Molecular Biology Commons^™

Developing Crosslinking Constructs Of Protein Kinase R, Prisma E. Lopez

Honors Scholar Theses

Protein Kinase R (PKR) is a key component of the innate immune antiviral response. PKR is activated upon binding to dsRNA. However, recent studies have shown that PKR can also bind to and become activated by duplex RNAs containing complex secondary structure. The mechanism of PKR binding and activation by these RNAs is currently not known. The approach taken here to determine the mechanism of PKR binding by these RNAs is through the development of PKR constructs that are capable of covalently binding to RNAs. Constructs were created by site-specific incorporation of an unnatural, photoactivatable amino acid within PKR. These …