Brittani Schnable
Research Interests:
Research interests: The Van Houten lab uses a single molecule approach to study DNA repair proteins. I will use a combination of biochemistry, single molecule fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, STED, and single particle tracking. I will study UV-DDB, glycosylases and their interactions with other repair proteins at 3 different levels: purified proteins, nuclear extracts and whole cells.
Education:
B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Physics, Ursinus College, 2019
PhD Advisor: Ben Van Houten
Lab Address:
Hillman Cancer Center Research Pavilion Lab 2.1
5117 Centre Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
email:
Publications:
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Schwarz, Casey; Kang, Myungkoo; Altemose, Quentin; Raichle, Katrina; Schnable, Brittani; Grabill, Christopher; Rice, Jarrett; Truman, Mia; Pantano, Carlo; Mingareev, Ilya; Sisken, Laura; Baleine, Clara; Richardson, Kathleen; Kuebler, Stephen. (2019). Processing and properties of novel ZnO–Bi2O3–B2O3 glass-ceramic nanocomposites. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 820. 153173. 10.1016/j.jallcom.2019.153173.
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Altemose, Quentin; Raichle, Katrina; Schnable, Brittani; Schwarz, Casey; Kang, Myungkoo; Pantano, Carlo; Richardson, Kathleen; Baleine, Clara. (2018). In Situ X-Ray Diffraction Studies of Crystallization Growth Behavior in ZnO-Bi2O3-B2O3 Glass as a Route to Functional Optical Devices. MRS Advances. 3. 1-5. 10.1557/adv.2017.640.
Darian Yang
Research Interests:
I am interested in integrating experimental and computational methods to study HIV-1 capsid assembly. Specifically, I plan on studying the capsid protein (CA) using weighted ensemble simulations and NMR spectroscopy.
Education:
B.S. Chemistry (Biochemistry), University of Delaware, 2018
PhD Advisor: Lillian T. Chong and Angela M. Gronenborn
Lab Address:
email:
Publications:
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AT Bogetti, HE Piston, JMG Leung, CC Cabalteja, DT Yang, AJ DeGrave, KT Debiec, DS Cerutti, DA Case, WS Horne, and LT Chong. “A twist in the road less traveled: The AMBER ff15ipq-m force field for protein mimetics.” J. Chem. Phys. 2020, 153, 064101
Ananya Mukundan
Research Interests: The Hinck lab uses structural and biophysical tools (NMR, X-ray crystallography, SPR, ITC, etc.) to study the signaling proteins and receptors of the TGF-β family. TGF-β plays important physiologic and pathogenic roles, being implicated in immune regulation, cell proliferation/differentiation, and cancer progression. My research aims to characterize a parasitic TGF-β mimic that binds to the type 1 and type 2 TGF-β receptors (TβRI and TβRII) by characterizing the structure of this mimic and analyzing its binding interfaces with TβRI and TβRII. I use a combination of biochemical techniques, NMR, and ITC/SPR experiments.
Education:
B.A. in Biophysics, University of Michigan, 2016
PhD Advisor: Dr. Andrew P. Hinck
Lab Address:
email: anm276 [at] pitt.edu
Publications:
Ari Selzer
Research Interests:
The Smithgall lab is focused on studying the roles of Src family kinases in cancers and the accessory protein Nef in HIV infection and pathogenesis. My research is focused on Src family kinases which are key members of many signaling pathways in the human body and are characterized by their regulatory SH3 and SH2 domains N-terminal of the kinase domain. I am working to characterize a novel class of Src family kinase regulator which is targeted to the SH3 and SH2 domains of the kinase Hck. I use a combination of biochemical methods such as surface plasmon resonance and kinase assays with X-ray crystallography to investigate the mechanism and efficacy of these small molecule compounds.
Education:
B.S. Biochemistry, Northeastern University, 2018
PhD Advisor: Dr. Thomas E. Smithgall
Lab Address:
Bridgeside Point II Room 533
100 Technology Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
email: ars289@pitt.edu
Publications:
Wesley Brown
Research Interests:
My work involves expanding the genetic code of zebrafish to incorporate unnatural amino acids into proteins of interest. I have used this technology to optically control enzymes by installing photolabile groups into the active site. Additionally, I am developing a phosphine-triggered protein activation method by placing aryl-azide caged lysine into enzymes. I am also developing a method for incorporation of chemically diverse residues into proteins in zebrafish through injection of chemically acylated tRNA. Aside from genetic code expansion, I am generating optically-controlled CRISPR-based tools in zebrafish and light-activated morpholino oligonucleotide gene knockdown.
Education:
B.S in Bioresource Research, B.A in International Studies, 2016, Oregon State University
PhD Advisor: Dr. Alexander Deiters
Lab Address:
13th Floor
Chevron Science Center
219 Parkman Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
email: web27@pitt.edu
Publications:
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Zhou W, Brown W, Bardhan A, Delaney M, Ilk AS, Rauen RR, Kahn SI, Tsang M, Deiters A. Spatiotemporal Control of CRISPR/Cas9 Function in Cells and Zebrafish using Light-Activated Guide RNA. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020 , 59 , 8998.
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Brown W, Deiters A. Light-activation of Cre recombinase in zebrafish embryos through genetic code expansion. Methods Enzymol. 2019;624:Ch. 13
3) Brown W, Liu J, Deiters A. Genetic Code Expansion in Animals. ACS chem biol. 2018;13(9):2375-86 -
Brown W, Liu J., Tsang M., Deiters A.; Cell‐Lineage Tracing in Zebrafish Embryos with an Expanded Genetic Code, ChemBioChem, 27 April 2018, Vol.19(12), 1244-1249
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Bednar R, Golbek T, Kean K, Brown W, Jana S, Baio J, Karplus PA, Mehl R. Immobilization of Proteins with Controlled Load and Orientation, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 40, 36391-36398
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Blizzard RJ, Backus DR, Brown W, Bazewicz CG, Li Y, Mehl RA. Ideal Bioorthogonal Reactions Using A Site-Specifically Encoded Tetrazine Amino Acid. J Am Chem Soc. 2015;137(32):10044-7
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Brown W., Zhou W., and Deiters A., Regulating CRISPR/Cas9 Function through Conditional Guide RNA Control, Chembiochem, 2020 (submitted)
