Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

The nuclear Zn transporter ZIP11 is necessary for the proliferation of HeLa cells

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Abstract Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element as part of several biological processes, including transcriptional regulation, signaling, and catalysis. A subcellular network of Zn transporters ensures the adequate distribution of Zn to maintain homeostasis. Among these, the family of importers Zrt/Irt-like protein (ZIP) constitutes 14 members (ZIP1-ZIP14) that mobilize Zn into the cytosol. Expression of … Read more

Elucidating the Structure of the HU-Junction Complex

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Abstract: HU, a histone-like protein, is one of the most abundant proteins in Escherichia coli and has significant roles in DNA packaging, recombination, replication, and repair. Previous studies have shown that HU binds with high affinity, in a non-sequence specific manner, to an important intermediate in recombination and repair, known as the Holliday or 4-Way … Read more

Modifying a Mini Protein with Two Conformational States to Instead Adopt Only One Conformation

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Abstract: Our project is focused on the computationally-designed mini protein EHEE_rd2_0005. While the structure of this protein was previously determined in molecular dynamics simulations, structural knowledge derived from simulations are not as precise as real-world analysis. Members of our lab have previously attempted to obtain more accurate data with NMR spectroscopy but were unable to … Read more

Olfactory receptor coding sequences cause silencing of episomal constructs in the immortalized olfactory placode 6 cell line

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Abstract: The mammalian olfactory system depends on a plethora of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), each exclusively expressing a single olfactory receptor (OR) gene, thus specializing each OSN to bind a specific range of odorant chemistries. Specifically in mice, the OR gene family is impressively comprised of >1,500 different OR genes, with expression being monogenic and … Read more

Elucidation of Msh4-Msh5’s Binding and Hydrolysis of ATP via the Creation of ATPase mutants and Protein Purification using the Maltose Binding Protein

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Abstract: Msh4-Msh5 or MutSy is an important protein heterodimer that belongs to the family of MutS repair proteins that are involved in post-replicative mismatch repair and help to maintain genome integrity and cellular stability. Msh4-Msh5 is critical for stabilizing joint molecule DNA recombination intermediates, for promoting crossover recombination, and for proper assembly of the synaptonemal complex. … Read more

Differential Roles of SWI/SNF Complexes in Metal Regulation

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Abstract: SWI/SNF complexes play a major role in chromatin remodeling in mammalian cells. Mammalian DNA is compacted into chromatin by nucleosomes and other factors. The level of compaction is regulated largely by SWI/SNF complexes. These complexes remodel nucleosomes by displacing or evicting them, or by exchanging histones. By controlling which areas of the chromatin are … Read more

Investigating meiotic protein-protein interactions of the Zip1 synaptonemal complex transverse filament protein

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Abstract: Meiosis is the essential cell-division process that organizes the genetic material of one diploid parent cell into four haploid gametes, each carrying one-fourth of the genetic material in a novel assortment of genes. A key mediator of this pathway in S. cerevisiae is the Zip1 protein, which is the transverse filament protein of the … Read more