Research
Research in the Park lab involves structural and functional studies of metabolic enzymes under two overarching themes:
Enzyme Allostery and Structure-Based Drug Discovery
Enzyme Allostery
Allostery plays a critical role in many biological processes, most prominently in signal transduction, transcriptional control, and metabolism. Allosteric regulation of enzymes, for example, provide one of the most direct and rapid means of modifying small molecule concentrations in cells. Given its inherently cryptic nature, enzyme allostery is likely more prevalent than currently understood. On one side, our research focuses on the phenomenon of enzyme allostery itself. The long-term goals here are:
i) to identify allosterically regulated enzymes and their intrinsic effectors
ii) to elucidate the molecular forces and mechanisms at work
iii) to explore the biological significance of these mechanisms
Structure-Based Drug Discovery
Another pillar of our research entails pharmacological application of enzyme allostery. Targeting allosteric mechanisms has attracted significant attention as an emerging basis of drug discovery. Allosteric effectors offer a number of advantages as drugs, including selectivity towards specific homologs, additivity or synergy with orthosteric drugs, and opportunities for tunable biological effects. The research objectives here are shorter-term and enzyme-specific, but generally include:
i) identification of allosteric inhibitors by virtual and/or in vitro screening
ii) characterization of enzyme-inhibitor binding
iii) confirmation of biological effects in cell-based/pre-clinical models
Our Methods
We combine multiple complementary approaches to answer our complex research questions. Enzyme kinetics and protein X-ray crystallography are the primary scientific methods we use. Other staples in our toolbox include differential scanning fluorimetry and isothermal titration calorimetry. We are also building our expertise in computational techniques, such as molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.
Funding
Our research is supported by
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)