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Sponsored Research

The Oklahoma COBRE in Structural Biology Phase 3 program provides support for research activities that will increase the number of researchers that utilize the COBRE-supported scientific core facilities. The projects that the OCSB will support typically combine structural biology approaches with other functional characterization of important biomolecules that are relevant to improving human health and will require equipment and services of the Biomolecular Structure Core and/or the Protein Production and Characterization Core.

Anthony Burgett
Kara De León
Project Investigator
School of Biological Sciences, OU-Norman
Project Title: Structural Characterization of Lap-like Proteins Required for Biofilm Formation and Gut Colonization by Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough

Email: deleonkb@ou.edu
Website

CoPI: Christina Bourne

Vijay Somalinga
John Peters
Project Investigator
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: Elucidating the Determinants of Catalytic Bias in NADH-Dependent Dehydrogenases

Email: jw.peters@ou.edu
Website

CoPI: Florence Mus


Shanteri Singh
Shanteri Singh
Project Investigator
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: An Efficient Platform for SAM-Analog Generation and Utilization

Email: shanteri.singh@ou.edu
Website


Anthony Burgett
Anthony Burgett
Project Investigator
Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, OUHSC
Project Title: Structure/Function of Oxysterol-Binding Protein to Guide Therapeutic Development

Email: anthony-burgett@ouhsc.edu
Website

CoPI: Christina Bourne

Erika Lutter
Erika Lutter
Project Investigator
Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, OSU
Project Title: Determining the Structure-Function Relationship of Immune-Modulatory C. trachomatis Inc Protein CT226

Email: erika.lutter@okstate.edu
Website

CoPI: Christina Bourne 

Yihan Shao
Yihan Shao
Project Investigator
Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: A Combined Computational and Experimental Study of CRISPR Cas9/12a Enzyme Reaction Mechanism

Email: yihan.shao@ou.edu
Website

CoPI: Rakhi Rajan 

Vijay Somalinga
Vijay Somalinga
Project Investigator
Dept. of Biological Sciences, SWOSU
Project Title: Structural and Functional Characterization of Proteins Essential for Metabolism and Virulence in Streptococcus sanguinis

Email: vijay.somalinga@swosu.edu
Website

CoPI: Rakhi Rajan 

Jialing Lin
Jialing Lin
Project Investigator
Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, OUHSC
Project Title: Bax Pore Formation in Apoptosis: Structures of Intermediates and Mechanism of Assembly

Email: jialing-lin@ouhsc.edu
Website

Jody Summers
Jody Summers
Project Investigator
Dept. of Cell Biology, OUHSC
Project Title: Development of Methyl Dichlorocarbonyl Compounds for Specific RALDH2 Inhibition

Email: jody-summers@ouhsc.edu
Website

Ashlee Rowe
Ashlee Rowe
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Biology, OU-Norman
Project Title: Scorpion Peptides That Inhibit a Transmembrane Sodium Ion Channel (Nav1.8) Regulator of Pain-Sensing Neurons: Structural Characterization of the Peptide-Nav1.8 Complex

Email: ahrowe@ou.edu
Website

Shanteri Singh
Shanteri Singh
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Funding: NIH 1R01GM138800
Project Title: Development of Chemoenzymatic Platform for Facile Synthesis of Alkyl-Pyrophosphate Analogs

Email: shanteri.singh@ou.edu
Website


Xin Zhang
Xin Zhang
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Physiology, OUHSC
Project Title: Preparation of Tetraspanin Proteins for Structure and Function Studies

Email: xin-zhang-1@ouhsc.edu
Website

Adam Duerfeldt
Adam Duerfeldt
Junior Investigator
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Minnesota
Project Title: Structure, Function and Therapeutic Potential of Clostridium difficile Caseinolytic Protease P

Email: aduerfel@umn.edu
Website

Ralf Janknecht
Ralf Janknecht
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Cell Biology, OUHSC
Project Title: Enabling JMJD4 Inhibitor Development Through Structural Studies

