Focused Research Program Faculty Awarded NSF EAGER Grant
Via Gina Mantica: Organic materials that convert electricity into light are greener than the more common inorganic materials often used in light emitting diodes, or LEDs. But organic materials for large scale display and lighting applications are more challenging to develop due to the cost and energy required for their production. Artificial intelligence can help […]
Fall 2021 Advising
Please be on the lookout for e-mails from your advisees looking to schedule registration advising appointments. Fall 2021 registration dates are April 18th for rising Senior/Juniors and April 25th for rising Sophomores and any spring admitted Freshmen.
Giving Day on April 7th
BU’s annual Giving Day will be on Wednesday, April 7th. Please share the link to Chemistry’s giving page on your social media: https://givingday.bu.edu/campaigns/chemistry-department#/
Congratulations to Binyomin!
Congratulation to Professor Binyomin Abrams for winning the 2021 Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Award for Innovation in Teaching and Technology. This award recognizes the faculty member that best exemplifies innovation in teaching through the use, development, or adaptation of technology. The award reflects Binyomin’s outstanding teaching and innovative use of technology to engage and […]
March 2021 Faculty Meeting
The faculty meeting will be held remotely this Friday, February 26th at 12:20 PM. Please join through the following Zoom Link!
Juan Lopez (Class of ’22)
Single-Step Replacement of an Unreactive C–H Bond by a C–S Bond Using Polysulfide as the Direct Sulfur Source in the Anaerobic Ergothioneine Biosynthesis Ergothioneine, a natural longevity vitamin and antioxidant, is a thiol-histidine derivative. Recently, two types of biosynthetic pathways were reported. In the aerobic ergothioneine biosyntheses, non-heme iron enzymes incorporate a sulfoxide into an […]
Meiling Xu (Class of ’19)
Biochemical Characterization of a Multifunctional Mononuclear Nonheme Iron Enzyme (PtlD) in Neopentalenoketolactone Biosynthesis Pentalenolactone is a microbial sesquiterpenoid with antibiotic activity. Its biosynthetic pathway was elucidated by a combination of genetic and biochemical characterizations of all genes involved. For the related neopentalenoketolactone biosynthetic gene cluster from Streptomyces avermitilis, an α-ketoglutarate-dependent mononuclear nonheme iron enzyme, PtlD, was […]
Meiling Xu (Class of ’19) and Melissa Quill (Class of ’19)
Mechanistic Studies of a Nonheme Iron Enzyme OvoA in Ovothiol Biosynthesis Using a Tyrosine Analogue, 2-Amino-3-(4-hydroxy-3-(methoxyl) phenyl) Propanoic Acid (MeOTyr) Ovothiols are thiol-histidines that play important roles in protecting cells against oxidative stresses. Because of challenges faced in their chemical synthesis, biosynthesis provides an alternative option. In ovothiol biosynthesis, a nonheme iron enzyme (OvoA) catalyzes […]
Shu Wang (Class of ’16) and Huijue Lyu (Class of ’19)
In Vitro Reconstitution of the Remaining Steps in Ovothiol A Biosynthesis: C–S Lyase and Methyltransferase Reactions Ovothiols are thiolhistidine derivatives. The first step of ovothiol biosynthesis is OvoA-catalyzed oxidative coupling between histidine and cysteine. In this report, the remaining steps of ovothiol A biosynthesis were reconstituted in vitro. ETA_14770 (OvoB) was reported as a PLP-dependent sulfoxide lyase, […]
Vanessa Stahl (Class of ’21)
β-Catenin/CBP inhibition alters epidermal growth factor receptor fucosylation status in oral squamous cell carcinoma Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a major driver of head and neck cancer, a devastating malignancy with a major sub-site in the oral cavity manifesting as oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). EGFR is a glycoprotein receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) whose […]