{"id":471,"date":"2015-12-10T09:25:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T14:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.grad.uchc.uconn.edu\/?page_id=471"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T18:24:05","slug":"research-areas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/academics\/programs\/ph-d-biomedical-science\/molecular-biology-and-biophysics-graduate-program\/research-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Areas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-471\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-471-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-471-0\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-471-0-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><a id=\"mid\"><\/a>Microbiology and Infectious Diseases<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=caimano-melissa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Melissa Caimano<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=965\">Bing Hao<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Mok-Wendy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wendy Mok<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Page-Rebecca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rebecca Page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Paulino-Joana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joana Paulino<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Peti-Wolfgang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wolfgang Peti<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-471-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=5080\">Justin D. Radolf<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Ruan-Jianbin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jianbin Ruan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=2543\">Peter Setlow<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=3213\">Sandra K. Weller<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Vargas-Rodriguez-Oscar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"external\">Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-471-2\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-2-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-471-2-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><a id=\"sbb\"><\/a>Structural Biology\u00a0 and Biophysics<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-3-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Bezsonova-Irina\">Irina Besonova<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=4918\">Michael Gryk<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=965\">Bing Hao<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=5695\">Jeffrey Hoch<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=4368\">Stephen M. King<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=2489\">Dmitry Korzhnev<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=4454\">Mark Maciejewski<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Page-Rebecca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rebecca Page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Paulino-Joana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joana Paulino<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Peti-Wolfgang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wolfgang Peti<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Ruan-Jianbin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jianbin Ruan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Schuyler-Adam\">Adam Schuyler<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-471-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"5\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h6><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-473 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/12\/photo_xbda5.jpg\" alt=\"MOLMOL Plot\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" \/>Shown is the recent NMR solution structure of the human XRCC1 NTD repair protein (left, 1xna at the PDB) and a mechanism for interaction with a human DNA polymerase beta-DNA complex (right, 1bpy at the PDB).<\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-4\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-471-4\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-4-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-4-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-471-4-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><a id=\"cbb\"><\/a>Computation and Modeling<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-5\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-5-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-5-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=4918\">Michael Gryk<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=5695\">Jeffrey Hoch<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Schuyler-Adam\">Adam Schuyler<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-471-5-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-5-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"8\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h6><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-481 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/12\/photo_p16C1.jpg\" alt=\"An analysis of folding of protein domains in a tumor suppressor.\" width=\"400\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/12\/photo_p16C1.jpg 400w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/12\/photo_p16C1-300x143.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/h6>\n<h6>The p16 protein is a cyclin dependent protein kinase inhibitor and a tumor suppressor. The p16 structure (1BI7 from the PDB) consists of four ankyrin repeats. Based on a computational analysis (bottom image) of the autonomous folding units in p16, a C-terminal fragment (p16C) in red containing only two ankyrin repeats (top image) has been identified and shown by expression cloning, fragment production, and biophysical characterization, to fold into a native-like structure. The plot shows the Z-score (the higher the better for predicted complete folding) for all possible peptide fragments that have the Y-axis value as the N-terminal residue of the fragment and the X-axis value as the C-terminal residue.<\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-6\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-471-6\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-6-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-6-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"9\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-471-6-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><a id=\"cp\"><\/a>Cellular Pathways<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-7\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-7-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-7-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"10\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=5694\">Kimberly Dodge-Kafka<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Page-Rebecca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rebecca Page<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-471-7-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-7-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"11\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Peti-Wolfgang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wolfgang Peti<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Ruan-Jianbin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jianbin Ruan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-8\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-471-8\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-8-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-8-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"12\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-471-8-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><span class=\"style1\"><a id=\"cb\"><\/a>Cancer Biology<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-471-9\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-471-9-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-9-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"13\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Bezsonova-Irina\">Irina Besonova<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=965\">Bing Hao<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=226\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christopher Heinen<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=2489\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dmitry Korzhnev<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-471-9-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-471-9-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"14\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Page-Rebecca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rebecca Page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Torti-Suzy\">Suzy V. Torti<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Vargas-Rodriguez-Oscar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"external\">Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Melissa Caimano Bing Hao Wendy Mok Rebecca Page Joana Paulino Wolfgang Peti Justin D. Radolf Jianbin Ruan Peter Setlow Sandra K. Weller Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"parent":463,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 00:18:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5060,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/471\/revisions\/5060"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}