Roberto N. De Guzman
- Professor
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Biography —
The focus of my research is to determine the assembly of bacterial nanoinjectors. These are needle-like protein assemblage used by many Gram-negative pathogens such as Salmonella and Shigella to cause infectious diseases in humans. My group determines the protein structures and molecular interactions involved in bacterial nanoinjectors. To achieve this, we study protein-protein, protein-RNA, and protein-drug interactions at high resolution using protein NMR and other biophysical methods. Currently, we are studying the membrane proteins of bacterial nanoinjectors using fluorine NMR methods.
I have been a professor at KU since 2005. I did my postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California with Dr. Peter E. Wright. I worked on transcription factors involved in cancer, and my postdoctoral work was supported by fellowships from the Cancer Research Institute and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I received my Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) with Dr. Michael F. Summers. For my PhD, I determined the structure of the protein-RNA complex of the nucleocapsid protein of HIV, the AIDS virus. I obtained my BS Chemistry at the University of the Philippines.
Education —
Research —
We study proteins that play important roles in infectious diseases. These proteins interact with other biomolecules such as peptides and proteins, DNA and RNA, and drug candidates. Determining the molecular interactions of these proteins at high resolution is important in understanding the biology of pathogenesis and in developing novel therapies.
We use primarily protein NMR methods in our research. We also use mutagenesis and cell-based bioassays to correlate our structural results in vivo. Thus, students are expected to: (a) prepare their own samples by recombinant DNA techniques, (b) perform biophysical characterization of proteins such as circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopies and isothermal calorimetry, (c) determine the three-dimensional structures of protein and protein complexes by NMR, and (d) perform mutagenesis and cell-based bioassays to correlate structural and biophysical data in vivo.
Our current research focus is on the bacterial Type III Secretion System (T3SS). Our goal is to understand the protein-protein interactions involved in the assembly of the bacterial T3SS nanoinjectors. This apparatus resembles a syringe on the bacterial surface and is used by many pathogens to inject virulence factors into human cells to initiate infectious diseases. The needle-like assembly consists of about 120 copies of identical proteins that are arranged in a superhelical manner, and the apex of this needle is capped by tip proteins, followed by a translocon. The translocon forms a pore on the host cell membrane to allow the passage of virulence proteins from the bacteria directly into the hosts. We aim to determine the structure of the translocon.
Teaching —
- BIOL 638 -- Biochemistry II (Spring 2025)
- BIOL 639 -- Adv Biochem Lab (Spring 2025)
I have been teaching biochemistry courses at KU since 2006. Currently, my courses are primarily directed at KU’s Biochemistry majors. I have been teaching BIOL 638 (Biochemistry II lecture) since 2000, and BIOL 639 (Adv Biochem Lab) since 2007. I have previously taught BIOL 600 (Introductory Biochemistry) and BIO 599 (Senior Seminar in Biochemistry) for 12 years. I participate in teaching graduate biochemistry courses – BIOL 750, Graduate Biochemistry and BIOL 918, Biochemistry & Biophysical Methods.
Selected Publications —
Search PubMed for other publications of Roberto N. De Guzman.
Lan L, Liu J, Xing M, Smith AR, Wang J, Wu X, Appelman C, Li K, Roy A, Gowthaman R, Karanicolas J, Somoza AD, Wang CCC, Miao Y, De Guzman RN, Oakley BR, Neufeld KL, Xu L. Identification and Validation of an Aspergillus nidulans Secondary Metabolite Derivative as an Inhibitor of the Musashi-RNA interaction. Cancers, 12, 2221, 2020.
Dey S, Chakravarty A, Guha Biswas P, De Guzman RN. The type III secretion system needle, tip, and translocon. Protein Sci, 28, 1582, 2019.
Lan L, Liu H, Smith AR, Appelman C, Yu J, Larsen S, Marquez RT, Wu X, Liu FY, Gao P, Gowthaman R, Karanicolas J, De Guzman RN, Rogers S, Aube J, Neufeld KL, Xu L. Natural product derivative Gossypolone inhibits Musashi family of RNA-binding proteins. BMC Cancer, 10, 809, 2018.
Kato J, Dey S, Soto JE, Butan C, Wilkinson MC, De Guzman RN, Galan JE. A protein secreted by the Salmonella type III secretion system controls needle filament assembly. eLife, 7, e35886, 2018.