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• Kevin Karplus (BME)	Protein Structure Prediction and Design
• Ted Holman (Chem)	Lipooxygenase Inhibitors as Potential Anti-Cancer Drugs
• Glenn Millhauser (Chem)	Remarkable Protein Structures ..... and Where They Go Wrong
• Seth Rubin (Chem)	Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation and Cancer
• Bill Scott (Chem)	Understanding the Structure-based Mechanisms of Ribozyme-based Theraputic Agents
• Melissa Jurica (MCD)	Structure and Functional Analysis of the Spliceosome
• Noller (MCD)	Biomedical Implications of Ribosome Research

Protein Structure Prediction and Design

Kevin Karplus, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering

Kevin Karplus' research group develops tools and techniques for protein structure prediction and protein design. He collaborates with Richard Hughey's group on the development of the SAM tool suite for profile hidden Markov models, particularly on developing protocols for using the tools for high-accuracy detection of remote relationships between proteins. Karplus' group has used these tools themselves to earn an international reputation for accurate prediction of protein structure: secondary structure, tertiary structure, and contact prediction. In the biannual Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction "contests", his group has presented papers (the "prize" for the contest) in the past 6 CASPs. The group also collaborates extensively with UCSC wet-lab biologists in predicting structure and function for proteins of interest to them, and is starting work on designing novel proteins. [More]

Lipooxygenase Inhibitors as Potential Anti-Cancer Drugs

Ted Holman, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Lipoxygenases are enzymes implicated in a broad range of human cancers, as well as cardiac and inflammatory diseases. Ted Holman's laboratory examines the enzymatic mechanism and biological function of lipoxygenase in the hopes of developing novel inhibitors. In collaboration with UCSC Professor Phil Crews, his laboratory has identified potent lipoxygenase inhibitors and are currently characterizing their structure/function reactivity. The results of this work will shed light on their potential as anti-cancer agents. [More]

Remarkable Protein Structures ..... and Where They Go Wrong

Glenn Millhauser, Department of Chemistry

In the laboratory of Glenn Millhauser, investigators use peptide synthesis and magnetic resonance to investigate the structure and function of biomolecules. These studies include analysis of proteins involved in devastating metabolic and neurological diseases. [More]

Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation and Cancer

Seth Rubin, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Rubin laboratory uses a variety of structural and biochemical techniques to investigate the molecular mechanisms that control the eukaryotic cell cycle. The aim is to elucidate detailed molecular pictures of protein-protein interactions and how these interactions are regulated by structural and chemical modifications. Improper regulation of these protein interaction networks is commonly associated with aberrant cell proliferation and cancer. [More]

RNA Catalysis

William Scott, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Ribozmes are RNA-based enzymes whose comparatively recent discovery came as major surprize to the scientific community, as it has always been assumed that only proteins could be enzymes. Researchers in the Scott laboratory are trying to understand how ribozymes work, using X-ray crystallography and other biochemical and biophysical techniques. The potential use of ribozymes as therapeutic agents that target RNA viruses (such as HIV) and pathological mRNAs (such as oncogene transcripts) is well-documented. Although the primary motive for our research is to answer questions of a fundamental scientific nature, it is hoped that the results of these studies will provide practical information to the scientific and medical communities to enable more potent and effective ribozyme-based pharmaceuticals to be developed by others. [More]

Structure and Functional Analysis of the Spliceosome

Melissa Jurica, MCD Biology

The spliceosome is a large cellular machine that is critical to the process of gene expression. Professor Jurica examines how the spliceosome is assembled and how its catalytic mechanism is involved in gene splicing. Because mutations that affect basic and alternative gene splicing have been associated with a number of human diseases, including cancers, understanding how this large cellular machine functions promises to provide important insights into prevention and treatment of such diseases. [More]

Biomedical Implications of Ribosome Research

Harry Noller, MCD Biology

Ribosomes are RNA-based molecular machines that are responsible for synthesis of proteins. Researchers in the Noller laboratory were the first to solve the complete structure of a ribosome using X-ray crystallography. Besides the importance of protein synthesis to understanding the molecular basis of cellular function, research on ribosomes promises to improve the design of new antibiotics. Many of today's most effective anti-microbial drugs work by targeting bacterial ribosomes. As pathogenic bacteria continue to develop resistance to commonly used antibiotics, clarification of the structure and molecular mechanisms of bacterial ribosomes will be critical for the design of new drugs that will keep pace with rapidly evolving bacteria. [More]