Name:
David Penfield Ballou
Country:
USA
City:
Ann Arbor
State/Province:
MI
ACS Member:
Member
Local Section:
L220,Huron Valley
International Chapter:
Technical Division Membership:
D503,Biological Chemistry Division
Technical Division Membership Emeritus:
Subdivision Member:
ACS Activities:
Company/Institution Name:
Career Stage:
Professional
Research and Special Interests:
Redox enzymes participate in all organisms and are crucial to normal metabolism of endogenous substrates, and for the biosynthesis and biodegradation of pharmacological and toxic substances. We are examining flavoprotein, hemoprotein, and nonheme iron oxygenases, as well as other redox proteins that can be isolated in homogeneous form with the goal of elucidating fundamental mechanisms of enzymological catalysis. In particular, we study how several of these enzymes activate oxygen and control reactions with organic compounds. Our investigations use a variety of approaches, including spectral and rapid reaction techniques for characterizing active sites and intermediates in the reactions, site-directed mutagenesis to specifically test roles of particular amino acid residues in each of the steps of the reaction, and X-ray crystallography, in collaboration with other laboratories, to define the relationship of structure and function in these enzymes and their mutants
Area of Expertise:
Enzymology, kinetics, flavins, flavoproteins, non-heme iron proteins, cytochrome P450
Years of Expertise:
26 or more