Research in the Klevit group is directed towards an understanding of molecular recognition, with an emphasis on protein-protein interactions that play important roles in human disease. We are particularly fascinated by how intrinsically disordered proteins regions perform their critical cellular functions. Such questions are best addressed using a host of structural, biochemical, biophysical, and computational techniques.
Ongoing projects in the group include the following systems: BRCA1/BARD1, the breast cancer susceptibility protein complex that contains close to a thousand disordered residues, and human small heat shock proteins that serve a first responders to cellular stress, each containing more than 50% of their content as disordered regions. In additional to NMR, which is a core technique in the lab, techniques that are particularly well-suited to investigate disorder include HDX/MS where we collaborate with the lab of BPSD faculty, Miklos Guttman, and UV-crosslinking/MS where we collaborate with BPSD faculty Matt Bush.
