Edward O’Brien
Associate Professor of Chemistry

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0104 Chemistry
University Park, PA - He/His
- epo2@psu.edu
- 814-867-5100
Research Summary
Developing and applying Physical Bioinformatic techniques to measure rates of translation transcriptome-wide and their molecular origins as relates to fundamental biology and disease.
Huck Graduate Students
Huck Affiliations
Publication Tags
Proteins Protein Folding Ribosomes Protein Kinetics Messenger Rna Simulation Force Codon Molecules Peptides Experiments Molecular Dynamics Tunnels Amino Acids Genes Proteome Molecule Static Electricity Antibodies Genome Biochemistry Kd Folding Electrostatic ForceMost Recent Papers
A pan-CRISPR analysis of mammalian cell specificity identifies ultra-compact sgRNA subsets for genome-scale experiments
Boyang Zhao, Yiyun Rao, Scott Leighow, Edward P. O’Brien, Luke Gilbert, Justin R. Pritchard, 2022, Nature Communications
Cocktail of REGN Antibodies Binds More Strongly to SARS-CoV-2 Than Its Components, but the Omicron Variant Reduces Its Neutralizing Ability
Hung Nguyen, Pham Dang Lan, Daniel A. Nissley, Edward P. O'Brien, Mai Suan Li, 2022, Journal of Physical Chemistry B on p. 2812-2823
Erratum
Sarah E. Leininger, Judith Rodriguez, Quyen V. Vu, Yang Jiang, Mai Suan Li, Carol Deutsch, Edward P. O’Brien, 2022, Biochemistry on p. 125
Combinations of slow-translating codon clusters can increase mRNA half-life in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Ajeet K. Sharma, Johannes Venezian, Ayala Shiber, Günter Kramer, Bernd Bukau, Edward P. O’Brien, 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
RiboA: a web application to identify ribosome A-site locations in ribosome profiling data
Danying Shao, Nabeel Ahmed, Nishant Soni, Edward P. O’Brien, 2021, BMC Bioinformatics
Genomic and experimental evidence that ALK<sup>ATI</sup> does not predict single agent sensitivity to ALK inhibitors
Haider Inam, Ivan Sokirniy, Yiyun Rao, Anushka Shah, Farnaz Naeemikia, Edward O'Brien, Cheng Dong, David M. McCandlish, Justin R. Pritchard, 2021, iScience
Ribosome Elongation Kinetics of Consecutively Charged Residues Are Coupled to Electrostatic Force
Sarah E. Leininger, Judith Rodriguez, Quyen V. Vu, Yang Jiang, Mai Suan Li, Carol Deutsch, Edward P. O'Brien, 2021, Biochemistry on p. 3223-3235
The driving force for co-translational protein folding is weaker in the ribosome vestibule due to greater water ordering
Quyen V. Vu, Yang Jiang, Mai Suan Li, Edward P. O'Brien, 2021, Chemical Science on p. 11851-11857
Electrostatic Interactions Explain the Higher Binding Affinity of the CR3022 Antibody for SARS-CoV-2 than the 4A8 Antibody
Hung Nguyen, Pham Dang Lan, Daniel A. Nissley, Edward P. O'Brien, Mai Suan Li, 2021, Journal of Physical Chemistry B on p. 7368-7379
Mechanical Forces Have a Range of Effects on the Rate of Ribosome Catalyzed Peptidyl Transfer Depending on Direction
Yang Jiang, Edward P. O’Brien, 2021, Journal of Physical Chemistry B on p. 7128-7136
Most-Cited Papers
Cotranslational Protein Folding inside the Ribosome Exit Tunnel
Ola B. Nilsson, Rickard Hedman, Jacopo Marino, Stephan Wickles, Lukas Bischoff, Magnus Johansson, Annika Müller-Lucks, Fabio Trovato, Joseph D. Puglisi, Edward P. O'Brien, Roland Beckmann, Gunnar von Heijne, 2015, Cell Reports on p. 1533-1540
Profiling Ssb-Nascent Chain Interactions Reveals Principles of Hsp70-Assisted Folding
Kristina Döring, Nabeel Ahmed, Trine Riemer, Harsha Garadi Suresh, Yevhen Vainshtein, Markus Habich, Jan Riemer, Matthias P. Mayer, Edward P. O'Brien, Günter Kramer, Bernd Bukau, 2017, Cell on p. 298-311.e20
Prediction of variable translation rate effects on cotranslational protein folding
Edward P. O'Brien, Michele Vendruscolo, Christopher M. Dobson, 2012, Nature Communications
Understanding the influence of codon translation rates on cotranslational protein folding
Edward P. O'Brien, Prajwal Ciryam, Michele Vendruscolo, Christopher M. Dobson, 2014, Accounts of Chemical Research on p. 1536-1544
Trigger factor slows Co-translational folding through kinetic trapping while sterically protecting the nascent chain from aberrant cytosolic interactions
Edward P. O'Brien, John Christodoulou, Michele Vendruscolo, Christopher M. Dobson, 2012, Journal of the American Chemical Society on p. 10920-10932
Does SARS-CoV-2 bind to human ACE2 more strongly than does SARS-CoV?
Hoang Linh Nguyen, Pham Dang Lan, Nguyen Quoc Thai, Daniel A. Nissley, Edward P. O'Brien, Mai Suan Li, 2020, Journal of Physical Chemistry B on p. 7336-7347
Kinetic modelling indicates that fast-translating codons can coordinate cotranslational protein folding by avoiding misfolded intermediates
Edward P. O'brien, Michele Vendruscolo, Christopher M. Dobson, 2014, Nature Communications
Effects of pH on proteins
Edward P. O'Brien, Bernard R. Brooks, D. Thirumalai, 2012, Journal of the American Chemical Society on p. 979-987
Protein folding
D. Thirumalai, Zhenxing Liu, Edward P. O'Brien, Govardhan Reddy, 2013, Current Opinion in Structural Biology on p. 22-29
Timing is everything
Daniel A. Nissley, Edward P. Obrien, 2014, Journal of the American Chemical Society on p. 17892-17898
News Articles Featuring Edward O’Brien
Aug 21, 2019
Cell protein research by Penn State faculty earns presidential award
Among recipients of the 2019 Presidential Early Career Awards for Science was Dr. Ed O’Brien from Penn State University. Speaking with Federal News Network’s Eric White, O’Brien explained how his research into cellular protein structures could impact the biotech and pharmaceutical fields.
Full Article
Mar 01, 2019
Researchers find features that shape mechanical force during protein synthesis
Like any assembly line, the body’s protein-building process generates a mechanical force as it produces these important cellular building blocks. Now, a team of researchers suggest they are one step closer to understanding that force. They also built a mathematical model to help guide scientists with future investigations into how the body creates proteins
Full Article