Department of Biochemistry
& Molecular Biology

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     Ahmad, F.
    Briegel, K.
    Carothers-Carraway, C.
    Deutscher, M.
    Farooq, A.
    Fenna, R.
    Fletcher, T.
    Gong, F.
    Harris, TK
    Huijing, F.
    Jain, C.
    Landgraf, R.
    Malhotra, A.
    Myers, R.
    Nawaz, Z.
    Rudd, K.
    Scott, W.
    Werner, R.
    Whelan, W.
    Zhang, Y.

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Murray Deutscher

Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Ph.D. (1966) Albert Einstein College of Medicine, N.Y.

Enzymology and Regulation of RNA Processing, Supramolecular Organization of the Protein-Synthesizing System

Tel: (305) 243-3150, Fax: (305) 243-3955

mdeutsch@med.miami.edu

Research Interests:  

Two major areas of research are carried
out in our laboratory. One deals with the identification, characterization and determination of the physiological role of
RNA processing enzymes. To date, eight exoribonucleases have been identified in
Escherichia coli. Each of the enzymes has been purified and studied for its catalytic properties. Mutations have been constructed in the genes for each of these enzymes, and the genes have been cloned and sequenced. Several of these enzymes have been shown to participate in transfer RNA and ribosomal RNA maturation, and in mRNA degradation. The availability of the purified enzymes and of mutants lacking these RNases is now being used to elucidate complete RNA maturation pathways and to study the regulation of these processes.

The second area of investigation in the laboratory deals with the translation system of mammalian cells. Protein synthesis in mammalian cells proceeds as much as 100-fold faster than synthesis in isolated cell-free systems. What is lost in these in vitro systems is the organization that normally exists in vivo. We have shown that many of the components of the translation apparatus are associated with each other, and that protein synthesis is a "channeled" pathway, i.e., the aminoacyl-tRNA and peptidyl-tRNA intermediates are directly transferred from one component of the translation apparatus to the next without dissociation into the cellular fluid.

Model for a channeled tRNA cycle.

A permeabilized mammalian cell system has been developed that allows study of these events in close to an in vivo situation. Studies are in progress to determine the role of the actin cytoskeleton in maintaining the organization of the translation system and to identify other factors associated with the translation apparatus that affect its function.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS:

  1. C. Chen and M.P. Deutscher. 2005. “Elevation of RNase R in Response to Multiple Stress Conditions”. J. Biol. Chem., 280, 34393-34396.
  2. G.N. Basturea, K.E. Rudd and M.P. Deutscher. 2006. “Identification and Characterization of RsmE, the Founding Member of a New RNA Base Methyltransferase Family”. RNA, 12, 426-434.
  3. M.P. Deutscher. 2006 “Degradation of RNA in Bacteria: Comparison of mRNA and Stable RNA” Nucleic Acids Res., 34, 659-666.
  4. Vincent, H.A. and Deutscher, M.P. (2006) Substrate Recognition and Catalysis by the Exoribonuclease RNase R. J. Biol. Chem. 281 29769-29775
  5. Zuo, Y., Vincent, H.A., Zhong, J., Wang, Y., Deutscher, M.P. and Malhotra, A. (2006) Structural Basis for Processivity and Single-Strand Specificity of RNase II. Mol. Cell 24, 149-156

HONORS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

·         Editorial Board, Journal of Biological Chemistry (1982-7, 1990-5)

·         Editor and Senior Editor, Nucleic Acids Research (1979-1990)

·         Editor, Methods in Enzymology, Vol 182, "Guide to Protein Purification"

·         Publications Committee, Amer. Soc. Biochem. Mol. Biol., (1991-4)

·         Chairman, Gordon Conference on Enzyme Organization and Cell Function (1995)

·         Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1996