Research

We are interested in understanding (1) enzyme mechanisms and (2) developing new isomorphic fluorescent nucleobase analogs (FBAs) for spectroscopic and imaging applications. 

Studying enzyme mechanisms: The enzymes that we are interested in are DNA photolyase, cryptochromes, Methionine adenosyl transferase (MAT) and methyl transferases. To study these enzymes, we employ cell culture and protein purification techniques to obtain pure enzymes. We characterize the pure enzymes using assays that rely on UV-VIS spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy (steady-state and time resolved) and high performance liquid chromtography (HPLC). 

Developing new isomorphic fluorescent nucleobase analogs (FBAs): Isomorphic FBAs is are molecules that have a chemical structure similar to that of naturally occuring nucleic acid bases (the familiar A, T, G, C, U) but are highly fluorescent. As a result, they are excellent reporters of nucleic acid structure and dynamics, as well as reporting on nucleic acid-protein interactions. We use computational chemistry to figure out the fluorescent emission wavelengths of new FBAs. If they are sufficiently redshifted compared to the existing FBAs, we collaborate with organic chemists to synthesize and characterize their properties.