Alexander Mankin

The research in Mankin/Vázquez-Laslop lab is aimed on understanding fundamental mechanisms of protein synthesis and antibiotic action.

The ribosome has the ability to monitor the sequence of the polypeptides it makes. It can recognize and respond to specific nascent peptide sequences. Functional interactions between the ribosome and the nascent peptide are used for the regulation of gene expression and may also facilitate protein folding and targeting. We are investigating the molecular mechanisms of nascent peptide-sensing by the ribosome and studying the ribosomal response to regulatory sequences in the nascent peptides.

Many antibiotics interfere with bacterial growth by inhibiting protein synthesis. However, the mechanisms of action of many antibiotics are unknown or unclear. We have recently found that many ribosome-targeting antibiotics inhibit protein synthesis in a context-specific manner arresting translation only at specific mRNA sites. We are exploring what distinguishes the sites of preferential drug action and what cryptic features of translation could be exposed context specificity of antibiotics.

The ability to modify and expand the ribosome functionality is one of the main tasks of synthetic biology. We are using the current knowledge of the ribosome structure and function to engineer altered ribosomal RNA designs to enable properties unattainable for the 'native' ribosome.