Brief Summary of research: 

Ubiquitin (Ub) and ubiquitin-like proteins (UBLs) are involved in a wide range of cellular processes including protein degradation, cell signaling, transcriptional regulation and the DNA damage response. The regulation of numerous cellular processes by these proteins is ascribed to their ability to perform a wide spectrum of modifications. To date, besides ubiquitin, which can modify a target protein with mono or poly-ubiquitin chains with various linkages of varying length, more than a dozen different UBLs are encoded in the human genome, thereby significantly increasing the repertoire of ubiquitin modifications. Not surprisingly, improper regulation of these modifications has been observed in many human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and viral infections. My lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms governing Ub and UBL conjugation to cellular proteins.

Specific research topics related to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology:

More than 900 enzymes are involved in the deposition or removal of Ub/UBL from target proteins, and only little is known about their specificity, activity and interaction network. We use a variety of biophysical methods including X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM and SEM, to provide the structural and functional data required for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of these enzymes. The Nano Center, and specifically the Nano Characterization Unit, serves as a vital hub for tools and knowledge critical to my research.