Bridwell-Rabb Lab

Metalloproteins combine the powerful reactivity of a transition metal with the exquisite control conferred by a protein scaffold to catalyze some of Nature’s most difficult chemical transformations. Estimated to account for up to 50-percent of the proteome1, metalloproteins catalyze reactions that are essential to life and reactions that offer adaptive advantages to organisms for survival in changing ecosystems. As Nature has spent millions of years evolving metalloproteins to carry out these challenging feats, mastering a molecular understanding of metalloprotein reactivity is not trivial. Luckily, in our laboratory, we have an extensive toolbox of biochemical and structural techniques to study metalloproteins. Our goals are to: 1.) Investigate metalloproteins that have eluded biochemical characterization 2.) Uncover structure–function relationships in different enzyme classes 3.) Define trends to leverage powerful (and existing) metalloprotein chemistry