LIGANDBIOMOLECULE INTERACTIONS IN NUCLEIC ACID AND PROTEIN SENSORS GARY

LIGANDBIOMOLECULE INTERACTIONS IN NUCLEIC ACID AND PROTEIN SENSORS GARY






Ligand-Biomolecule Interactions in Nucleic Acid and Protein Sensors

Ligand-Biomolecule Interactions in Nucleic Acid and Protein Sensors


Gary N. Yalloway, Michael Damiani, Saman Eskandari, Jessica Leung, and Melanie A. O’Neill

Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6


Sensing and signaling are fundamental to life, and are rooted in the structure, dynamics, and reactivity of biological molecules (receptors). Many receptors exploit supramolecular chemistry and noncovalent interactions with small molecule ligands in sensing and signaling. Signaling may be initiated by the ligand binding event, for example, the direct regulation of gene expression by messenger RNA molecules (riboswitches) upon interaction with cellular metabolites. Alternatively, signaling may not be activated by binding alone. Instead, the biomolecule tunes the physical and/or chemical properties of the noncovalently bound ligand to enable sensing of other stimuli, for example the sensing of light by photoreceptor proteins such as cryptochromes. We apply tools of biophysical chemistry to uncover the dynamics and mechanisms of sensing and signaling mediated by ligand-biomolecule interactions in nucleic acids and proteins. In this poster we highlight our research plans and preliminary experimental results probing sensing and signaling by riboswitches and cryptochromes.





Tags: interactions in, ligand-biomolecule interactions, sensors, protein, ligandbiomolecule, interactions, nucleic