One area of our research centers on the mechanisms of eukaryotic gene regulation, including the molecular basis of signal transduction, transcription regulation and epigenetic control of chromosome structure. Specific projects in this area include structural and functional studies of NFAT, MEF2, FOXP3, and several transcription factors implicated in stem cell pluripotency and lineage control. Another area of research focuses on the structure and function of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) and other ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) in neuronal signaling. We use X-ray crystallography and other biochemical methods to characterize molecular complexes of interest. Based on the structures, we use mutagenesis to further analyze the functions of these complexes in vitro and in vivo. An important aspect of our research is to combine structural biology and chemical design to study the function of bio-macromolecular complexes. We seek to develop new biochemical techniques and cell permeable small molecules for studying the function of protein complexes in vivo. The broad goal of our studies is to understand how protein-protein interactions control the specificity of biological processes inside cells. Through this knowledge we hope to gain the ability to control specific protein-protein interactions for developing research tools and therapeutic drugs.
