University of Toronto Biochemistry

Biomolecular Structure and Function

The three-dimensional structures of biological molecules and their complexes provide the fundamental basis for understanding how they mediate their functions.

Through the use of techniques including NMR, x-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, CD and fluorescence spectroscopy, sedimentation analysis, and computational approaches, we are studying structure-function relationships in a number of important areas. Included among these are protein and membrane-protein structure, protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions, protein folding, stability and dynamics, and enzyme specificity and catalysis.

In addition to providing insight into the principles upon which complex biological systems are based, our work has long-term applications in the biotechnology and health care sectors.

Faculty currently doing research in this area:

J.W. Callahan Professor Emeritus Inborn Errors of Lysosomes Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 9144 416-813-5754 john.callahan@sickkids.ca	H.S. Chan Theoretical and Computational Approaches to Protein Folding Medical Sciences Building, Room 5363 416-978-2697 chan@arrhenius.med.utoronto.ca
A. Davidson In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Protein-Protein Interactions and Macromolecular Assembly Medical Sciences Building, Room 4285 416-978-0332 alan.davidson@utoronto.ca	C.M. Deber Protein Structure in Membrane Domains Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427A 416-813-5924 deber@sickkids.ca
J. Forman-Kay Protein Structure, Dynamics and Folding by NMR Method Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3401 416-813-5358 forman@sickkids.ca	J.R. Glover Molecular Chaperones Medical Sciences Building, Room 5302 416-978-3008 john.glover@utoronto.ca
W.A. Houry Chaperones in Protein Folding and Degradation Medical Sciences Building, Room 5308 416-946-7141 walid.houry@utoronto.ca	P.L. Howell Macromolecular Complexes Involved in Bacterial Biofilm Formation Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427B 416-813-5378 howell@sickkids.ca
D.E. Isenman Professor Emeritus Structure-Function Relations in Proteins of the Complement System Medical Sciences Building, Room 5306 416-978-2703 d.isenman@utoronto.ca	L. Kay Development and Application of NMR Methods for The Study of Protein Structure and Dynamics McMurrich Building, Room 1233 416-978-0741 kay@pound.med.utoronto.ca

F.W. Keeley Synthesis and Assembly of Elastin and Elastin-Like Structural Proteins of the Extracellular Matrix Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Building, Room 7003 416-813-6704 fwk@sickkids.ca	C.A. Lingwood Receptor Function of Glycolipids Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 7114 416-813-5998 cling@sickkids.ca
M.F. Manolson Assembly, Targeting, and Control of Proton Pumping V-ATPases Faculty of Dentistry, 124 Edward Street Room 403 416-979-4900 #4392 m.manolson@utoronto.ca	R. Melnyk Bacterial Pathogenesis: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approaches Hospital for Sick Kids, Room 3203A 416-813-7654 x28557 roman.melnyk@sickkids.ca
[an error occurred while processing this directive]	E.F. Pai Structure and Function of Proteins Medical Sciences Building, Room 5358 416-978-7015 pai@hera.med.utoronto.ca
R. Pomès Theoretical Methods Applied to the Structure, Function and Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3405 416-813-5686 pomes@sickkids.ca	G. Privé Protein Structure and X-Ray Crystallography MaRS Toronto Medical Discovery Tower Room 4-302 416-581-7541 prive@uhnres.utoronto.ca
R.S. Prosser Protein Structure and Dynamics - Energy Landscapes and Folding Pathways University of Toronto, Mississauga, South Building, 4052 905-828-3802 scott.prosser@utoronto.ca	D.E. Pulleyblank Role of DNA Conformation in Regulation of Gene Expression Medical Sciences Building, Room 5233 416-978-8565 david.pulleyblank@utoronto.ca
R. Reithmeier Structure and Function of Membrane Proteins Medical Sciences Building, Room 5242 416-978-7739 r.reithmeier@utoronto.ca	J.M. Rini Protein Structure and Molecular Recognition Medical Sciences Building, Room 5360 416-978-0557 james.rini@utoronto.ca
B.H. Robinson Professor Emeritus Inborn Error in Man: Chronic Childhood Lacticacidemia Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 9146C 416-813-5989 bhr@sickkids.on.ca

J. Rubinstein Electron cryomicroscopy of macromolecular assemblies Molecular Structure and Function Program, Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 20-9705 416-813-7255 john.rubinstein@utoronto.ca	B. Sarkar Professor Emeritus DNA-Binding Proteins and Proteins of Metal Transport: Structure and Function Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427 416-813-5921 Bibudhendra.Sarkar@sickkids.ca
H. Schachter Professor Emeritus Structure and Synthesis of Glycoproteins Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3427B 416-813-5915 harry@sickkids.on.ca	S. Sharpe Structure and assembly of membrane-active proteins and peptides by solid-state NMR Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, Room 3503 416-813-7852 ssharpe@sickkids.ca
F. Sicheri Structural Biology of Eukaryotic Signal Transduction Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital 416-586-8471 sicheri@lunenfeld.ca	Boris Steipe Bioinformatics Medical Sciences Building, Room 5271 416-946-7741 boris.steipe@utoronto.ca
D.B. Williams Protein Folding & Quality Control within the Endoplasmic Reticulum Medical Sciences Building, Room 5316 416-978-2546 david.williams@utoronto.ca	S. Wodak Computational Structural Biology and Bioinformatics: Linking the molecular and cellular levels Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute, 180 Dundas Street, Suite 1300 416-813-6351shoshana@sickkids.ca
C.M. Yip Biomolecular Engineering at Interfaces Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (CCBR) Room 404 416-978-7853 christopher.yip@utoronto.ca

Department of Biochemistry
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

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