Denise Okafor

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Denise Okafor

Research Summary

Structural mechanisms of signaling and regulation in protein complexes.

Huck Affiliations

Links

Publication Tags

Ligands Cytoplasmic And Nuclear Receptors Liver Proteins Agonist Iron Enzymes Transcription Factors Rna Ligand Phospholipids Molecular Dynamics Simulation Dna Therapeutics Catalysis Hormone Dna Binding Proteins Plasmodium Electrons Parasites Alkylation Glucocorticoid Receptors Antimalarials Crystal Structure Gene Expression

Most Recent Publications

Interactions governing transcriptional activity of nuclear receptors

Sabab Hasan Khan, C. Denise Okafor, 2022, Biochemical Society Transactions on p. 1941-1952

Inhibitors of ApiAP2 protein DNA binding exhibit multistage activity against Plasmodium parasites

Timothy James Russell, Erandi K. De Silva, Valerie M. Crowley, Kathryn Shaw-Saliba, Namita Dube, Gabrielle Josling, Charisse Flerida A. Pasaje, Irene Kouskoumvekaki, Gianni Panagiotou, Jacquin C. Niles, Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, C. Denise Okafor, Francisco Javier Gamo, Manuel Llinás, 2022, PLoS Pathogens

A phospholipid mimetic targeting LRH-1 ameliorates colitis

Suzanne G. Mays, Emma H. D'Agostino, Autumn R. Flynn, Xiangsheng Huang, Guohui Wang, Xu Liu, Elizabeth J. Millings, C. Denise Okafor, Anamika Patel, Michael L. Cato, Jeffery L. Cornelison, Diana Melchers, René Houtman, David D. Moore, John W. Calvert, Nathan T. Jui, Eric A. Ortlund, 2022, Cell Chemical Biology on p. 1174-1186.e7

Structural and Biophysical Mechanisms Driving Differential Hormone Response in Steroid Receptors

Sabab H. Khan, Sean M. Braet, Stephen J. Koehler, Elizabeth Elacqua, Ganesh S. Anand, Denise Okafor, 2022, FASEB Journal

Ligand Specificity in Progesterone Receptor

Namita Dube, Denise C. Okafor, 2022, FASEB Journal

Structural Basis for an Unprecedented Enzymatic Alkylation in Cylindrocyclophane Biosynthesis

Nathaniel R. Braffman, Terry B. Ruskoski, Katherine M. Davis, Nathaniel R. Glasser, Cassidy Johnson, C. Denise Okafor, Amie K. Boal, Emily P. Balskus, 2022, eLife

Differential Modulation of Nuclear Receptor LRH-1 through Targeting Buried and Surface Regions of the Binding Pocket

Michael L. Cato, Jeffery L. Cornelison, Racheal M. Spurlin, Valentine V. Courouble, Anamika B. Patel, Autumn R. Flynn, Alyssa M. Johnson, C. Denise Okafor, Filipp Frank, Emma H. D'Agostino, Patrick R. Griffin, Nathan T. Jui, Eric A. Ortlund, 2022, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Ligand-induced shifts in conformational ensembles that describe transcriptional activation

Sabab Khan, Sean Braet, Stephen Koehler, Elizabeth Elacqua, Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, C. Denise Okafor, 2022, eLife

Ancestral sequence reconstruction for evolutionary characterization of proteins

Namita Dube, Sabab H. Khan, C. Denise Okafor, 2022, Trends in Biochemical Sciences on p. 98-99

Bile acids and the gut microbiota: metabolic interactions and impacts on disease

Stephanie L. Collins, Jonathan G. Stine, Jordan E. Bisanz, C. Denise Okafor, Andrew David Patterson, 2022, Nature Reviews Microbiology

Most-Cited Papers

RNA with iron(II) as a cofactor catalyses electron transfer

Chiaolong Hsiao, I. Chun Chou, C. Denise Okafor, Jessica C. Bowman, Eric B. O'neill, Shreyas S. Athavale, Anton S. Petrov, Nicholas V. Hud, Roger M. Wartell, Stephen C. Harvey, Loren Dean Williams, 2013, Nature Chemistry on p. 525-528

The first crystal structure of a DNA-free nuclear receptor DNA binding domain sheds light on DNA-driven allostery in the glucocorticoid receptor

Filipp Frank, C. Denise Okafor, Eric A. Ortlund, 2018, Scientific Reports

Ribosomal small subunit domains radiate from a central core

Burak Gulen, Anton S. Petrov, C. Denise Okafor, Drew Vander Wood, Eric B. O'Neill, Nicholas V. Hud, Loren Dean Williams, 2016, Scientific Reports

Structural and Dynamics Comparison of Thermostability in Ancient, Modern, and Consensus Elongation Factor Tus

C. Denise Okafor, Manish C. Pathak, Crystal E. Fagan, Nicholas C. Bauer, Megan F. Cole, Eric A. Gaucher, Eric A. Ortlund, 2018, Structure with Folding & design on p. 118-129.e3

Iron mediates catalysis of nucleic acid processing enzymes: Support for Fe(II) as a cofactor before the great oxidation event

C. Denise Okafor, Kathryn A. Lanier, Anton S. Petrov, Shreyas S. Athavale, Jessica C. Bowman, Nicholas V. Hud, Loren Dean Williams, 2017, Nucleic Acids Research on p. 3634-3642

Crystal structures of the nuclear receptor, liver receptor homolog 1, bound to synthetic agonists

Suzanne G. Mays, C. Denise Okafor, Richard J. Whitby, Devrishi Goswami, Józef Stec, Autumn R. Flynn, Michael C. Dugan, Nathan T. Jui, Patrick R. Griffin, Eric A. Ortlund, 2016, Journal of Biological Chemistry on p. 25281-25291

Structure and assembly of the diiron cofactor in the heme-oxygenase–like domain of the N-nitrosourea–producing enzyme SznF

M McBride, S Pope, K Hu, C. Denise Okafor, C Denise Okafor, E Balskus, J Bollinger, J. Martin Bollinger, Amie K. Boal, 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Development of the First Low Nanomolar Liver Receptor Homolog-1 Agonist through Structure-guided Design

Suzanne G. Mays, Autumn R. Flynn, Jeffery L. Cornelison, C. Denise Okafor, Hongtao Wang, Guohui Wang, Xiangsheng Huang, Heather N. Donaldson, Elizabeth J. Millings, Rohini Polavarapu, David D. Moore, John W. Calvert, Nathan T. Jui, Eric A. Ortlund, 2019, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry on p. 11022-11034

Structural analysis of the glucocorticoid receptor ligand-binding domain in complex with triamcinolone acetonide and a fragment of the atypical coregulator, small heterodimer partner

Emily R. Weikum, C. Denise Okafor, Emma H. D'Agostino, Jennifer K. Colucci, Eric A. Ortlund, 2017, Molecular Pharmacology on p. 12-21

Structure and dynamics of the liver receptor homolog 1-PGC1α complex

Suzanne G. Mays, C. Denise Okafor, Micheal L. Tuntland, Richard J. Whitby, Venkatasubramanian Dharmarajan, Józef Stec, Patrick R. Griffin, Eric A. Ortlund, 2017, Molecular Pharmacology on p. 1-11