dirbix > academics
email: boyang [at] dirbix.com
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PubMed search term: zhao, boyang
Education
B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering (Biochemical Concentration), 2011
Minor in Computer Science
College of Engineering
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Academic/Research Interests
Besides general interests in all aspects of science, technology, business, and patent law, my recent focus has been in areas of biopharmaceutical engineering, gene therapy, drug delivery, nanobiotechnology, and computational biology
Current Research
I am currently investigating the repair mechanism of 3-methlyadenine DNA glycosylase II, also known as AlkA. AlkA is known to remove a variety of bases such as 1,N6-ethenoadenosine (εA) and inosine from DNA. However, the mechanism by which AlkA searches and catalyzes base excision at damaged sites is poorly understood. The current proposed minimal mechanism involves AlkA binding to the substrate, flipping out the damaged based, followed by catalyzing the hydrolysis of the N-glycosidic bond. The processivity and kinetic mechanism of the glycosylase are currently studied using various processivity and kinetic assays. A better understanding of the mechanism of how AlkA searches and repairs damaged bases would give further insight into the fundamental principles of lesion recognition and excision.
Publications
Xiang, Z.; Todd, T.; Ku, K.P.; Kovacic, B.L.; Larson, C.B.; Chen, F.; Hodges, A.P.; Tian, Y; Olenzek, E.A.; Zhao, B.; Colby, L.A.; Rush, H.G.; Gilsdorf, J.R.; Jourdian, G.W.; He, Y. (2008) VIOLIN: Vaccine Investigation and Online Information Network. Nucleic Acids Res., 36, D923-D928. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18025042