Liu Lab
Principal Investigator: Hung-Wen Liu
Institution: The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
ABSTRACT Natural products offer a rich and plentiful source of novel compounds with biological activities from which fresh inspiration can be drawn for the discovery and design of new pharmaceuticals. Moreover, the rapid pace at which bioinformatic and genomic technologies are developing has led to a wealth of untested leads and intriguing questions regarding the biosynthetic pathways for these compounds. Enzymes utilizing radical intermediates are featured prominently here catalyzing chemical transformations that would otherwise not be possible under physiological conditions. Consequently, secondary metabolism is characterized by a multitude of unusual chemical structures rarely observed in primary metabolism. However, the instability of free radicals can easily lead such enzymatic reactions to go awry due to even minor perturbations. Not only does this suggest a mechanism for the evolution and diversification of radical-mediated transformations as proposed for radical SAM (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) enzymes but also implies that these enzymes may be engineered to catalyze similarly challenging transformations with applications in synthetic biology. In the spirit of helping to reali…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM153203-03: Novel Mechanisms of Catalysis in Natural Product Biosynthesis (2026)
- 5R35GM153203-02: Novel Mechanisms of Catalysis in Natural Product Biosynthesis (2025)
- 1R35GM153203-01: Novel Mechanisms of Catalysis in Natural Product Biosynthesis (2024)
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