Postdoctoral Fellows:

Available immediately. Two NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowships. We are looking for talented recent graduates interested in integrating major structural biology methods (NMR/X-ray crystallography/cryo-EM/molecular modeling) to study enzymes of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Cryo-EM experience is preferred.

Graduate Students:

Rotation Project 1: Screening of small molecule inhibitors of de-ubiquitinating enzyme USP7. This project is part of current NIH-funded research in the lab and directly translates into development of new anti-cancer treatments. A rotation student will gain experience in bacterial expression of recombinant human proteins, many aspects of protein purification, including multiple chromatography techniques, and will be introduced to major structural biology methods such as biomolecular NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography.

Rotation Project 2: The role of conformational dynamics in USP7 function. USP7 is a dynamic enzyme that can adopt active and inactive conformations in solution. Although structure of the enzyme is known it provides only a static snapshot of the enzyme in action.  The aim of this project is to characterize conformational dynamics of the enzyme in solution. This is part of a larger USP7 work that is currently funded by NIH and NSF. A rotating student will learn advanced protein biochemistry and biomolecular NMR.

Rotation Project 3: Analysis of mutations of patients with USP7-related diseases. This project will test the effect of know pathogenic mutations of USP7 on structure and function of the enzyme. During rotation a student will gain extensive experience in moleular biology, protein biochemistry and molecular modeling.

Rotation Project 4: Promyelocytic Leukemia and enzymatic function of PML protein. This project will focus on uncovering enzymatic function of a PML protein implicated in Promyelocytic Leukemia, a type of human cancer. It is a part of a larger NIH-funded project in the lab aimed at understanding molecular mechanism of PML action and discovery of new treatments for Promyelocytic Leukemia. A student is expected to learn advanced protein biochemistry techniques, develop enzymatic assays, become familiar with NMR spectroscopy, and molecular modeling.

Rotation Project 5: Angelman Syndrome and UBE3A enzyme. This project will focus on revealing structural and functional differences between protein isoforms of UBE3A enzyme implicated in Angelman syndrome and autism spectrum disorders. During rotation a student will be exposed to major protein biochemistry and biophysical methods as well as protein modeling approaches. This is a collaborative project with Dr. Chamberlain.

Please contact Irina Bezsonova directly at bezsonova@uchc.edu.