Our lab studies protein splicing and the enzymology of extreme thermophiles.

Protein splicing is a post-translational modification. It involves the self-catalyzed excision of an intervening polypeptide sequence, the intein, concomitant to the ligation of the flanking polypeptides, the exteins, via a native peptide bond.

Below is a schematic of the protein splicing process:

We are interested in

a) The means by which non-canonical inteins facilitate the individual steps of protein splicing.

b) The means by which inteins coordinate the steps of splicing.

c) The role that inteins play in the control of extein function.

d) Comparisons of the catalytic strategies of enzymes from thermophiles and their mesophilic equivalents.

Below is the standard chemical mechanism of protein splicing:

A good review of protein splicing can be found in:

Paulus, H. (2000) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 69, 447-496.

Or you can visit the Intein Database on the web at http://www.neb.com/neb/inteins.html

Students in my lab can expect to learn modern techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry and enzymology. Please contact me if you are interested in joining the lab.