E-Mail : koti@biology.columbia.edu
Phone : (212) 854-9474
WWW: Web Page at Columbia
Curriculum Vitae: PDF

My current interest lies in studying enzymes in action and measuring their mechanical properties duding their enzymatic cycle using single molecule force spectroscopy. Enzymes bind ligands and perform a chemical reaction, often in the presence of a cofactor, and subsequently unbind the products get ready for the next cycle. During this enzymatic cycle they exhibit a variety of dynamics and which might modulate their mechanical stability. In order to understand this, we have chosen dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), an important enzyme for the cell replication. We have found out that the mechanical stability of DHFR could be modified by ligand binding and it suggests that mechanical stability could be regarded as a regulated protein function.