This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Research in the Loll lab revolves around molecular structure. The underlying goal for all our projects is to understand biologically important processes at the molecular level. Our principal tool is X-ray crystallography;we also devote much energy to protein expression, protein biochemistry, spectroscopy, and enzymology to support the structural efforts. Specific areas of interest include: * Large natural product antibiotics. Loll and students are applying structural, computational, and biophysical methods to deepen our understanding of how antibiotics like vancomycin, ramoplanin, tyrocidine, and bacitracin function. They hope to use this information to design novel drugs to combat antibiotic resistance. * The structural basis of drug action. We are interested in probing the interactions between drugs and their protein targets at the structural level. Currently, they are examining the binding of general anesthetics to model protein targets, with an eye toward elucidating the structural determinants that control anesthetic recognition. * Deubiquitylation by Josephin proteins. Ataxin-3 and other Josephin proteins catalyze the degradation of poly-ubiquitin chains, modulating signals controlling protein breakdown and trafficking. They are using structural and biochemical approaches to study the function of these enzymes. * The molecular mechanism of polyglutamine disease. We are studying ataxin-3, the causative agent of the neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease, using structural, ultrastructural, biochemical, and biophysical methods to understand how expansion of polyglutamine tracts leads to protein misfolding, fibril formation, and neuronal death. * The structural biology of membrane proteins. Many of the most fascinating and crucial processes which occur in living cells are modulated by integral membrane proteins. The Loll lab is studying a number of different membrane-bound enzymes, receptors, and transport proteins;in addition, a substantial effort focuses on the development of crystallization methodologies for these molecules.
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