Research Description

Research in the Jaroniec lab is focused on atomistic level studies of molecular structure, conformational dynamics, interactions and mechanism in large protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes and assemblies of fundamental importance in biology by using multidimensional solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy and cryoelectron microscopy complemented by other biophysical and biochemical methods. The major current research projects include: (1) elucidation of the structural basis of strain and cross-seeding barrier phenomena in mammalian prion protein amyloid fibrils, (2) characterization of chromatin structure, dynamics and interactions with particular focus on the role of dynamic histone protein tail domains in mediating chromatin compaction and interactions with regulatory proteins, and (3) characterization of DNA base pairing in large protein-DNA complexes.