Helen Murray Free Lecture – Technical

Dr. Catherine Drennan, Professor, Departments of Biology and Chemistry, Howard Hughs Medical Institute Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Revealing the secrets of metalloenzymes one snapshot at a time

Location: Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Sciences, Room 060

Abstract:

How do microbes live on the pollutant carbon monoxide? How do microbes split the triple bond of nitrogen gas? When it comes to performing difficult chemistry, microbes often combine a protein scaffold with a highly reactive metallocofactor; they essentially employ a “hired gun.” The Drennan lab combines X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy with other biophysical methods to reveal the secrets behind metalloenzyme chemistry. In this seminar, Drennan will present her lab’s structural studies of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs). RNRs use metallocofactors to generate radical species, enabling the conversion of ribonucleotides (the building blocks of RNA) to deoxyribonucleotides (the building blocks of DNA). These enzymes are chemotherapeutic targets and proposed antibacterial targets. Here, Drennan will describe how her lab has used biophysical methods to reveal RNR’s secrets.