hypoxia does not affect rate of ATP synthesis and energy metabolism in rice shoot tips as measured by 31P NMR in vivo.  Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 294(1): 314-318.

G.N. Cherr, T.W.-M. Fan, M.C. Pillai, T. Shields, and R.M. Higashi. (1993) Electrophoretic separation, characterization, and quantification of biologically active lignin-derived macromolecules, Analytical Biochemistry 214: 521-527.

Fan, T.W-M., T.D. Colmer, A.N. Lane, and R.M. Higashi. (1993) Determination of metabolites by 1H NMR and GC: analysis for organic osmolytes in crude tissue extracts, Analytical Biochemistry  214: 260-271.

Fan, T.W-M., A.J. Clifford, and R.M. Higashi. (1994)  In vivo 13C NMR analysis of acyl carbon chain composition and organization of perirenal triacylglycerides in rats fed vegetable and fish oils.  J. Lipid Research 35: 678-689.

Colmer, T.D., T.W-M. Fan, R.M. Higashi, and A. Läuchli.  (1994) Interactions of Ca2+ and NaCl stress on the ion relations and intracellular pH of Sorghum bicolor root tips:  An in vivo 31P-NMR study.  J. Exp. Botany 45: 1037-1044.

Fan, T.W-M., A.N. Lane, J. Pedler, D. Crowley, and R.M. Higashi.  (1994) Comprehensive analysis of organic ligands in whole root exudate using nuclear magnetic resonance and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.  Analytical Biochemistry, 251: 57-68.

Fan, T.W-M., A.N. Lane, and R.M. Higashi. (1997) Selenium biotransformations by a euryhaline microalga isolated from a saline evaporation pond.  Environmental Science and Technology, 31: 569-576.

Fan, T.W.-M.,  A.N. Lane, T. A. Frenkiel, and R.M. Higashi.  (1997) Anaerobic Nitrate and ammonium metabolism in flood-tolerant rice coleoptiles.  Journal of Experimental Botany, 48: 1655-1666.

Fan, T.W-M., Higashi, R.M.  Biochemical fate of selenium in microphytes:  natural bioremediation by volatilization and sedimentation in aquatic environments.  In: Environmental Chemistry of Selenium, W.T. Frankenberger and R.A. Engberg, Eds, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, pp. 545-563. [peer reviewed]

Fan, T.W-M., R.M. Higashi, and A.N. Lane. (1998)  Biotransformations of selenium oxyanion by filamentous cyanophyte-dominated mat cultured from agricultural drainage waters.  Environmental Science and Technology, 32: 3185-3193.

Fan, T.W-M., A.N. Lane, D. Martens, and R.M. Higashi. (1998) Synthesis and structure characterization of selenium metabolites.  The Analyst, 123: 875-884

Fan, T.W-M., Lane, A.N., Shenker, M., Bartley, J.P., Crowley, D., Higashi, R.M. (2001) Comprehensive chemical profiling of gramineous plant root exudates using high-resolution NMR and MS.  Phytochemistry 57: 209-221

Fan, T.W-M., Teh, S.J., Hinton, D.E.,  Higashi, R.M.  (2002) Selenium biotransformations into proteinaceous forms by foodweb organisms of selenium-laden drainage waters in California.  Aquatic Toxicology 57(1-2):65-84.

Fan, T.W-M., Lane, A.N., and Higashi, R.M.  (2003) In vivo and in vitro metabolomic analysis of anaerobic rice coleoptiles revealed unexpected pathways.  Russian J. Plant Phys., 50: 787-793.

Fan, T.W-M., Lane, A.N., and Higashi, R.M. (2004) An electrophoretic profiling method for thiol-rich phytochelatins and metallothioneins, Phytochemical Anal. 15: 175-183.

Fan, T.W-M., Lane, A.L., Chekmenev, E., Wittebort, R.J., Higashi, R.M.  (2004) Synthesis and Physico-Chemical Properties of Peptides in Soil Humic Substances, Journal of Peptide Research 63: 1-12.

Teh, S.J., Deng, X., Deng, D-F., Teh, F-C., Hung, S.O., Fan, T. W-M., Liu, J., Higashi, R.M.  (2004) Chronic Effects of Dietary Selenium on Juvenile Sacramento Splittail (Pogonichthys Macrolepidotus), Env. Sci. Technol., 38: 6085-6093.

Rejmánková, E.J., Higashi, R.M., Grieco, J., Achee, N., Roberts, D.  (2005) Volatile substances from larval habitats as species specific oviposition stimulants for Anopheles mosquitoes. J. Medical Entomology, 42: 95-103.

Fan, T. W-M., Lane, A.N., Higashi, R.M. (2004) The Promise of Metabolomics in Cancer Molecular Therapeutics.  Current Opinion in Molecular Therapeutics, 6: 584-592.

Fan, T.W-M., Bandura, L.L., Higashi, R.M., Lane, A.N. (2005)  Metabolomics-Edited Transcriptomics Analysis of Se Anticancer Action in human lung cancer cell.  Metabolomics J., 1: 325-339.

Fan, T. W-M., Higashi, R.M., Lane, A.N.. (2006) Integrating Metabolomics and Transcriptomis for Probing Se Anticancer Mechanisms, Drug Metabolism Reviews, 38: 1-25.

Lane A.N.  Fan, T. WM., & Higashi R.M. Isotopomer-based metabolomic analysis by NMR and mass spectrometry.  In: "Biophysical Techniques: A Volume of Methods in Cell Biology, Edited by John J. Correia and H. William Detrich, III, Academic Press, Chapter 22.