Junpeng Deng

My Story:

Determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins at high-resolution by x-ray crystallography is a powerful approach to investigate and understand the biochemical function of proteins. In our lab, we are interested in structure-function studies on a few proteins with significant biomedical potential by using x-ray crystallography in combination with various biophysical and biochemical approaches: 1) Human leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), mutations in which are the most common cause of Parkinsons disease. Our goal is to unravel the mechanisms of the pathogenic mutations and the unique intra-molecular signaling in LRRK2. 2) IL-18, IL-18BP and receptors that are involved in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. 3) Other important proteins such as poxvirus host range proteins and prophenoloxidase involved in insect innate immune response.