Tom Makris
Bio
Research Interests
- Natural product biosynthesis
- Non-ribosomal peptides
- Bioinorganic and biophysical chemistry
- Oxygen activation
- Sustainable chemistry
- Biofuels
Education
B.A. Biology University of Pennsylvania 1996
Ph.D. Biophysics University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2004
Post Doctoral Fellow University of Minnesota 2012
Area(s) of Expertise
My laboratory is interested in the chemical biology of enzymes involved in pharmaceutical biosynthesis and bioenergy production. We are interested in developing tools to understand the detailed molecular mechanisms of these potent catalysts, and ultimately leverage them for the synthesis of natural products of pharmacological or industrial importance. As a result, we utilize a large spectrum of techniques in our studies, ranging from genome mining, molecular biology, metabolic engineering, enzymology, transient kinetics, and biophysical spectroscopy.
Publications
- Heme oxygenase-like dimetal oxidases and oxygenases , Biochemical Society Transactions (2026)
- Temperature-dependent conformational dynamics govern regioselectivity in a CYP152 decarboxylase , Journal of Biological Chemistry (2026)
- Provision of a Redox Donor to Oxy-Ferrous PrnB Is Required for Pyrrolnitrin Synthesis , Biochemistry (2025)
- Regulation of ferryl reactivity by the cytochrome P450 decarboxylase OleT , Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry (2025)
- The Heme Oxygenase-Like Diiron Enzyme HrmI Reveals Altered Regulatory Mechanisms for Dioxygen Activation and Substrate N-Oxygenation , Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025)
- Assembly of a Heterobimetallic Fe/Mn Cofactor in the para-Aminobenzoate Synthase Chlamydia Protein Associating with Death Domains (CADD) Initiates Long-Range Radical Hole-Hopping , Biochemistry (2024)
- A Ferric-Superoxide Intermediate Initiates P450-Catalyzed Cyclic Dipeptide Dimerization , Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023)
- Dimer-assisted mechanism of (un)saturated fatty acid decarboxylation for alkene production , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023)
- Enhancing ferryl accumulation in H2O2-dependent cytochrome P450s , Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry (2023)
- Excision of a Protein-Derived Amine for p-Aminobenzoate Assembly by the Self-Sacrificial Heterobimetallic Protein CADD , Biochemistry (2023)