emad@life.illinois.edu
3009 Beckman Institute
Office: (217) 244-6914
Fax: (217) 244-6078
Mail to: Beckman Institute
405 N Mathews Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
Lab Page
Emad Tajkhorshid
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the College of Medicine
Associate Professor of Biophysics and Computational Biology
Beckman Institute
Research Topics
Computational Biology, Ion Channels, Membrane Biology, Protein Dynamics, Protein Structure
Education
B.S. 1989 Tehran University
Ph.D. 2001 University of Heidelberg
Postdoc. 2000-2003 Univ. of Illinois, U-C
Computational Studies of Membranes and Membrane Associated Phenomena
Membrane proteins are of critical importance for all living cells. They are responsible for exchange of materials and information across cellular membranes, and participate in a wide range of metabolic, regulatory, and sensory mechanisms. My research focuses on structure function relationship of membrane proteins, in particular membrane channels and transporters, and understanding the mechanism of their function using simulation and computational methodologies. Recent advances in structural determination of membrane proteins have resulted in high resolution structures of several membrane proteins that we can use in simulation studies to understand how the architecture of the protein, and specific interactions and dynamics of its building blocks provide the basis of its mechanism of function.
Representative Publications
G. Enkavi and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Simulation of spontaneous substrate binding revealing the binding pathway and mechanism and initial conformational response of GlpT. Biochemistry, 49: 1105-1114. PMCID: NIHMS173184.
Y. Wang and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Nitric oxide conduction by the brain aquaporin AQP4. PROTEINS, Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 78(3): 661-670. PMCID: PMC2805761.
J. H. Morrissey, R. L. Davis-Harrison, N. Tavoosi, K. Ke, V. Pureza, J. M. Boettcher, M. C. Clay, C. M. Rienstra, Y. Z. Ohkubo, T. V. Pogorelov, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Protein-Phospholipid interactions in blood clotting. Thrombosis Research, 125 (Suppl. 1): S23-S25. PMCID: PMC2838931.
J. Diao, A. J. Maniotis, R. Follberg, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Interplay of mechanical and binding properties of fibronectin type I. Theoretical Chemistry Accounts, 125: 397-405.
Y. Z. Ohkubo, J. H. Morrissey, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Dynamical view of human tissue factor, factor VIIa, and their complex in solution and on the surface of anionic membranes. Journal of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, in press.
P.-C. Wen, Z. Huang, G. Enkavi, Y. Wang, J. C. Gumbart, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Molecular mechanisms of active transport across the cellular membrane. In, Editors: Phil Biggin and Mark Sansom, Molecular Simulations and Biomembranes: From Biophysics to Function Royal Society of Chemistry, in press.
S. Shaikh, P.-C. Wen, G. Enkavi, Z. Huang, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Capturing Functional Motions of Membrane Channels and Transporters with Molecular Dynamics Simulation. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanosciences, in press.
J. Feng, E. Lucchinetti, G. Enkavi, Y. Wang, P. Gehrig, B. Roschitzki, M. C. Schaub, E. Tajkhorshid, K. Zaugg, and M. Zaugg (2010) Tyrosine phosphorylation by Src within the cavity of the adenine nucleotide translocase 1 regulates ADP/ATP exchange in mitochondria. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology, in press.
X.-D. Yang, E. Tajkhorshid, and L.-F. Chen (2010) Functional Interplay between Acetylation and Methylation of the RelA Subunit of NF-kappaB. Molecular and Cellular Biology, in press.
F. Khalili-Araghi, V. Jogini, V. Yarov-Yarovoy, E. Tajkhorshid, B. Roux, and K. Schulten (2010) Calculation of the gating charge for the Kv1.2 voltage–activated potassium channel. Biophysical Journal, in press.
Y. Wang, S. A. Shaikh, and E. Tajkhorshid (2010) Exploring transmembrane diffusion pathways with molecular dynamics. Physiology, in press.
H.-C. Siebert, M. Burg-Roderfeld, Th. Eckert, S. Stötzel, U. Kirch, T. Diercks, M. J. Humphries, M. Frank, R. Wechselberger, E. Tajkhorshid, and S. Oesser (2010) Interaction of the alpha2A domain of integrin with small collagen fragments. Protein and Cell, in press.
Wang, Y. and Tajkhorshid, E. 2008. Electrostatic funneling of substrate in mitochondrial membrane carriers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 105:9598–9603. [Abstract]
Tornroth-Horsefield, S., Wang, Y., Hedfalk, K., Johanson, U., Karlsson, M., Tajkhorshid, E., Neutze, R., and Kjellbom, P. 2006. Structural mechanism of plant aquaporin gating. Nature, 439:688–94. [Abstract]
Tajkhorshid, E., Nollert, P., Jensen, M.O., Miercke, L.J.W., O'Connell, J., Stroud, R.M., and Schulten, K. 2002. Control of the selectivity of the aquaporin water channel family by global orientational tuning. Science, 296:525–30. [Abstract]