I got involved in research to learn the real world applications of chemistry in the medical field as I aspire to become a cardio-thoracic surgeon when I grow older.

Exploration of induced alpha-helix formation of leader peptide upon interaction with ATP-grasp ligase processing enzyme in Microviridin-like RiPPs peptide system

In the course of this project, I will research 1) to understand the residues required for alpha-helix structure, 2) to figure out how the microviridin/microviridin-like precursor leader peptides conform to that understanding. If time permits, this study can be expanded in to ways, 3) to understand the difference between conserved residues in traditional microviridin peptides and those in microviridin-like peptides, and 4) to explore mutating the residues in the leader peptide to improve alpha-helix formation and assess the impact on reactivity with ATP-grasp ligase processing enzymes.