Sarah L. J. Michel, PhD, Dean and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), has been awarded a $2.1 million Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health, announced September 17, 2026, to investigate how hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) regulates zinc finger proteins and gene expression. The MIRA, funded through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), provides long-term support for an investigator’s overall research program rather than a single narrowly defined project — giving Michel’s team flexibility to pursue new scientific directions as the work evolves.
A New Way Hydrogen Sulfide Talks to DNA
Zinc finger proteins are the most abundant class of zinc-containing proteins in eukaryotic cells, using zinc ions to form compact 3D structures that let them bind DNA or RNA and regulate gene expression. Michel’s lab has found that H₂S — a naturally occurring signaling molecule — can alter these proteins’ function through a process called persulfidation, which modifies cysteine residues and can disrupt a zinc finger protein’s ability to bind DNA or RNA, potentially changing which genes it regulates. “We have uncovered what we think is a fundamentally new way of thinking about how zinc finger proteins are regulated,” Michel said. “These proteins make up approximately eight percent of all eukaryotic proteins, so understanding how hydrogen sulfide modifies their function could have broad implications for gene regulation and human health.”
Three Questions Driving the Research
With MIRA support, Michel’s team will pursue three central questions: which types of zinc finger proteins get persulfidated, how that persulfidation alters gene expression, and what molecular triggers turn H₂S signaling on in the first place. To answer them, researchers will use a “molecules-to-proteomics” approach — combining biochemical and bioanalytical studies with cell-based experiments and persulfide-specific proteomics — to pinpoint specific persulfidation sites, test how those modifications affect protein function, and determine which classes of zinc finger proteins are affected and what cellular signals control the process. “The MIRA is particularly exciting because it gives us the flexibility to follow the science,” Michel said. “We can investigate the fundamental chemistry of these proteins and then move into cells and across the proteome to understand how this mechanism affects gene regulation more broadly.”
Why It Matters Beyond the Lab
H₂S signaling has already been linked to physiological and pathological processes in cardiovascular health, metabolism, cancer, and neurological disorders — meaning insight into how it reprograms zinc finger protein function could open up a largely unexplored mechanism of cellular regulation. Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said: “Hydrogen sulfide is a fascinating signaling molecule in biology and in this exciting new area of research, Dean Michel is exploring how it regulates zinc finger proteins.” Hongbing Wang, PhD, Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a University of Maryland, Baltimore Distinguished University Professor, added: “Persulfidation of zinc finger proteins is a fundamentally important, yet understudied area of research with significant implications for our understanding of gene regulation. Dr. Michel has made substantial contributions to this field and is well positioned to continue advancing our knowledge in this important area.”
About Sarah Michel
Michel is an internationally recognized leader in the field of metals in medicine, with prior funding from the NIH, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Army Research labs investigating the role metals play in chronic inflammation, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease. She has also been active in clinical research through FDA grants and has been closely involved with the Maryland Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation. In 2025, she was named Maryland Chemist of the Year by the state chapter of the American Chemical Society.
