UA Chemistry Professor’s Research Recognized in Top Two Percent by National Journal

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Laura Busenlehner, assistant professor of chemistry at The University of Alabama, has received “Paper of the Week” recognition by the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a top journal in her field.

Busenlehner wrote “Escherichia coli SufE Sulfur Transfer Protein Modulates the SufS Cysteine Desulfurase through Allosteric Conformational Dynamics” in collaboration with Dr. F. Wayne Outten, chemistry professor at the University of South Carolina. Busenlehner and Outten researched E. coli proteins and their interactions during sulfur extraction.

Busenlehner’s selection means that her paper is in the top two percent of manuscripts the journal will review in a year in significance and overall importance. About 50 to 100 papers are selected for this recognition from the more than 6,600 the journal publishes each year.

“This research has revealed some of the important features required for two bacterial proteins to interact with each other to extract sulfur from certain amino acids. We used cutting edge techniques in isotope-based mass spectrometry to understand how the two E. coli proteins, SufS and SufE, interact,’” Busenlehner said.

“It was previously thought that SufE’s only role was to accept the sulfur from SufS. However, we showed that SufE binding alters SufS architecture, making it easier for SufS to extract sulfur from the amino acid cysteine. Thus, SufE does not have a passive role; it actively participates in the process making the overall synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters more efficient. This paves the way to understanding how these critical iron-sulfur clusters are synthesized in humans and the diseases that result when the process goes awry.”

This recognition exposes a vast network of researchers all over the world to the novel research underway in Busenlehner’s laboratory, as well as throughout the University.

“The Journal of Biological Chemistry is a highly competitive international research journal with tens of thousands of submissions a year,” Busenlehner said. “To know that my collaborative research with Wayne Outten was selected is highly significant and a great honor. We must also give credit to our hard working graduate students, Harry Singh and Yuyuan Dai, who both received their Ph.D.s this year.”

Busenlehner’s paper will appear under “Papers of the Week” online in the table of contents of the Dec. 20 issue. The paper also will be included in a cumulative collection accessed from the Journal of Biological Chemistry website, www.jbc.org.

UA’s department of chemistry is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, Truman Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.