20220410

Mr. Erich Hellemann, a 5th year Ph.D. student in the MBSB graduate program mentored by Dr. Jacob Durrant (Department of Biological Science, University of Pittsburgh) recently published his first-author paper, “Novel mutation in hexokinase 2 confers resistance to 2-deoxyglucose by altering protein dynamics,” in PLOS Computational Biology. Erich’s Ph.D. project studies how protein dynamics impact function and pharmacology. To characterize the molecular mechanism of a recently identified resistance mutation, he performed molecular dynamics simulations of hexokinase 2 from yeast, an enzyme critical for glucose metabolism. This work occupies the major component of his Ph.D. work. His Ph.D. defense is within his reach!!

Check out his paper!

By MBSB