MODELING ENZYME STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. My current research and future research plans revolve around advancing computational methods and applying them to better understand two key subjects in computational structural biology; the source of rate accelerations in enzymatic reactions and the prediction of protein structure from its primary sequence. Advances in theory and computer simulations; particularly through the use of hybrid Quantum/Classical potential energy functions, are providing new insights into the many sources of enzyme catalysis (Science, 2003, 303:186-195). Advances in information theory, knowledge-based energy functions and refinement methods are providing the basis to construct advanced tools for protein structure prediction (Science, 2001, 294:93-96). Yet there is still a critical need in the biomedical research community to make these methods more accurate and more generally applicable. Improving these methods will have great relevance to structure-function relationships and the development of new strategies for the prevention and treatment of disease.