Kynurenine Monooxygenase (KMO) is a potential drug target for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease^1-3. In this study, we tested kynurenine analogs and sulfonylureas predicted by a pharmacophore model⁴ for competitive inhibition of KMO. Given the therapeutic relevance of KMO inhibition, and that obtaining a pure recombinant human KMO is still a challenge, our lab seeks to crystallize Cytophaga hutchinsonii (ch) KMO and hopefully provide a better surrogate for human KMO.

Traditionally used in cell biology, super resolution microscopy (SRM) has become a valuable tool for observing chemistry in action. With resolution capabilities down to 10 nm, SRM has succeeded in observing samples below the theoretical limit of light microscopy. The major SRM techniques utilize the chemical potential and photoactivation characteristics of fluorophores as well as deconvolution of raw image data to obtain high resolution images. Development of these super resolution techniques won Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William E.

Antibodies are important biological scaffolds used in biotherapeutics and diagnostics. The utility of antibodies can be expanded by coupling them with small-molecule drugs or proteins. Using both protein engineering and bioconjugation chemistry, we have created a series of highly-characterized antibody-conjugates that simultaneously deliver multiple drugs to induce new forms of synthetic lethality.

Our oceans are the largest generators of highly saline and organic-rich atmospheric aerosol.  Research in the Allen lab investigates ocean and sea spray aerosol systems to understand interfacial speciation and organization to then inform on atmospheric aerosol, cloud, and marine surface reactivity, correlating to climate change and its contributing uncertainties. Surface selective experiments reveal surface propensity of hydrated ions and ion pairs and generation of electric fields inherent to the ordering of electrical double layers at aqueous surfaces.

Nanophotonics involves the development of fundamental science, materials, and applications that leverage the interaction of light and matter on the nanometer to micrometer length scales. This growing and highly interdisciplinary field involves chemistry, materials science, physics, engineering, and bio-science. In this presentation Dr. Kuebler will introduce the field of nanophotonics and describe some work done by his group in this area.

The highly dynamic nature of metabolites and their abundances makes metabolomics a powerful endpoint of the ‘omics’ cascade, yielding a molecular profile that is closest to the physiological phenotype. Metabolomic profiles are therefore sensitive to subtle perturbations observed in early disease stages or disease progression, which may be difficult to detect at the proteome or transcriptome levels.

Scientists have exploited enzymes as catalysts for various chemical transformations for over 30 years. The benefits of using enzymes over other synthetic catalysts are numerous and include their specificity, selectivity, and stability. These strengths can also be weaknesses; enzymes are often only active for a few substrates, while synthetic catalysts can often be readily-tuned to increase substrate scope. The directed evolution of enzymes has been used to increase the substrate scope and/or change the selectivity of natural enzymes.

Carbohydrates are the most abundant molecules among the four essential classes of biomolecules that also include nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins. Unlike proteins and nucleic acids, which follow template-driven synthetic pathways, there is no general route to the synthesis of carbohydrates. This literature seminar will focus on the commonly used methods to synthesize oligosaccharides and the gradual movement of the field towards automation.

Aggregation induced emission (AIE) molecules are a type of compounds that emit weak fluorescence in diluted solution but emit strong fluorescence in aggregated state. Traditional organic fluorescent molecules tend to emit strong fluorescence in diluted solutions, but their fluorescence will be quenched in aggregated state, which are also known as aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. The effect is due to the excimer formed due to the π-π stacking between two molecules. AIE effect is first introduced by Dr.