We are a new lab looking forward to doing fun and exciting science. Talk structural biology to us and we will be be interested. Talk anything remotely related to science and Dr. Roy will be interested!

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Non Ribosomal Peptide Synthetases (NRPS) are modular protein assemblies that synthesize oligopeptides, which function as antimicrobials, virulence factors and tumor suppressors to name a few! The mechanism of catalysis in most NRPS and more importantly their regulation remains elusive till date. The failure in this understanding has led to several gaps in the current knowledge and has also led to failures in the bioengineering of the synthetic NRPS assembly lines with poor yields and low efficacy. Without molecular understanding of their regulation and functions, we will not achieve the dream of bioengineered synthetic machineries. Our lab plans to battle at all the frontiers of this system and bridge the gap between science and fiction.

1. STRUCTURE DETERMINATION

The first step towards understanding a mechanism is to understand the step-by-step course of events in its molecular details. Our brand-new lab is hence interested in determining the structures of the NRPS assembly-line enzymes in their multi-molecular complex forms. We want to visualize the functional intermediates of the NRPS and understand their basic mechanism of action.

2. REgulation of NRPS:

NRPS are huge macromolecular protein complexes tasked with the synthesis of complex secondary metabolites. The regulation of these systems is very poorly understood. Our lab aims to find the complex cellular and molecular regulations that are attributed towards these NRPS systems.

2.1. PROTEIN DEPENDENT CONTROL

NRPS systems are expected to be tightly-regulated with secondary protein factors, which control the timely synthesis of the correct metabolite product. Most of these factors directly interact with the NRPS machinery to regulate product synthesis. It is crucial to determine these regulators and characterize them.

2.2. TRANSCRIPTION DEPENDENT CONTROL

NRPS systems are also regulated at their cellular level with genetic transcriptional control. Several NRPS genes in a synthetic cluster are devoted towards this kind of regulation. This process needs to be studied at a molecular level.

3. DEEPER MEANING OF NRPS EXISTENCE

A question that needs a deeper dive into the biology is why does a cell spend such an incredible amount of energy to produce one particular product. In crude terms, why does the cell invest so much into NRPS systems? This part of the field is severely unexplored. Our lab aims to address this question with a molecular perspective.