Part I Function and Structure of Assembly Line Polyketide Synthases (PKSs) Part II Cellular and Molecular Changes Associated with Memory Formation
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ABSTRACT
Part I
Polyketide synthases (PKSs) are a class of multi-domain enzymes that synthesize polyketides, a large class of secondary metabolites. We applied synthetic chemical probes and Fab antibodies, to study the structure and function of assembly line PKSs. We discovered a novel turnstile-like catalytic control mechanism, and revealed the associated structural rearrangements.
Part II
Neurons undergo extensive cellular and molecular remodelling during memory formation. We have combined optics, chemistry, and protein engineering to develop tools to record such changes. An engineered linearly growing crystalline protein scaffold was repurposed to record activation history of c-fos, a representative immediately early gene (IEG). A halotag-based staining protocol was developed to enable time resolved tagging of synaptic AMPA receptors to mark long term potentiation (LTP).
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Xiuyuan LI received Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University in 2019 and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from MIT in 2013. His Ph.D. thesis focused on the function and structure of a class of nature product producing biosynthetic enzymes called polyketide synthases (PKSs). He is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Cohen Lab at Harvard CCB to develop methods to tag cellular and molecular changes associated with memory formation.