| People
- Faculty
- Professor:
Kevin W. Plaxco |
| Field(s): |
Biochemistry Chemistry |
 |
| Email: |
kwp@chem.ucsb.edu |
| Phone: |
(805)
893-
5558 |
Fax:
(805)
893-
4120 |
| Office: |
1103 Chem |
 |
Selected
Publications |
|
Go
to Research Group website |
| Bio: |
Dr. Plaxco received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC Riverside
and his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology. His doctoral
work in Molecular Biology, performed under Goddard at Caltech, concerned
theoretical calculations of protein-DNA interactions, macromolecular
hydration and protein dynamics. He then moved into experimental studies
of protein folding at the University of Oxford and University of
Washington before joining UCSB's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
in 1998. |
|
Current
Research
Protein folding: from theory to experiment to application.
Small molecules quickly achieve their most favorable configurations via a random conformational search. Proteins, in contrast, fold some 1030 times more rapidly than the predicted rate of a random search mechanism. Because of the importance of folding, or misfolding, as a critical aspect of protein chemistry, the fundamental cause of many disease states and a potential source of both technological innovations and limitations, this rapidity has been the subject of decades of scrutiny. Despite the intensive examination, no theoretical model of folding has yet been proposed that can account for this 30+ orders of magnitude discrepancy. My research group is undertaking parallel, basic and applied studies of this spontaneous and extraordinarily precise self-organization. Our basic research emphasizes theory-driven experimental efforts designed to develop and constrain a quantitative model of folding. The aim of our applied studies is to adapt the theoretical advances we have already achieved to the task of controlling and harnessing folding’s speed and specificity in order to create better, more responsive materials and processes.
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| Selected
Research Publications |
| Xiao, Y., Rowe, A.A. and Plaxco, K.W. (2007) Electrochemical detection of parts per billion lead via an electrode-bound DNAzyme assembly. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129, 262-263. |
| Oh, K.J, Cash, K.J. and Plaxco, K.W. (2006) Excimer-based peptide beacons; a convenient experimental approach for monitoring polypeptide-protein and polypeptide-oligonucleotide interactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 14018-14019. |
| Baker, B.R., Lai, R.Y., Wood, M.S., Doctor, E.H., Heeger, A.J. and Plaxco, K.W. (2006) An electronic, aptamer-based small molecule sensor for the rapid, reagentless detection of cocaine in adulterated samples and biological fluids. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 3138-3139. |
| de los Rios, M.A., Danashi, M. and Plaxco, K.W. (2005) Experimental investigation of the frequency and substitution dependence of negative phi-values in two-state proteins. Biochemistry, 44, 12160-12167. |
| McCarney, E.R., Werner, J.H., Ruczinski, I., Makarov, Goodwin, P.M. and Plaxco, K.W. (2005) Random coil dimensions in a highly denatured protein; A single molecule study. J. Mol. Biol., 352, 672-682. |
| Xiao, Y., Lubin, A.A., Heeger, A.J. and Plaxco, K.W. (2005) Label-free electronic detection of thrombin in blood serum using an aptamer based electrochemical sensor. Angw. Chem. Int. Ed., 44, 2-5. |
| Kohn, J.E. and Plaxco, K.W. (2005) Engineering of a signal-transduction mechanism for protein-based biosensors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 102, 10841-10845. |
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