Dr. Prasain's research interests include delineation of the Cox-independent Prostaglandin synthesis mechanism, mass spectrometry based metabolomics/lipidomics, and biological activity, metabolisms and bioavailability of dietary botanicals and medicinal herbs in vitro and in vivo.

There are still knowledge gaps in how changes in dietary PUFA intake influence prostaglandin synthesis and function. Prostaglandins (PGs) are lipid signaling molecules implicated in a variety of pathophysiological processes. However, mammalian animal models such as mouse have enormous complexity, making systems biology analyses at the organismal level exceedingly difficult.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the most widely used model organisms to address fundamental questions in genetics and systems biology. Dr. Miller and my laboratory have shown that an evolutionarily conserved Cox-independent pathway for PG synthesis exists in C. elegans and mice (Hoang et al., 2013). This pathway has a critical role in fertilization and is dynamically regulated by pheromones and nutritional cues (McKnight et al., 2014). Dr. Miller and I have had a longstanding collaborative relationship that has made the important discovery of unconventional synthesis of prostaglandins. Delineating this pathway could transform our understanding of PG biology, impacting diverse fields, such as reproductive biology, cardiovascular biology, immunology, and fields relying on PGs as oxidative stress markers. The current focus of my lab is to delineate the Cox-independent PG synthesis mechanism in C. elegans, and identify structures of key intermediates leading to PGs using mass spectrometry based untargeted and targeted lipidomics.

Another focus of my lab is to analyze oxidized lipids and in collaboration with TMPL lab UAB (http://www.uab.edu/proteomics/massspec/), we have developed and validated a sensitive and specific LC-MS/MS method for quantification of stereo isomeric F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) and prostaglandins (PGs) in human urine (Prasain et al. 2013).

My lab has also been actively involved in discovering new properties of bioactive dietary natural products, particularly, the role(s) of botanical compounds and dietary supplements to promote health and prevent chronic diseases.

Das S, Jackson PW, Prasain JK, Hanna A, Bailey SK, Tucker JA, Bae S, Wilson LS, Samant RS, Barnes S, Shevde LA. Loss of Merlin induces metabolomics adaptation that engages dependence on Hedgehog signaling. Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 23;7:40773

Prasain JK, Rajbhandari R, Keeton AB, Gary A. Piazza GA, Barnes S. Metabolism and growth inhibitory activity of cranberry derived flavonoids in bladder cancer cells. Food Funct., 2016,7, 4012-4019.

Singh A, Rahman T, Bartiss R, Arabshahi A, Prasain J, Barnes S, Musteata FM, Sellati TJ. Lipoxin A4, a 5-lipoxygenase pathway metabolite, modulates immune response during acute respiratory tularemia. J Leukoc Biol. 2017 Feb;101(2):531-542

Barnes S, Benton HP, Casazza K, Cooper SJ, Cui X, Du X, Engler J, Kabarowski JH, Li S, Pathmasiri W, Prasain JK, Renfrow MB, Tiwari HK. Training in metabolomics research. II. Processing and statistical analysis of metabolomics data, metabolite identification, pathway analysis, applications of metabolomics and its future. J Mass Spectrom. 2016 Aug;51(8):535-548.

Prasain JK, Wilson L, Hoang HD, Moore R, Miller MA. Comparative Lipidomics of Caenorhabditis elegans Metabolic Disease Models by SWATH Non-Targeted Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Metabolites. 5: 677-96, 2015.

Carlson S, Prasain JK, Peng N, Dai Y, Wyss JM. Acute and chronic kudzu improves plasma glucose tolerance in non-diabetic CD-1 mice. J. Endocrinol. Diabetes Mellit. 2: 70-77, 2014.

McKnight K, Hoang HD, Prasain JK, Brown N, Vibbert J, Hollister KA, Moore R, Ragains JR, Reese J, Miller MA. Neurosensory perception of environmental cues modulates sperm motility critical for fertilization. Science. 344:754-7, 2014.

Wilson L, Arabshahi A, Simons B, Prasain JK, Barnes S. Improved high sensitivity analysis of polyphenols and their metabolites by nano-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Arch Biochem Biophys. 559: 3-11, 2014.

Prasain JK, Hoang HD, Edmonds JW, Miller MA. Prostaglandin Extraction and Analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Vis Exp. 25: 76, 2013.

Prasain JK, Arabshahi A, Taub PR, Sweeney S, Moore R, Sharer JD, Barnes S. Simultaneous quantification of F2-isoprostanes and prostaglandins in human urine by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 913-914, 161-8, 2013.