Faculty

Jay Thelen smiling.

Sep. 7, 2019

Jay J. Thelen

Educational background Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of Missouri Courses taught Biochemistry 4272/7272: Biochemistry…

Portrait of Scott Peck

Sep. 7, 2019

Scott C. Peck

Educational background Ph.D., Michigan State University Courses taught Biochemistry 2480: Introduction to Macromolecular Structure and Function Biochemistry 8200: Principles and Research Practices in Biochemistry…

Lesa J. Beamer smiling.

Sep. 7, 2019

Lesa J. Beamer

Educational background Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Courses taught Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for 1st and 2nd year medical students Graduate Level Structural Biology for the Life Sciences…

Steven Van Doren

Sep. 7, 2019

Steven R. Van Doren

Dynamic biological assemblies are strategic and fascinating. We have been exploring molecular recognition by flexible proteins and automatic tracking of changes in complex spectra and medical images. Molecular recognition by proteins with intrinsic disorder A pivotal virus-membrane interaction: Coronaviruses use a region of Spike to merge the viral envelope with the host cell membrane. We continue to be interested in the nature of the lipid interactions with this fusogenic region of Spike. Our articles reported (i) the NMR structure of the fusion peptide in a simple membrane-mimicking environment and (ii) its insertion and distortion of the simple membrane mimic via…

John J. Tanner smiling.

Sep. 6, 2019

John J. Tanner

Educational background Ph.D. Chemistry, Brown University, 1988…

Michael Chapman

Sep. 6, 2019

Michael S. Chapman

Structural Virology – Host Interactions: The US Food & Drug Administration has now approved two gene replacement therapies: Luxturna™ (2017), a treatment for congenital blindness and Zolgenesma™ (2019) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). 1,500 SMA infants have now been treated for this debilitating and fatal genetic disorder. These, and treatments for hemophilia and other diseases, use recombinant rAAV vectors to deliver DNA to afflicted cells. Our structure-function analyses provide a fundamental understanding of the atomic interactions key to cell entry, trafficking, and immune neutralization.  These foundations are needed for the engineering of gene therapy vectors that are efficient and specific enough…

Xiao Heng

Sep. 6, 2019

Xiao Heng

The 5′-cap of HIV-1 incompletely spliced mRNAs undergoes hypermethylation by the host trimethylguanosine synthase, resulting in the formation of a trimethylguanosine (TMG) cap. Disrupting this process markedly diminishes HIV infectivity, as the TMG-cap enables the viral RNA to access a specialized translation pathway, ensuring sustained viral protein synthesis when the host’s global translation pathway is dampened in response to the stress induced by pathogen invasion. Our lab focuses on characterizing the RNA structures and molecular interactions necessary for the cap epigenetic modification, using a variety of biophysical techniques including NMR spectroscopy, cryoEM, small angle X-ray scattering and isothermal titration calorimetry.

Charlotte Phillips

Sep. 5, 2019

Charlotte L. Phillips

To investigate the regulation and structure/function of extracellular matrix to tissue specific expression in the pathogenesis of inherited connective tissue disorders. Type I collagen, the predominant structural protein in many tissues provides strength to bone and tendon, integrity to skin, major organs and blood vessels, and support for mineralization of bone and teeth. Abnormalities in type I collagen synthesis and structure are associated with several acquired and inherited connective tissue disorders (osteogenesis imperfecta, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and osteoporosis). Investigating the pathogenesis of the different inherited connective tissues disorders and identifying the specific mutations in the type I collagen genes gives us…

Shuangyu Xu smiling.

Sep. 4, 2019

Shuangyu Xu

Educational background Ph.D., North Carolina State University M.S., University of Missouri-Columbia Courses taught PRST 2060: Tourism Management PRST 4260/7260: Sustainable Tourism PRST 4357/7357: Domestic and International Tourism: Resources, Market, and Impacts PRST 8400: Constructs of Leisure…

Antje Heese smiling.

Sep. 2, 2019

Antje Heese

My lab is interested in elucidating novel roles of vesicular trafficking in innate immunity and nutrient-deficiency responses. We focus on host clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV) components with novel roles in innate immune signaling, responses to Pseudomonas syringae pathogenic bacteria and iron (Fe) deficiency responses. This research interest has been ignited by my cross-disciplinary postdoctoral training in protein trafficking in plants (Prof. Natasha Raikhel, DOE Plant Research Lab, Michaigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA), sterol requirement in yeast endocytosis (Prof. Howard Riezman, Biozentrum, Basel, Switzerland) and syntaxin phosphorylation in plant immune signaling against pathogenic fungi (Cf-9/Avr9) (Prof. Jonathan Jones, Sainsbury Laboratory,…