BIO

I am a second-year student from Tampa, FL pursuing a biological sciences degree, planning on attending medical school after graduation. I enjoyed working along my mentors, Sayantan Roy and Qian Yin, during the 2022-2023 academic year for this research project.

Biochemical Characterization of Human Guanylate Binding Protein 2

Abstract

Interferon-inducible guanylate binding proteins (GBPs) are contributors to our ability to fight infectious agents. GBP1 is the most well-characterized member of this family. However, recent studies are focusing on the roles of GBP2 and the other members because they also play an important role in immunity that is not well understood. Biochemical alterations of the environment and its effect on GBP2 activity can relate to how the protein functions in cell-autonomous immunity. We created constructs of the GTPase domain of GBP2 (GD) and studied its activity in different environments. This was accomplished through recombinant protein purification using affinity, ion-exchange, and size exclusion chromatography. We also generated a mutant of the GD using site-directed mutagenesis and finally purified it using the same purification strategy as the wild type (WT). We tested the activity of the protein in the presence of different cation co-factors and compared the activity of the WT and mutant at different pH levels. It was found that GD was only active with Mg2+ and Mn2+ cation co-factors.

Keywords: Biology, Biochemistry, GBP2, Protein, Science