Biochemistry Department - Primary Faculty
Primary Faculty
Vivien Yee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Education
- Ph.D.: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Postdoc: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
- Postdoc: University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Research Interests
Our structural biology group investigates biomedically important proteins and enzymes with interesting mechanistic questions. Some of our current projects focus on proteins involved in drug metabolism, neurodegenerative disorders, antiviral defense, or are model systems for metabolic enzymes. Our laboratory combines X-ray crystallography with modeling and mutagenesis studies to investigate several systems. One focus is on biotin-dependent enzymes which are important in a variety of metabolic processes. We study the large bacterial transcarboxylase multienzyme complex which is a model for homologous human proteins. Our structures allow us to speculate on catalytic mechanisms and the structural consequences of human disease mutations. We are also investigating the prion protein, whose structural transformation to a pathogenic form is believed to be important in an intriguing family of neurological diseases, the spongiform encephalopathies. By comparing structures of wild-type and mutant prion proteins, our goal is to highlight structural features which may play a role in the disease process. A third project is part of a large pharmacogenomics investigation of drug metabolizing enzymes. Using a combination of experimental and computational methods, we compare wild-type and variant enzyme structures in order to understand the molecular and functional consequences of genetic polymorphisms responsible for variation in patient drug responses.
Selected References
- Collard F, Zhang J, Nemet I, Qanungo KR, Monnier VM, & Yee VC
“Crystal structure of the deglycating enzyme fructosamine oxidase (amadoriase II).”
J. Biol. Chem.
283, 27007-27016 (2008) - Peng Y, Feng Q, Wilk D, Adjei AA, Salavaggione OE, Weinshilboum RM, & Yee VC
“Structural basis of substrate recognition in thiopurine S-methyltransferase.”
Biochemistry 47, 6216-6225 (2008) - Hall PR, Zheng R, Antony L, Pusztai-Carey M, Carey PR, & Yee VC
“Transcarboxylase 5S structures: assembly and catalytic mechanism of a multienzyme complex subunit”
EMBO J. 23, 3621-3621 (2004) - Hartmann R, Justesen J, Sarkar SN, Seng GC, & Yee VC
“Crystal structure of the 2’-specific and double-stranded RNA-activated interferon-induced antiviral protein 2’-5’-oligoadenylate synthetase.”
Mol. Cell 12, 1173-1185 (2003) - Hall PR Wang YF, Rivera-Hainaj RE, Zheng X, Pusztai-Carey M, Carey PR, & Yee VC
“Transcarboxylase 12S crystal structure: hexamer assembly and substrate binding to a multienzyme core.”
EMBO J., 22, 2334-2347 (2003)
