About Me
I have over 40 years of experience in research discovery, development and teaching at medical centers such as Northwestern University and Rush University, and in start-up biotechnology where I was Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer. Most fundamentally, I love science and am proud and eager to share my passion and talents to learn about, discuss and explain all things about drugs with my colleagues, critical reviewers, investors, and students. My professional journey now involves a leadership role in a doctoral pharmacy program where I am responsible for building a culture that encourages creative research and scholarly activities for our students and faculty alike. My personal love for drug discovery and development has never waned as I continue to be engaged in physical and scholarly laboratory research activities. I have had the distinct honor of collaborating with colleagues across the globe on various projects relevant to my insights into C-reactive protein and its role as the prototypic acute phase reactant. My globally recognized expertise involves how the acute phase inflammatory response is activated, amplified, and controlled. My seminal contribution to biomedical science is the discovery and elucidation of biochemical, immunological, and bioactivity properties, and the development of useful reagents, to study a here-to-fore unrecognized structural isoform of C-reactive protein, described as monomeric, modified CRP (i.e., mCRP). Most significantly, mCRP is a potent proinflammatory amplifier of acute inflammation. The mCRP isoform can be formed from the widely studied serum soluble pentameric CRP isoform (i.e., pCRP), currently used as an important diagnostic marker for generally perceived inflammatory processes. Bioactivities associated with mCRP involve binding to activated cell membrane surfaces at localized sites where its primary binding ligand – phosphocholine – becomes accessible. Full expression of mCRP bioactivities involve reduction of an intra-subunit disulfide bond and insertion lipid rafts with resultant activation of cell signaling pathways. Described mCRP bioactivities include regulating endothelial cell, neutrophil, monocyte/macrophage, and platelet responses, binding immune complexes, and regulating complement reactivity. Some of these activities are known to involve cell signaling pathways regulating transcription and translation. In understanding how mCRP is expressed and its distinctive bioactivities from the pCRP isoform (now known to have weak anti-inflammatory bioactivity), many ambiguities related to CRP function that have confounded scientific literature for decades are being resolved. By developing and certifying distinctive protein and antibody reagents to separately investigate the pCRP and mCRP isoforms, the role of “CRP” in various disease models can now be elucidated. I am excited to be a part of this proposal to investigate how different CRP isoforms contribute to pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease. The therapeutic and diagnostic value and relevance of both CRP isoforms are fundamental research goals of my laboratory.
- Immunobiochemistry; C-reactive protein; Scientific and Medical significance
Drug structure and function
- Inflammation
Therapeutic activation and control
- Biotherapeutic Drugs
Discovery and Development
- Biotechnology
Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Activities
- Overview of Expertise and Activities
Lawrence A Potempa, PhD
I am a Chair of Research and Scholarly Endeavors and Professor of Biochemistry and Immunology in the School of Pharmacy at Roosevelt University. I earned my PhD in Biochemistry from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and was a postdoctoral scholar at Rush Medical University in Immunology/Microbiology. I remained at Rush where I was both Assistant Scientist and Assistant Professor at Rush collaborating with physicians and scientists across multiple departments. I was enticed to be the first full time professional employee of a start-up Biotechnology company, started by a professor at Northwestern, where I quickly became Vice President of Research and Chief Science Officer. As the key scientist in a drug-development company, I led efforts to get both a small molecule anti-infective compound, and an immune system modulating recombinant human protein into human clinical trials.
I have a strong publication record in highly regarded journals (my current h-index is 50 and my i10 is 110). I am on numerous editorial boards, have many domestic and international colleagues, and am a Co-PI on an NIH grant awarded to Boston University Medical School.
My primary research expertise involves C-reactive protein (CRP). I discovered CRP undergoes allosteric activation into an isoform that has significantly different structure, solubility, antigenicity and biofunction from the CRP that is widely known as a biomarker of inflammation. I have generated distinctive reagents for each isoform and have shared such with many prominent scientists and physicians around the globe. Such collaboration has resulted in major advances and publications in areas such as cancer, arthritis, infections, autoimmune disease, and neurological disease including Alzheimer’s. There is great opportunity to translate these discoveries into clinical development.
