Projects

Structural studies of HCMV

Human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, is a ubiquitous herpesvirus and the leading infectious cause of birth abnormalities and a life-threatening pathogen for AIDS and organ transplantation patients.

Structural studies of ?-herpesviruses

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as Human herpesvirus 8, is the most common neoplasm in AIDS patients. It has been implicated in all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), as well as in primary effusion lymphoma and some forms of Castleman’s disease.

Structural and functional relationships of human PDC

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, or PDC, is one of the largest and most complex multienzyme systems and catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA for energy generation in the carbohydrate metabolism pathway.

Developing cryoEM-based reconstruction techniques toward atomic resolution: bioinformatics, high performance computing and SQL database application

This project aims to develop novel computational procedures for reconstructing large viruses to 4Å resolution will be developed, using cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) as a model system.

High-Resolution Structure Determination of Quiescent and Transcribing dsRNA Viruses by Electron Cryomicroscopy

RNA transcription is a fundamental biochemical process involving a series of well-coordinated steps. These steps are catalyzed by multifunctional enzymes, which are often embedded in multi-component macromolecular complexes. The double stranded (ds) RNA virus family Reoviridae is an elegant example of such multifunctional RNA transcription machines and has historically served as an excellent model system for understanding RNA transcription and regulation.