The proposed project is to uncover thestructurefunction relationships of the yeast ubiquitin conjugatingenzyme Cdc34 and it recently cloned human equivalent. The specifichypothesis is that knowledge of the three dimensional structure andkinetic parameters of normal Cdc34 and some critical point mutations willilluminate the chemical mechanism and control of this vital cell cycleenzyme. The proposed study is significant because Cdc34 is anincompletely understood enzyme that performs an essential role in thenormal cell cycle and as a downstream effector for the oncogene p53. Acomplete understanding of this enzyme is fundamental to understandingnormal cell cycle control and the etiology of carcinogenesis. After five years in rural clinical practice Dr Steussy has elected tobegin a career in scientific research. His MD was granted by IndianaUniversity in 1981, and he completed a residency in Family Practice atthe University of Minnesota in 1984. After five years of engagingclinical practice in an underserved area of rural Tennessee he begangraduate study here at Indiana University. In the last two and a halfyears he has made substantial progress on cloning and purifying Cdc34, cloning and purifying its upstream activator E1, and developing anactivity assay. In order to bring his scientific fund of knowledge upto date he completed the core classroom requirements of the Departmentof Biochemistry for the PhD degree and passed the departmentalqualifying exam. Much of the strength of this project comes from its particular sponsorsand the Department of Biochemistry. The sponsors, Dr Goebl and Dr Hamilton, are both experienced and well respected in their fields. Outstanding educators as well as extensively published researchers theymake a superb team to guide Dr Steussy through this project and see tohis training as a competent independent investigator
Cell Cycle Protein, Chemical Conjugate, Chemical Kinetics, Enzyme, Enzyme Mechanism, Fungal Genetics, Molecular Cloning, Oncogene, Point Mutation, Protein Structure Function, Recombinant Protein, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Transcription Factor, Ubiquitin, X Ray Crystallography
