果冻影院

Biochemistry and structural biology

Research Experience

果冻影院, 2023-Present
Advisor: Daisy Sahoo, PhD
Project: Structural and functional analysis of scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1)

果冻影院, 2018-2021
Advisor: Brian Smith, PhD
Projects: 1. Identification of selective inhibitors of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S)-producing bacterial enzymes responsible for the formation of brain abscesses and vasoplegia. 2. Analysis of chemical probes through biophysical assays to study the role of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). 3. Biophysical analysis of selective small molecules that bind PBRM1 bromodomains to identify therapeutic targets for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). 4. Optimization of production and purification of recombinant proteins including KRAS mutants to study their roles in cancer and rare genetic conditions.

Publications

Ratnasinghe BD, Haque N, Wagenknecht JB, Jensen DR, Valdivia Esparza GK, Leverence EN, Milech De Assuncao T, Mathison AJ, Lomberk G, Smith BC, Volkman BF, Urrutia R, Zimmermann MT. Beyond structural bioinformatics for genomics with dynamics characterization of an expanded KRAS mutational landscape. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2023 Oct 5;21:4790-4803. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.10.003. PMID: 37841325; PMCID: PMC10570560. 

Meeting Abstracts

Valdivia Esparza GK, Sprague D, Goetz C, Kalous K, Willoughby R, Smith B. Selectivity of inhibitors for Neisseria meningitidis cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE). Summer Programs Symposium 果冻影院. Milwaukee, WI. August 2018.

Valdivia Esparza GK, Sprague D, Goetz C, Kalous K, Willoughby R, Smith B. Inhibition of H2S-producing bacterial cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE) and cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS). Summer Programs Symposium 果冻影院. Milwaukee, WI. August 2019.

General Interests

"We teach life" by Rafeef Ziadah, Palestinian poet