Jessica Hill
Tennessee Technological University
Breann Brown lab
My research involves taking a structure-based approach to understand how proteins involved in heme synthesis are controlled through interactions with other proteins. Specifically, I am investigating human aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS2), the erythroid-specific mitochondrial enzyme required for red blood cell development. I am using X-ray crystallography to investigate ALAS2 with its known binding partner succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS). Structural characterization of the binding between ALAS2 and SCS will unveil key molecular information to understand the necessary interactions for proper control of ALAS2 and how mutations in ALAS2 lead to structural perturbations that result in two separate blood disorders.