Structure/function studies of novel enzymes and enzyme complexes

蛋白质是所有生命系统中至关重要的化合物。酶是一种蛋白质，它催化化学反应，使生物体发挥作用。几乎所有的生命过程都是由蛋白质控制的，为了正确理解蛋白质的工作原理，我们使用一种叫做蛋白质x射线晶体学的技术，在非常高的放大倍数下检查它们的结构。我研究的总体目标是增加我们对蛋白质如何识别它们结合的化合物的理解。这一目标是通过使用不同的技术来分析蛋白质识别其他分子的能力。然后我们可以将这些信息与这些复合物的结构进行比较。我们的工作旨在确定结构在识别过程中的作用。这个项目强调发现，研究蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的模型系统，以及对功能知之甚少的酶。这项工作的结果将包括结构辅助药物设计，以及用于理解其他蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用系统的模型系统。

Proteins are critical compounds in all living systems. Enzymes are a type of protein that catalyze the chemical reactions that allow an organism to function. Virtually all life processes are controlled by proteins and to properly understand how proteins work, we use a technique called protein X-ray crystallography to examine their structures at very high magnification. The broad objective of my research is to increase our understanding of how proteins recognize the compounds that they bind. This objective is approached by using different techniques to analyze how well proteins recognize other molecules. We can then compare this information with the structures of these complexes. Our work is aimed at determining the role that structure has in the recognition process. This program emphasizes discovery, studying both model systems for protein-protein interactions, and enzymes of poorly understood functions. Outcomes of this work will include structure-assisted drug design, and a model system for understanding other protein-protein interaction systems.