My research primarily investigates the structure and functions of macromolecular protein complexes involved in Ubiquitin signaling. I’ve focused on the central enzymes of Ubiquitin transfer pathways, the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes. Key questions addressed by this research include:
Characterization of Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes and how they interact with E3 Ubiquitin ligases and substrates
How activated E2~Ub conjugates interact with effector proteins introduced into eukaryotic hosts from bacterial pathogens
Understanding regulatory functions of E2s
Primarily approaches involve the use of NMR spectroscopy to understand the networks of interactions involving E2s and biochemical characterization of the complexes.