Email: ralf-janknecht@ouhsc.edu
Website

Ferenc Deak
Ferenc Deak
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, OUHSC
Project Title: Munc18 Mutations in Synaptic Transmission, Epileptic Seizures and Dementia

Email: fdeak@augusta.edu
Website

Wei-Qun Ding
Wei-Qun Ding
Pilot Project Investigator
Dept. of Pathology, OUHSC
Project Titles: (1) Effects of Arginine Methylation on SRSF1-miRNA Binding and (2) The Structural Basis of SRSF1 Recognition of miRNA Sequence Motifs

Email: weiqun-ding@ouhsc.edu
Website

CoPI: Blaine Mooers


Robert Matts
Robert Matts
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Oklahoma State University
Project Title: Co-crystallization of TRAP1 with Inhibitors for Enhancement of Structure-based Drug Design

Email: robert.matts@okstate.edu
Website

Rakhi Rajan
Rakhi Rajan
Junior Investigator
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: Mechanistic Studies of CRISPR-Mediated Bacterial Immunity

Email: r-rajan@ou.edu
Website


Yihan Shao
Yihan Shao
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: Multiscale Free Energy Simulation of Enzymatic Reactions

Email: yihan.shao@ou.edu
Website


Anne Kasus-Jacobi
Anne Kasus-Jacobi
Junior Project Leader
Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, OUHSC
Project Title: Structural Approach to Define New Functional Activities of Neutrophil Protein CAP37 in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Email: anne-kasus-jacobi@ouhsc.edu
Website

Christina Bourne
Christina Bourne
Junior Project Leader
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: Probing the Potential of the Gyrase Inhibitor ParE for Antibacterial Applications

Email: cbourne@ou.edu
Website

Indrajeet Sharma
Indrajeet Sharma
Pilot Project Leader
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Project Title: Structure-Based Design of Potent and Selective Inhibitors to Pro-Apoptotic Bax/Bak

Email: isharma@ou.edu
Website

Elizabeth Karr
Elizabeth Karr
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Microbiology & Plant Biology, OU-Norman
Project Title: Structure-Function Studies of MsvR, a Methanogen-Specific Transcriptional Regulator

Email: lizkarr@ou.edu
Website

Marie Hanigan
Marie Hanigan
Project Investigator
Dept. of Cell Biology, OUHSC
Project Title: Structural Characterization of Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase Enzymes

Email: marie-hanigan@ouhsc.edu
Website

Paul Sims
Paul Sims
Junior  Investigator
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, OU-Norman
Funding: NSF-REU 1359457
Project Title: Structural and Mechanistic Studies of Essential Microbial Kinases

Email: psims@ou.edu
Website

Shanjana Awasthi
Shanjana Awasthi
Pilot Project Investigator
Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, OUHSC
Funding: NIH P20GM103648
Project Title: Structure-Function Relation of a TLR4-Interacting Surfactant Protein A-Derived Peptide

Email: shanjana-awasthi@ouhsc.edu
Website

John West
John West
Pilot Project Investigator
Nebraska Center for Virology, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln
Project Title: Allele-Specific mRNA Structures in the Regulation of MMTV Gag Translation

Email: jwest2@unl.edu
Website

Augen Pioszak
Augen Pioszak
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, OUHSC
Funding: NIH 1R01GM104251
Project Title: RAMP-altered Class B GPCR Hormone Recognition

Email: augen-pioszak@ouhsc.edu
Website

Blaine Mooers
Blaine Mooers
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, OUHSC
Funding: NIH 1R01 AI088011
Project Title: The Role of Non-Canonical Base Pairs in RNA Editing

Email: blaine-mooers@ouhsc.edu
Website

Jana Shen
Jana Shen
Junior Investigator
Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, U. Maryland
Funding: NIH 1R01GM098818
Project Title: Electrostatic Modulation of Protein Stability and Folding 

Email: jshen@rx.umaryland.edu
Website