Boston University School of Medicine
William J. Lehman, Ph.D.
Hwai-Chen Guo, Ph.D.
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Hwai-Chen Guo, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

B.S. National Taiwan University
Ph.D. Cornell University

Director of the BUSM Macromolecular Crystallography Core Facility

Phone:(617)638-4023 • Fax: (617) 638-4041
e-mail: hcguo@bu.edu
address: click here

Research

Protein Crystallography and Molecular Functions

Our laboratory is interested in the relationship of macromolecule three-dimensional structures to biochemical functions. The tools employed are X-ray crystallography, molecular biology, and protein chemistry.

The first research area focuses on enzymatic mechanisms, and mechanisms of protein autoproteolysis and splicing which are posttranslational processing events. We are pursuing structural studies of the autoproteolysis mechanism of glycosylasparaginase, whose mutations in humans result in an inherited lysosomal storage disorder aspartylglycosaminuria (AGU), and the autoproteolysis of a nucleoporin, Nup98, that plays important roles in the nucleocytoplasmic transport of proteins and RNAs.

The other research areas are structural studies of factors interacting with nucleic acids. These include transcription factors, regulatory proteins, as well as restriction enzymes with unique DNA cleavage patterns. The goal is to understand the structural basis for their functions, and (specific) interactions of protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid, at atomic resolution.

 

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Publications:

Xu, Q.S., Kucera, R.B., Roberts, R.J., and Guo, H.-C. (2004). An asymmetric complex of restriction endonuclease MspI on its palindromic DNA recognition site. Structure 12, 1741-1747.
PubMed citation & abstract
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Qian, X., Guan, C., and Guo, H.-C. (2003). A dual role for an aspartic acid in glycosylasparaginase autoproteolysis. Structure 11, 997-1003
PubMed citation & abstract
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Wang, Y. and Guo, H.-C. (2003). Two-step dimerization for autoproteolysis to activate glycosylasparaginase. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 3210-3219.
PubMed citation & abstract
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O'Loughlin, T.J., Xu, Q., Kucera, R.B., Dorner, L.F., Sweeney, S., Schildkraut, I., and Guo, H.-C. (2000). Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of MspI restriction endonuclease in complex with its cognate DNA. Acta Crystallogr. D56, 1652-1655.
PubMed citation & abstract
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Xu, Q., Buckley, D., Guan, C., and Guo, H.-C. (1999). Structural insights into the mechanism of intramolecular proteolysis. Cell 98, 651-661.
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Cui, T., Liao, P.-H., Guan, C., and Guo, H.-C. (1999). Purification and crystallization of precursors and autoprocessed enzymes of Flavobacterium glycosylasparaginase: an N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase. Acta Crystallogr. D55, 1961-1964.
PubMed citation & abstract

Guo, H.-C., Xu, Q., Buckley, D., and Guan, C. (1998). Crystal structures of Flavobacterium glycosylasparaginase: an N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase activated by intramolecular proteolysis. J. Biol. Chem. 273, 20205-20212.
PubMed citation & abstract
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Bouvier, M., Guo, H.-C., Smith, K.J., and Wiley, D.C. (1998). Crystal structures of HLA-A*0201 complexed with antigenic peptides with either the amino- or carboxyl-terminal group substituted by a methyl group. Proteins Struct. Funct. Genet. 33, 97-106.
PubMed citation & abstract

Guo, H.-C., Madden, D.R., Silver, M.L., Jardetzky, T.S., Gorga, J.C., Strominger, J.L., and Wiley, D.C. (1993). Comparison of the P2 specificity pocket in three human histocompatibility antigens: HLA-A*6801, HLA-A*0201 and HLA-B*2705. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 8053-8057.
PubMed citation & abstract

Guo, H.-C., Jardetzky, T.S., Garrett, T.P.J., Lane, W.S., Strominger, J.L., and Wiley, D.C. (1992). Different length peptides bind to HLA-Aw68 similarly at their ends but bulge out in the middle. Nature 360, 364-366.
PubMed citation & abstract

Silver, M.L., Guo, H.-C., Strominger, J.L., and Wiley, D.C. (1992). Atomic structure of a human MHC molecule presenting an influenza virus peptide. Nature 360, 367-369.
PubMed citation & abstract

Guo, H.-C. and Roberts, J.W. (1990). Heterogeneous initiation due to slippage at the bacteriophage 82 late gene promoter in vitro. Biochemistry 29, 10702-10709.
PubMed Citation & Abstract
PubMed citation & abstract


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Contact Us
Hwai-Chen Guo, Ph.D. 
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Boston University School of Medicine
715 Albany Street
Boston MA 02118-2526
Phone:(617)638-4023 • Fax: (617) 638-4041
e-mail: hcguo@bu.edu
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