Molecular Biophysics Laboratory

We utilize cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to understand how biomolecules work. Recent advances in cryo-EM, thanks to the improvement of a direct electron detector and data analysis software, have revolutionized the structural biochemistry field over the last several years. As a result, we started to see atomic structures of diverse biomacromolecules in more cell-like environments. Many biological processes await to reveal themselves with this amazing methodology. Multi-subunit RNA polymerase (RNAP) is a key enzyme sustaining life. RNAPs are highly conserved from E.coli to human and provide room for other proteins/nucleic acids to interact for elaborate gene regulation. Recent advances of cryo-EM open the door to the structural study of RNAPs. We are looking at structures of RNAPs in different contexts of life. The human microbiome affects humans either indirectly by producing various metabolites or directly through contact with host cells. The significance of the microbiome in multiple contexts of human life has been studied, but the chemical basis of how microbiota interact with the host through microbiome-derived metabolites just started to reveal. We are look at microbiome-derived secondary metabolites' biosynthetic enzymes. We study life by determining three-dimensional structures of biomacromolecular complexes by using cryo-electron microscopy. In particular, we are interested in (1) Transcription - a central process of life maintenance by copying genetic information from DNA to RNA, (2) the human microbiome - an amazing ecosystem dwelling in our body. We look at how molecules interact with each other in these two areas.