New 4-year Grant Funded: Dynamics and Allostery in Protein-RNA Regulation

This new NIH R01 is a collaborative grant that funds our research to understand the mechanisms of allosteric regulation of RNA binding by oligomeric proteins, using the undecameric trp RNA binding attenuation protein (TRAP) as a model system. In addition, we study how TRAP binding to the trp leader RNA results in remodeling of its secondary structure and regulation of transcription termination. The project is a collaboration with Paul Gollnick (Buffalo), Julius Lucks (Northwestern) and Vicki Wysocki (Ohio State). Approaches include NMR spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, protein engineering, SHAPE-Seq, native mass spectrometry, and computational modeling. Stay tuned!