Crystal structure active site of a protease from Bacteroides fragilis determined in the Fellner laboratory.
Supervisor: Dr. Fellner (Biochemistry)
The proteases from the human microbiome project is a collaboration with the Lakemeyer Lab – University Jena – Germany.
Summary: This project is ideal if you want work on a project where you will be the first in the world to determine the structure of a protein. We have successfully purified proteases from human microbiome bacteria Bacteroides fragilis. The goal is to determine the atomic protease structure, to identify how they are interacting with the host environment and one such stucture has already been determined in the Fellner laboratory. These proteases appear to interact with host receptors that are normally triggered only by pathogenic bacteria. This project will help to gain an understanding how this interaction is different between normal microbiota of the human colon (the commensal Bacteroides fragilis) and pathogens. This project also allows for the opportunity to interact with a laboratory in Germany, with personal visits also possible. This project also includes measurements at the Melbourne Australian synchrotron (in person or remotely depending on your preference).
