Barbara Imperiali

Barbara Imperiali

Class of 1922 Professor of Biology and Chemistry; MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Barbara Imperiali studies the biogenesis and myriad functions of glycoconjugates in human health and disease.

617-253-1838

Phone

68-380A

Office

imper@mit.edu

Email

Lab Website
Meg Rheault

Assistant

617-253-1809

Assistant Phone

Education

  • PhD, 1983, MIT
  • BSc, 1979, Medicinal Chemistry, University College London

Research Summary

We study diverse aspects of protein structure and function and employ multidisciplinary approaches to address fundamental problems at the interface of chemistry and biology. We are fascinated by the amazing complexity and myriad functions of glycoconjugates in human health and disease. Still more enthralling are the intricate membrane-associated pathways that lead to the cellular biogenesis of these important macromolecules. Our group applies approaches and technologies from a wide range of synergistic fields including chemical biology (for inhibitor and probe development), biochemistry and biophysics (for analyses within and beyond native and model membranes), and cellular, molecular and microbiology to unravel these pathways. Ultimately we seek to decipher the molecular logic of glycoconjugate biosynthesis and to identify processes to target in the study of infectious disease.

Awards

  • National Academy of Sciences, Member, 2010
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) 2006
  • American Chemical Society - Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry 2006
  • Protein Society - Kaiser Award, 2006
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, 2001

Key Publications

  1. Biochemical evidence for an alternate pathway in N-linked glycoprotein biosynthesis. Larkin, A, Chang, MM, Whitworth, GE, Imperiali, B. 2013. Nat. Chem. Biol. 9, 367-73.
    doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1249PMID:23624439
  2. Caged mono- and divalent ligands for light-assisted disruption of PDZ domain-mediated interactions. Sainlos, M, Iskenderian-Epps, WS, Olivier, NB, Choquet, D, Imperiali, B. 2013. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135, 4580-3.
    doi: 10.1021/ja309870qPMID:23480637
  3. Modular and tunable chemosensor scaffold for divalent zinc. Shults, MD, Pearce, DA, Imperiali, B. 2003. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 10591-7.
    doi: 10.1021/ja0355980PMID:12940742
  4. Design of a monomeric 23-residue polypeptide with defined tertiary structure. Struthers, MD, Cheng, RP, Imperiali, B. 1996. Science 271, 342-5.
    doi: 10.1126/science.271.5247.342PMID:8553067

Recent Publications

  1. Investigation of the conserved reentrant membrane helix in the monotopic phosphoglycosyl transferase superfamily supports key molecular interactions with polyprenol phosphate substrates. Entova, S, Guan, Z, Imperiali, B. 2019. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 675, 108111.
    doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2019.108111PMID:31563509
  2. Bacterial carbohydrate diversity - a Brave New World. Imperiali, B. 2019. Curr Opin Chem Biol 53, 1-8.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.04.026PMID:31176085
  3. Structural and mechanistic themes in glycoconjugate biosynthesis at membrane interfaces. Allen, KN, Imperiali, B. 2019. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 59, 81-90.
    doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.03.013PMID:31003021
  4. Monotopic Membrane Proteins Join the Fold. Allen, KN, Entova, S, Ray, LC, Imperiali, B. 2019. Trends Biochem. Sci. 44, 7-20.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2018.09.013PMID:30337134
  5. Insights into the key determinants of membrane protein topology enable the identification of new monotopic folds. Entova, S, Billod, JM, Swiecicki, JM, Martín-Santamaría, S, Imperiali, B. 2018. Elife 7, .
    doi: 10.7554/eLife.40889PMID:30168796
  6. Facile Solid-Phase Synthesis and Assessment of Nucleoside Analogs as Inhibitors of Bacterial UDP-Sugar Processing Enzymes. Madec, AGE, Schocker, NS, Sanchini, S, Myratgeldiyev, G, Das, D, Imperiali, B. 2018. ACS Chem. Biol. 13, 2542-2550.
    doi: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00477PMID:30080379
  7. Design, solid-phase synthesis and evaluation of enterobactin analogs for iron delivery into the human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. Zamora, CY, Madec, AGE, Neumann, W, Nolan, EM, Imperiali, B. 2018. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 26, 5314-5321.
    doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2018.04.030PMID:29685683
  8. Biogenesis of Asparagine-Linked Glycoproteins Across Domains of Life-Similarities and Differences. Eichler, J, Imperiali, B. 2018. ACS Chem. Biol. 13, 833-837.
    doi: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00163PMID:29481041
  9. Stereochemical Divergence of Polyprenol Phosphate Glycosyltransferases. Eichler, J, Imperiali, B. 2018. Trends Biochem. Sci. 43, 10-17.
    doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2017.10.008PMID:29183665
  10. Chemoenzymatic Synthesis and Applications of Prokaryote-Specific UDP-Sugars. Zamora, CY, Schocker, NS, Chang, MM, Imperiali, B. 2017. Meth. Enzymol. 597, 145-186.
    doi: 10.1016/bs.mie.2017.06.003PMID:28935101
More Publications

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Photo credit: Elizabeth Fong