Research OverviewStructural Biology Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology concerned with the study of the architecture and shape of large biological molecules (macromolecules) ----including proteins and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in particular. Structural biology examines the physical and chemical basis for the complex structures adopted these molecules. This subject is of great interest to biologists, because macromolecules carry out most of the functions of living cells. Typically, these functions depend on proteins, DNA and RNA adopting a specific three-dimensional shape. These shapes depend, in ways that can be predicted and measured, on the basic chemical structure of the molecules----specifically, on the amino acid.... Complete Information... | Research DescriptionResearch Area : Structural Biology Research Specialty: Protein Crystallography We are Structural Biologists interested in the relationship between the function and structure of proteins. We use X-ray crystallography to determine the structures of our molecules of interest, and various computational tools to analyze these structures. Functional studies are carried out in our laboratory and/or in collaboration with other investigators. Some of our projects include:
-Structural Genomics (a) Structural Genomics of bacterial proteins of unknown function.
(b) The structural consequences of alternative splicing.
-Giardia Drug Targets - structure, function and inhibitor design.
-Function, structure and evolution of the PEP mutase/isocitrate lyase superfamily.
-The pyruvate phosphate dikinase and Enzyme I molecular machines: Spare parts and swiveling domain mechanism. |
Representative PublicationsChao KL, Muthukumar L, Herzberg O. Structure of Human Hyaluronidase-1, a Hyaluronan Hydrolyzing Enzyme Involved in Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis. Biochemistry, 46, 6911-6920 (2007) Galkin A, Kulakova L, Melamud E, Li L, Wu C, Mariano P, Dunaway-Mariano D, Nash TE, Herzberg O. Characterization, Kinetics and Crystal Structures of Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate Aldolase from the Human Parasite, Giardia lamblia. J Biol Chem 282, 4859-4867 (2006) CCH, Han Y, Niu W, Howard A, Quinn JP, Dunaway-Mariano D, Herzberg O. Structure and Kinetics of Phosphonopyruvate Hydrolase from Voriovorax sp. Pal2 New Insight Into the Divergence of Catalysis Within the PEP Mutase/Isocitrate Lyase Superfamily. Biochemistry 45, 11491-11504 (2006) Complete Listing... |
