About Carol A. Fierke's Work
Research in our laboratory focuses on understanding the relationship between the structure of medically-relevant biological catalysts and the biological function. Currently, the main focus is investigation of the mechanism, molecular recognition, regulation, biological substrates and biological function of enzymes that catalyze post-translational modifications, including protein farnesyltransferase, protein geranylgeranyl transferase, and histone deacetylases. These enzymes are targets of anti-cancer therapeutics. We are developing a toolbox of techniques, including kinetic analysis, motif identification in peptides and proteins, structure-function probing, small molecule inhibitors, protein-protein crosslinking and proteomics, to identify protein binding partners and substrates and to evaluate the biological pathways that are regulated by these post translational modifications.
Awards and Achievements
Monie A. Ferst Award, Sigma Xi
Gordon Hammes ACS Biochemistry Lectureship
ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences
Fellow of the American Chemical Society
Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, Protein Society
Repligen Award, Biological Chemistry Division, American Chemical Society
AAAS Fellow