Protein Structural Enzymology
Enzymes can catalyze seemingly unbelievable reactions at impressive rates. Obtaining structural information for these systems at the atomic level is important to understand how different biocatalysts favor specific reactions, often with extreme stereoselectivity, to yield the desired products. These structures, when complimented with additional biochemical and biophysical studies, allow us to synthesize how different enzymes fulfill their required rolls in the cell.
Our research is driven by a desire to positively impact society, including research in natural product development and of enzymes linked to different types of diseases. We are actively working in the following areas:
- Natural product biosynthetic enzymes, with a focus on the NRPS cyclization domain and radical SAM enzymes
- DNA nucleobase hypermodifying enzymes, with a focus on bacteriophage system that generate chemically modified pyrimidine bases
- Bacterial sulfur assimilation from organosulfur compounds, employing two-component FMN-dependent monooxygenases
- The DNA binding properties of transcription factors related to development, whose misregulation is linked to disease