I welcome the opportunity to assist in clinical research programs, both conceptually, by providing appropriate rationale for proposed investigations, and assisting in the interpretation of results. Also, for my personal laboratory program, I am interested in obtaining patient blood samples (diseased or otherwise) that may become available after clinical diagnostic analyses, so to assay for each different CRP isoform and pursue collaborative studies in selected patient groups
- Key publications
Hart PC, Rajab IM, Alebraheem M, Potempa LA. 2020. C-reactive protein and cancer – diagnostic and therapeutic insights. Frontiers Immunology – Molecular Innate Immunity 11:595835. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2020.595835
Chirco, KR, Potempa LA. 2018. C-reactive Protein as a Mediator of Complement Activation and Inflammatory Signaling in Age-related Macular Degeneration. Mini-Review. Frontiers in Immunology-Inflammation 9:article 539. Mar 15, 2018. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.00539
Li H-Y, Jing Wang J, Meng F, Zhe-Kun Jia Z-K, Su Y, Bai Q-F, Lv L-L, Ma F-R, Potempa LA, Yan Y-B, Ji S-R, Wu Y. 2016. An intrinsically disordered motif mediates diverse actions of monomeric C-reactive protein. J Biol Chem 291(16):8795-8804 http://doi:10.1074/jbc.M115.695023
Potempa M, Rajab IM, Margaret E OlsonME, Lv J, Yao Z, Potempa LA. 2025. Allosteric Regulation of C-reactive Protein. Biophysics Report. http://doi:10.52601/bpr.2025.250041
Potempa M, Hart PC, Rajab IM, Potempa LA. 2025. Redefining CRP in Tissue Injury and Repair: More Than an Acute Pro-inflammatory Mediator. Frontiers in Immunology - Molecular Innate Immunity 16:1564607. Research Topic: Community Series in Biology of C-reactive Protein. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2025.1564607
Olson ME, Hornick MG, Stefanski A, Albanna H, Gjoni A, Hall GD, Hart PC, Rajab IM, Potempa LA. 2023. A biofunctional review of C-reactve protein (CRP) as a mediator of inflammatory and immune responses: Differentiating pentameric and modified CRP isoform effects. Frontiers Immunology 14:1264383. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1002652
Potempa LA, Qiu WQ, Stefanski A, Rajab IM. 2022. Relevance of lipoproteins, membranes, and extracellular vesicles in understanding C-reactive protein (CRP) biochemical structure and biological activities. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, Atherosclerosis and Vascular Medicine 9:979461-979476. http://doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.979461
Potempa LA, Rajab IM, Olson ME, Hart PC. 2021. C-reactive protein and cancer. Interpreting the differential bioactivities of its pentameric (pCRP) and monomeric, modified (mCRP) isoforms. Frontiers – Immunology 12:744129-744140. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.744129
Rajab IM, Majerczyk D, Olson ME, Addams JMB, Choe ML, Nelson MS, Potempa LA. 2020. C-reactive protein in gallbladder diseases – diagnostic and therapeutic insights. Biophysics Report 6(2-3):49-67. http://doi:10.1007/s41048-020-00108-9 On line access: https://rdcu.be/b41Rz
Rajab IM, Hart PC, Potempa LA. 2020. How C-reactive protein structural isoforms with distinctive bioactivities affect disease progression. Frontiers Immunology – Molecular Innate Immunity 112:126-2138. http://doi:10.3389/fimmu.2020.02126
Trial J, Potempa LA, Entman ML 2016. The Role of C-reactive Protein in Innate and Acquired Inflammation: New Perspectives. Inflammation and Cell Signaling 3:e1409 http://doi:10.14800/ics.1409
Wang M-Y, Ji S-R, Bai C-J, El Kebir D, Li H-Y, Shi J-M, Zhu W, Costantino S, Zhou H-H, Potempa LA, Zhao J, Filep JG, Wu Y. 2011. A redox switch in C-reactive protein modulates activation of endothelial cells. FASEB J. 25:3186-3196 http://doi10.1096/fj.11-182741
Wu Yi, Potempa LA, El Kebir D, Filep JG. 2015. C-reactive protein and inflammation: conformational changes affect function. Biol Chem 396(11):1181-1197. http://doi:10.1515/hsz-2015-0149
Wang M-Y, Ji S-R, Bai C-J, El Kebir D, Li H-Y, Shi J-M, Zhu W, Costantino S, Zhou H-H, Potempa LA, Zhao J, Filep JG, Wu Y. 2011. A redox switch in C-reactive protein modulates activation of endothelial cells. FASEB J. 25:3186-3196 http://doi10.1096/fj.11-182741
Ji S-R, Bai L, Shi J-M, Li H-Y, Potempa LA, Filep JG, Zhao J, Wu Y. 2009. Monomeric C-reactive protein activates endothelial cells via interaction with lipid raft membrane microdomains. FASEB J 23(6):1806-1816 http://doi:10.1096/fj.08-116962
- PhD Biochemistry — Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Postdoctoral Scholar Immunology / Immunobiochemistry/Microbiology — Rush University Medical Center