Yong (Tiger) Zhang
GRADUATE STUDENT (B.I.G. M.Sc. Program)
zhangy@uoguelph.ca
B.Sc. Biological Sciences, Shandong University, China
Current project:
The goal of my project is to elucidate the interactions between eukaryotic elongation factor-2(eEF2) and exotoxin A (ETA). ETA is a highly virulent protein secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa upon infection of a suitable host cell/organism. The toxin-enzyme catalyzes the ADP-ribosylation of eEF2, which results in inhibition of eEF2 function in the elongation step of protein synthesis on the eukaryotic ribosome. My approach is to investigate the nature of this critical protein-protein interaction include site-directed mutagenesis, site-directed fluorescence labeling, and X-ray crystallography.