Susan Marqusee
Biologist Faculty Scientist
Director of QB3
Eveland Warren Endowed Chair Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology, UC Berkeley
Research Interests
The long-term goal of our research is to understand the structural and dynamic information encoded in the linear sequence of amino acids. Proteins undergo an incredible transformation from one-dimensional sequence information into complex three-dimensional shapes that carry out intricate cellular functions. We still, however, don’t have enough biophysical knowledge to translate this sequence information into functional insights. For instance, many proteins share the same native structure yet their cellular dynamics and function, in other words their energy landscapes, are different. Our laboratory uses a combination of biophysical, structural and computational techniques to understand these features.
In addition to the native conformation, a protein sequence populates small fluctuations around the native state, partially unfolded forms and even the globally unfolded conformation. Such non-native states on the energy landscape are thought to play a determining function in many cellular processes such as translocation, protein synthesis, degradation, signaling and allostery. They are also prone to aggregation, a phenomena which has been implicated for many diseases (the so-called misfolding and amyloid diseases). Understanding the sequence determinants of the energy landscape is therefore fundamental to the biological process that proteins carry out as well as protein folding itself.
Recent Publications
Related News
Marqusee Recipient of Protein Society Award
Susan Marqusee, faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, will receive the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, sponsored by Genentech, which is granted in recognition of exceptional contributions in protein science that profoundly influence our understanding of biology. Marqusee, a biophysical chemist whose work focuses on protein folding and dynamics, is one of the world's top experimental scientists in the field of protein folding.
Three MBIB Scientists Named to the National Academy of Sciences
Three scientists affiliated with the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division - Robert Glaeser, Krishna Niyogi, and Susan Marqusee - were among four Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)-affiliated researchers elected as members to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this week. The election to the NAS recognizes their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
