Mac Kevin Braza
mackevinbraza.bsky.social
Mac Kevin Braza
@mackevinbraza.bsky.social
Amaro Lab (UC San Diego), PhD student Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics | Computational Biology
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
✨✨ It's #glycotime for #HIV Env ✨✨

N-linked glycans modulate flexibility & MPER epitope exposure #glycotime

Huge effort by @shehata92.bsky.social @lcasalino88.bsky.social with cryoET of Env in VLPs by @thevillalab.bsky.social & team 💪

Would love feedback!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 28, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
✨ Check out @mackevinbraza.bsky.social 's new work on full length APOBEC3B, which shows how the NTD modulates active site opening in the CTD

Collab w/ @adaozlemdemir.bsky.social & Aihara, Herzik, & Harris labs

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
March 26, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I'm presenting my research at the ACS Spring 2025 meeting in San Diego! DM me if you're coming, too!!! 🙌
@rommieamaro.bsky.social

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Regulatory Interactions between APOBEC3B N- and C-Terminal Domains
APOBEC3B (A3B) is implicated in DNA mutations that facilitate tumor evolution. Although structures of its individual N- and C-terminal domains (NTD and CTD) have been resolved through X-ray crystallography, the full-length A3B (fl-A3B) structure remains elusive, limiting our understanding of its dynamics and mechanisms. In particular, the APOBEC3B C-terminal domain (A3Bctd) is frequently closed in models and structures. In this study, we built several new models of fl-A3B using integrative structural biology methods and selected a top model for further dynamical investigation. We compared the dynamics of the truncated (A3Bctd) to that of the fl-A3B via conventional and Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Subsequently, we employed weighted ensemble methods to explore the fl-A3B active site opening mechanism, finding that interactions at the NTD–CTD interface enhance the opening frequency of the fl-A3B active site. Our findings shed light on the structural dynamics and potential druggability of fl-A3B, including observations regarding both the active and allosteric sites, which may offer new avenues for therapeutic intervention in cancer.
pubs.acs.org
March 22, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
@westpasoftware.bsky.social is partnering with @mdanalysis.bsky.social for Google Summer of Code this year. Please help spread the word!
Do you like coding in #Python? Have you been using #MonteCarlo methods or running #MD simulations?

Working with MDAnalysis and @westpasoftware.bsky.social on a GSoC 2025 project may be just for you! For details, read our blog post: www.mdanalysis.org/2025/02/28/g....

Pre-proposal deadline: Mar 21
March 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
Nevertheless, we persisted ❤️

📣 NEW BIORXIV ALERT!! 🚨

Using WE MD, linguistic pathway clustering, dynamical network analyses, and HDXMS we reveal a hidden allosteric network within the SARS2 spike S1 domain and predict how the D614G mutation impacts this network!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
D614G reshapes allosteric networks and opening mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 spikes
The SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein binds human epithelial cells and enables infection through a key conformational transition that exposes its receptor binding domain (RBD). Experimental evidence indic...
www.biorxiv.org
March 13, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
A behemoth effort from @fionachembot.bsky.social in which she does amazing science (showing how VOCs reshape allosteric pathways) while also making the SARS2 spike color palette match her fish Dorry 😍🫠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 13, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
Incredible work led by Dr. Satarupa Bhaduri, co-authors
@mackevinbraza.bsky.social and others. This work wouldn't have been possible without our collaborators
Dr. Anthony O'Donoghue, @rommieamaro.bsky.social @marius-lemberg.bsky.social and Dr. Kvido Strisovsky
February 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Mac Kevin Braza
Our work is finally published! We developed a robust in vitro platform to study a disease relevant membrane protease, notoriously difficult to isolate.This protease has linked to cancer & neurodegen,and our platform opens new doors for structural & drug discovery.
sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
An in vitro platform for the enzymatic characterization of the rhomboid protease RHBDL4
Rhomboid proteases are ubiquitous intramembrane serine proteases that can cleave transmembrane substrates within lipid bilayers. They exhibit many and…
sciencedirect.com
February 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM