Thesis Title: “Impact of nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors on the enzyme-substrate interactions and intramolecular dynamics of wild-type and drug resistant HIV-1 RT.”

Graduation Date: 2013

MBSB PhD Advisor: Prof. Sanford Leuba (Dept. of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh)

 

Research Interests: 

Grant's research combined single-molecule biophysics techniques with molecular modeling and simulation to probe various molecular mechanisms, with interests in protein conformational dynamics and DNA-protein interactions. He used various techniques such as Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM), Scanning Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy (SCFM), Magnetic Tweezers (MT), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to interrogate biological machinery one molecule at a time. He mostly employed single-pair Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (spFRET) as a means to study the kinetic mechanisms of many systems such as HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase and MCM helicase.  By combining results from these experiments with molecular simulations in order he was able to gained detailed new structural insights and to improve upon the measurements themselves.

Current Location: postdoctoral researcher with Michael O'Donnell, Rockefeller University


Education:

B.A., Biochemistry, University of New Mexico, 2003
M.S., Biomedical Sciences, University of New Mexico, 2007
Ph.D., Molecular Biophysics & Structural Biology, University of Pittsburgh, 2013


Publications:

Mechanism of allosteric inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase revealed by single-molecule and ensemble fluorescence.

Schauer GD, Huber KD, Leuba SH, Sluis-Cremer N.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2015;42(18):11687-96. doi: 10.1093/nar/gku819. Epub 2014 Sep 17.

PMID: 25232099

 

Early integration of the individual student in academic activities: a novel classroom concept for graduate education in molecular biophysics and structural biology.

Leuba SH, Carney SM, Dahlburg EM, Eells RJ, Ghodke H, Yanamala N, Schauer G, Klein-Seetharaman J.

BMC Biophys. 2014 Aug 5;7:6. doi: 10.1186/2046-1682-7-6. eCollection 2014.

PMID: 25132964

 

Biophysical Insights into the Inhibitory Mechanism of Non-Nucleoside HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors.

Schauer G, Leuba S, Sluis-Cremer N.

Biomolecules. 2013 Nov 1;3(4):889-904. doi: 10.3390/biom3040889.

PMID: 24970195

 

PcrA-mediated disruption of RecA nucleoprotein filaments--essential role of the ATPase activity of RecA.

Fagerburg MV, Schauer GD, Thickman KR, Bianco PR, Khan SA, Leuba SH, Anand SP.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2012 Sep 1;40(17):8416-24. Epub 2012 Jun 28.

PMID: 22743269

 

Steric exclusion and wrapping of the excluded DNA strand occurs along discrete external binding paths during MCM helicase unwinding.

Graham BW, Schauer GD, Leuba SH, Trakselis MA.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Aug;39(15):6585-95. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkr345. Epub 2011 May 16.

PMID: 21576224

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