Current position: Medical Research Council, Cambridge, U.K., Centre of Protein Engineering, postdoctoral research associate in Sir Gregory Winter’s group Education: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), M.S. in biochemistry, 2000; Ph.D. in biochemistry with Prof. Dr. Dario Neri, 2003 Postdoctoral work: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with Prof. Dr. Kai Johnsson, 2003–2005 Nonscientific interests: Mountain biking, traveling
I am interested in the evolution of proteins with desired qualities for industrial, biotechnological, or medicinal applications. In a recent project, I tested a novel strategy for altering protein substrate specificity by the insertion of amino acid loops into the protein backbone. The strategy was applied to reprogram the substrate specificity of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase, an enzyme that is used as a tag to label proteins in molecular imaging applications. (Read Heinis’s article on p 575.)
Current position: Northeastern University, Department of Biology, Ph.D. candidate with Prof. Kim Lewis Education: Northeastern University, Department of Biology, B.S. in biology, 2005 Nonscientific interests: Keeping abreast of current topics, reading fictional literature, chess, and the occasional poker game among friends
My research interests focus on circumventing bacterial mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance primarily through the inhibition of multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux transporters. In this issue, we describe the rational design of a berberine-MDR inhibitor hybrid molecule that, unlike berberine, penetrates well into bacterial cells. This approach suggests a new strategy to control drug-resistant pathogens. (Read Ball’s article on p 594.)
William W. Ja
Current position: California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology, postdoctoral scholar with Prof. Seymour Benzer Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.S. in chemistry with Prof. Alexander N. Glazer and Prof. Richard A. Mathies, high honors, 1998; California Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in chemistry with Prof. Richard W. Roberts, 2004 Nonscientific interests: Volleyball, softball, food, television, and piano
My work focuses on using messenger RNA display to develop ligands for biological targets of interest. This paper demonstrates that a diverse array of functions can be obtained from a naive library of molecules. The identified peptides can be used to study the biological mechanisms of G protein signaling and may serve as leads for therapeutic development. I am currently interested in applying these techniques to the study of aging and behavior in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. (Read Ja’s article on p 570.)
Ofer Wiser
Current position: Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, research officer with Prof. Benjamin Reubinoff Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, B.S. in biology, 1993; M.S. in biochemistry, 1995; Ph.D. in molecular neurobiology with Prof. Daphne Atlas, 2001 Postdoctoral work: University of California, San Francisco, with Prof. Lily Jan, 2000–2005 Nonscientific interests: Reading books, watching movies, and spending time with my wife
What is the mechanism that enables biological processes to go on and respond to intra- and extracellular signals? I focus on monitoring interactions of the proteins participating in these processes within living cells. Here we utilize ion channels as a tool to characterize a signal transduction pathway within living cells involving heterotrimeric G proteins, and we screen peptide libraries for interactions with G proteins. Our results refine our knowledge about the critical structural determinants within G protein regulators and their physiological impact. (Read Wiser’s article on p 570.)
Current position: University of California, San Francisco, Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Program, Ph.D. candidate with Prof. Thomas S. Scanlan Education: University of Delaware, B.S. in biochemistry, Honors Degree with Distinction, 2001 Nonscientific interests: Traveling, running, swimming, outdoor activities, literature, spending time with animals, and San Francisco cafés
Combining synthetic organic chemistry with molecular modeling and structure–activity relationship analysis provides a means for rational drug design. I intend to identify selective ligands that elicit unique phentoypes from small panels of synthetic analogues using reverse chemical genetic screens. We utilized this approach in the discovery of a novel ligand that affects Xenopus laevis metamorphosis in a thyroid hormone receptor-α (TRα)-specific manner. This compound allows us to ask questions such as what role TRα plays in the mammalian heart. (Read Ocasio’s article on p 585.)
Christian Heinis
Anthony R. Ball
Cory A. Ocasio
Published online October 20, 2006 • 10.1021/cb6004239 CCC: $33.50 © 2006 by American Chemical Society
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VOL.1 NO.9 • ACS CHEMICAL BIOLO GY
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