Dr. Krishna Kumar
Professor
Department of Chemistry
Tufts University
United States of America
Biography
Robinson Professor of Chemistry & Department Chair Member, Cancer Center, Tufts Medical Center Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prof. Kumar and his group are involved in areas of research that lie at the interface of chemistry and biology. The main goal of the research is to use chemical and biological methods to create novel and functional molecules that allows us to understand the mechanism of, and/or control biological processes. His group uses the traditional techniques of organic chemistry, such as synthesis and spectroscopy, of biological chemistry, such as recombinant DNA technology, protein purification and enzyme kinetics, and of biophysics, including investigation of protein structure in membranes. Current projects in his laboratory focus on: De novo protein design and evolution; Combating bacterial resistance to antibiotics; Understanding the origin of the intron-exon gene structure of modern day enzymes; Catalysis by small molecules and peptides; and Design of membrane protein architectures for specialized functions.
Research Interest
Bioorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Publications
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"Lipopeptides Derived from HIV and SIV Mimicking the Prehairpin Intermediate of gp41 on Solid Supported Lipid Bilayers", S. Schuy, E. Schäfer, N. C. Yoder, K. Kumar, R. Vogel and A. Janshoff, J. Struct. Biol., 2009, 168, 125-136.
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"Biosynthesis of Stable Coiled-Coils Containing (2S,4R)-5,5,5-Trifluoroleucine and (2S,4S)-5,5,5-Trifluoroleucine" J. K. Montclare, S. Son, G. Clark, K. Kumar and D. Tirrell, ChemBioChem, 2009, 10, 84-86.
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"Fluorinated Lipid Constructs Permit Facile Passage of Molecular Cargo into Living Cells", L. Dafik, V. Kalsani, A. K. L. Leung and K. Kumar, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131, 12091-12093.
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"Mimicking the Prehairpin Intermediate of gp41: A Screening Platform for Fusion Inhibitors Based on Coiled Coil Lipopeptides Assembled in Artificial Biomembranes", S. Schuy, N. Yoder, S. Hobe, K. Kumar, R. Vogel and A. Janshoff, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2009, 48, 751-754.
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"Trifluoromethyl Derivatization of the Ganglioside, GM1", Z. Liu and K. Kumar, Synthesis, 2010, 1905-1908.
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"β–Peptide Bundles with Flourous Cores", M. Molski, J. Goodman, C. Craig, H. Meng, K. Kumar and A. Schepartz, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 3658-3659.
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"Chemical Biology Using Fluorinated Building Blocks", C. Zamora, L. Dafik and K. Kumar, in Supramolecular Chemistry: From Molecules to Nanomaterials, P. A. Gale and J. W. Steed, Eds., John Wiley & Sons 2012, Chichester, UK, pp. 1947-1964.
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"A Model System for Cell Adhesion Mediated by Weak Carbohydrate-Carbohydrate Interactions" B. Lorenz, L. Ã. de Cienfuegos, M. Oelkers, E. Kriemen, C. Brand, M. Stephan, E. Sunnick, D. Yüksel, V. Kalsani, K. Kumar, D. Werz and A. Janshoff, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 3326-3369.
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"Cross-Strand Interactions of Fluorinated Amino Acids in β-Hairpin Constructs" G. A. Clark, J. D. Baleja and K. Kumar J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 17912-17921.
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"Ligand-Induced Protein Mobility in Complexes of Carbonic Anhydrase II and Benzenesulfonamides with Oligoglycine Chains" V. M. Krishnamurthy, V. S. Raman, R. Mowery, M. Hentz, J. D. Baleja, B. F. Shaw and K. Kumar PLoS One 2013, 8, e57629.
