Dr. Christine Beuck
Research
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
NMR spectroscopy is a versatile tool to study proteins and their molecular interactions. As part of the CRC 1093, I investigate both the interactions of proteins with their natural binding partners and synthetic ligands designed to target protein surfaces. NMR is a powerful method that can directly determine the protein residues involved in interactions with other biomolecules or synthetic ligands. I established the use of side chain specific NMR experiments for lysine and arginine residues to precisely monitor supramolecular ligand binding, which, in contrast to the standard amide 15N-HSQC experiment, allows to rank multiple binding sites within one protein. For larger proteins, fast-acquisition (BEST-TROSY; SOFAST) as well as Methyl-TROSY experiments are employed. Furthermore, NMR is used to determine the structures of proteins or isolated domains and probe their size, oligomerization status and dynamics or reaction kinetics.
Protein Structure Determination
I elucidate the structures of proteins with both solution NMR spectroscopy and X-Ray crystallography.
NMR structures:
- 2MXT: Acidic Domain of the human splicing factor SYNCRIP (24-107), BMRB # 25970.
- Acidic Domain of the human splicing factor SYNCRIP (24-140) (pdb 2NBB, NMR structure), BMRB # 25428.
X-Ray structures:
- 4DNN: Qua1 Homdimerization domain of the human splicing factor Quaking
- 3K6T: Qua1 homdimerization domain of the C. elegans translational regulator GLD1.
- 3KBL: Qua1 domain N169A mutant of the C. elegans translational regulator GLD1
Biochemical Characterization of Protein Complexes
To perform their task within the cell, proteins are interacting with a multitude of other biomolecules like other proteins, nu
Curriculum Vitae
Professional career
| Since 2014 | Assistant Professor (Habilitandin) with Prof. Dr. P. Bayer, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany |
| 2014 | Staff Scientist with Prof. Dr. J. R. Williamson, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA |
| 2012 - 2014 | Senior Research Associate with Prof. Dr. J. R. Williamson, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA |
| 2005 - 2012 | Research Associate (Postdoc) with Prof. Dr. J. R. Williamson, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA |
| 2005 | Guest scientist with Prof. Dr. M. Shionoya, Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan, as part of the GDCh/DFG Japan exchange program 2005 |
| 2003 | Exchange researcher with Dr. habil. S. Klimašauskas, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius, Lithuania |
Scientific education and degrees
| 2001 - 2005 | Ph.D. in Chemistry, with Prof. Dr. E. Weinhold, RWTH Aachen |
| 1996 - 2001 | Study of Chemistry (Dipl.) at the Technical University of Dortmund, Diploma thesis with Prof. Dr. E. Weinhold, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology |