Catherine L. Drennan, Professor, Department of Biology and Chemistry, MIT, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will give a talk on "Capturing Snapshots of Metalloenzymes in Action."

ABSTRACT

The use of radical-based chemistry allows for amazing transformations in living organisms. To carry out their functions, radical enzymes like ribonucleotide reductase often need to be flexible and assume different conformational states, with units of the protein swinging back and forth to enable reactants to bind the protein or products to leave while protecting radical-based intermediates during the chemical steps in the reaction. In this presentation, Drennan will present her lab’s structural studies of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs). RNRs employ metallocofactors to generate radical species to afford the conversion of ribonucleotides (the building blocks of RNA) to deoxyribonucleotides (the building blocks of DNA). These enzymes are chemotherapeutic targets and proposed antibacterial targets. Here, she will describe how the “resolution revolution” of cryo-electron microscopy allowed for the capture of an active state structure of ribonucleotide reductase for the first time.