About the Speaker:

Research Interests:

Heme proteins are the main subjects of our research. In particular, we have been focusing on ligand substitution reactions at the heme as a common platform for switching the protein structure and redox reactivity in signaling processes (Figure 1). We are investigating conformational properties of cytochrome c in apoptosis and correlate them to the protein peroxidase activity, which is critical for execution of this cellular pathway. We are also studying redox reactivity and folding of native sensors and engineered “switchable” proteins, in which changes in the oxidation state of the heme are linked to heme ligand substitution resulting in protein conformational rearrangements.