The Bjorkman Group at Caltech

Our laboratory is interested in protein-protein interactions, particularly those mediating immune recognition. We use X-ray crystallography and biochemistry to study purified proteins, and are beginning to include confocal and electron microscopy (EM) to examine protein complexes in cells. Some of our work focuses upon homologs and mimics of class I MHC proteins. These proteins have similar three-dimensional structures, but different functions including immune functions (IgG transport by the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn; evasion of the immune response by viral MHC mimics), and non-immune functions (regulation of iron or lipid metabolism by HFE and ZAG). We are also comparing the structures and functions of host and viral Fc receptors with FcRn.


BJÖRKPeople BJÖRKLab Information BJÖRKTeaching BJ Ö RKPublications BJÖRKStructures BJÖRK Protocols Plasmid requests (Addgene) Cell line requests Lab mAbs & other reagents Inside (group only) Davis \| IDT \| Laragen Instrument sign-up calendar STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY RELATED GROUPS Clemons Group \| Jensen Group Mayo Group \| Rees Group Protein Expression Center \| PPMAL Sequence and Structure Analysis Facility Macromolecular X-Ray Facility WEBSITES OF INTEREST Caltech \| HHMI Biological Imaging Center Molecular Observatory WebofScience \| CITLibrary \| PubMed Caltech DIRECTORY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY RESOURCES Howard Hughes Medical Institute Division of Biology, 114-96 California Institute of Technology 1200 E. California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125 (626) 395-8351 phone 626) 792-3683 fax murphym[at]caltech.edu	Our laboratory is interested in protein-protein interactions, particularly those mediating immune recognition. We use X-ray crystallography and biochemistry to study purified proteins, and are beginning to include confocal and electron microscopy (EM) to examine protein complexes in cells. Some of our work focuses upon homologs and mimics of class I MHC proteins. These proteins have similar three-dimensional structures, but different functions including immune functions (IgG transport by the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn; evasion of the immune response by viral MHC mimics), and non-immune functions (regulation of iron or lipid metabolism by HFE and ZAG). We are also comparing the structures and functions of host and viral Fc receptors with FcRn.