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Jack Johnson
Macromolecular structure: crystallography, virology, structure-function, molecular biological, nucleo-protein assemblies, computational chemistry
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| Contact Information |
| Office: TSRI OFFCAM |
| Phone: (858) 784-9705 |
| Email: jejohnso@ucsd.edu |
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| Education and Appointments |
| 1972 |
Ph.D., Iowa Sate University
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| Awards and Academic Honors |
| 1998 |
Appointed as Adjunct faculty |
| Research Interests |
Viruses are refractory to drugs and are controlled, with few exceptions, by stimulation of the host immune system through infection or vaccination. Isolated from their hosts, most viruses behave as highly symmetric, nucleo-protein, macromolecules that can be studied by the methods of biophysics to establish both static and dynamic aspects of particle function. Particle entry, assembly and maturation are attractive targets for viral inhibition because some features of these processes apprear to be novel to virus infection. We have used x-ray crystallograpgy, electron cryo-microscopy, computational chemistry and methods of cellular and molecular biology to develop and test atomic resolution models of particle-related events in the virus life-cycle. Recently we have identified molecular switches that determine capsid morphology in a variety of viruses; shown that assembly controls the timing of an auto catalytic, maturation cleavage of the viral subunits in two different virus families; and that the function of this cleavage is probably to release viral polypeptides that are conduits in membrane translocation of RNA. We are also using viruses as a paradigm for developing methods to determine atomic resolution models of cellular mega-structures.
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| Selected Publications |
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Crystallographically Identical Virus Capsids Display Different Properties in Solution. With B. Bothner, A. Schneemann, D. Marshall, V. Reddy, and G. Siuzdak. Nature Struc. Biol. 6, 114 (1999).
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A Highly Membrane Active Peptide in Flock House Virus: Implications for the Mechanism of Nodavirus Infection. With D. Bong, C. Steinem, A. Janshoff, and M. Ghadiri. Chemistry and Biology 6, 473 (1999).
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The Crystal Structure of Cricket Paralysis Virus: The First View of a New Virus Family. With J. Tate, L. Liljas, P. Scotti, P. Christian, and T. Lin. Nature Struc. Biol. 6, 765 (1999).
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Supramolecular Self-assembly: Molecular Dynamics Modeling of Polyhedral Shell Formation. With D. Rappaport and J. Skotnick. Computer Physics Commun. 121, 231 (1999).
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Structural Fingerprinting: Subgrouping of Comoviruses by Structural Studies of Red Clover Mottle Virus to 2.4 Å Resolution and Comparisons with Other Comoviruses. With T. Lin, A.J. Clark, Z. Chen, M. Shanks, J.B. Dai, Y. Li, T. Schmidt, P. Oxelfelt, and G. P. Lomonossoff. J. Virol. 74, 493 (2000).
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Maturation Dynamics of a Viral Capsid: Visualization of Transitional Intermediate States. With A. Lata, J. Conway, N. Cheng, R. Duda, R. Hendrix, W. Wikoff, H. Tsuruta, and A. Steven. Cell 100, 253 (2000).
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