Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2006

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This project is awarded under the Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and Supporting Activities Program for 2006. Proteins are essential to virtually every biological process and the production of new proteins with prescribed properties has the potential of solving countless medical and environmental problems. However, a practical approach to general protein design is beyond any realistic application for average length proteins. Thus, the goal of this investigation is to effectively consolidate the requisites for function (i.e., folding, assembly, binding, allosteric mechanisms) in a single system-the protein lactose repressor. Using this consolidated platform the prototypic repressor with prescribed allosteric and binding properties will be redesigned. The results from these studies will ultimately result in more effective interpretations of experimental results and the development of new approaches for more thorough analysis and design in other protein families.Training Objectives, Career Goals, And Impact:As a postdoctoral scholar at Cal Tech with Drs. Stephen L. Mayo and Jonathan J. Silberg, Dr. Wilson will develop combined approaches (i.e., experimental and theoretical) to define the folding, binding, and function (allosteric) relationships in a single system. Using this information, a novel, redesigned set of transcriptional repressors with prescribed properties will be developed. Ultimately, Dr. Wilson's career objective is to obtain an academic position at an institute of higher learning (a top university) where he will work to address fundamental scientific questions about protein sequence, structure, and function relationships of direct biomedical and biotechnological relevance. Furthermore, as an independent scientist, he would like to participate in the education and training of future scientific investigators.