The Bjorkman Group at Caltech


BJÖRKPeople BJÖRKLab Information BJÖRKTeaching BJ Ö RKPublications BJÖRKStructures BJÖRK Protocols Plasmid requests (Addgene) Lab mAbs & other reagents Safety \| Lab stuff Instrument sign-up calendar Bjorklab ordering STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY RELATED GROUPS Clemons Group \| Hoelz Group Jensen Group \| Mayo Group Rees Group Molecular Observatory SSRL beamtime/Crystal trays Protein Expression Center WEBSITES OF INTEREST Caltech \| HHMI Biological Imaging Center Rosen Bioengineering Center External fellowships for grad student Fellowships Resources for postdocs Integrated structural biology platforms History of Crystallography WebofScience \| CITLibrary \| PubMed CITdirectory \| CITaccess BBE Seminars CRYSTALLOGRAPHY RESOURCES	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 electron and confocal microscopy to examine protein complexes in cells. Some of our work focuses upon homologs and mimics of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins, which normally function in peptide presentation to T cells. MHC homologs 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 focus on three interrelated areas: (1) structure/function studies of homologs and mimics of MHC proteins; (2) cell biological studies of antibody receptors, for example, the MHC-related neonatal Fc receptor; and (3) designing antibodies with increased efficacy against HIV. –TEDxCaltech: Visualizing and Engineering New Anti-HIV Agents –Traveling with Purpose - Volunteering in India –World AIDS Day - News Conference on KNBC-TV –Crystals in space - interview with graduate student Gwen Owens –Louise Scharf’s talk at AIDS Vaccine, 2013 –LA Theatre Works interview about Rosalind Franklin with Pamela Bjorkman HIVRAD P01 Project - Development, Structure, and Function of Broadly Neutralizing anti-HIV Antibodies California Institute of Technology Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, MC 114-96 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (626) 395-8351 phone \| 626) 792-3683 fax murphym [at] caltech dot edu