Squire Booker

Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Squire Booker

Research Summary

Elucidating the chemical mechanisms by which enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters catalyze chemical reactions. Most ongoing projects deal with members of the Radical S-adenosylmethionine Superfamily, a diverse group of enzymes that employ radical chemistry to catalyze transformations involved in post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, cofactor biosynthesis, secondary metabolite biosynthesis, and enzyme activation.

Huck Affiliations

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Publication Tags

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Enzymes S Adenosylmethionine Sulfur Proteins Cofactor Catalysis Biosynthesis Molecular Cluster Iron Methylation Protein Vitamin B 12 Carbapenems Carbon In Vitro Techniques Thioctic Acid Carbon Atom Modification Lipoic Acid Sulfur Atom Escherichia Coli Methionine Hydrogenase Ligands Ligand

Most Recent Publications

Twenty Years of Radical SAM! the Genesis of the Superfamily

Squire J. Booker, Cody T. Lloyd, 2022, ACS Bio and Med Chem Au on p. 538-547

Discovery, structure and mechanism of a tetraether lipid synthase

Cody T. Lloyd, David F. Iwig, Bo Wang, Matteo Cossu, William W. Metcalf, Amie K. Boal, Squire J. Booker, 2022, Nature on p. 197-203

Characterization of LipS1 and LipS2 from Thermococcus kodakarensis: Proteins Annotated as Biotin Synthases, which Together Catalyze Formation of the Lipoyl Cofactor

Syam Sundar Neti, Debangsu Sil, Douglas M. Warui, Olga A. Esakova, Amy E. Solinski, Dante A. Serrano, Carsten Krebs, Squire J. Booker, 2022, ACS Bio and Med Chem Au on p. 509-520

The biosynthesis of lipoic acid

Squire Booker, 2022, FASEB Journal

[FeFe]-Hydrogenase: Defined Lysate-Free Maturation Reveals a Key Role for Lipoyl-H-Protein in DTMA Ligand Biosynthesis

Adrien Pagnier, Batuhan Balci, Eric M. Shepard, Hao Yang, Douglas M. Warui, Stella Impano, Squire J. Booker, Brian M. Hoffman, William E. Broderick, Joan B. Broderick, 2022, Angewandte Chemie - International Edition

Happy Birthday ACS Bio & Med Chem Au!

Squire J. Booker, 2022, ACS Bio and Med Chem Au on p. 1-3

Structure of a B<sub>12</sub>-dependent radical SAM enzyme in carbapenem biosynthesis

Hayley L. Knox, Erica K. Sinner, Craig A. Townsend, Amie K. Boal, Squire J. Booker, 2022, Nature on p. 343-348

In Vitro Demonstration of Human Lipoyl Synthase Catalytic Activity in the Presence of NFU1

Douglas M. Warui, Debangsu Sil, Kyung Hoon Lee, Syam Sundar Neti, Olga A. Esakova, Hayley L. Knox, Carsten Krebs, Squire J. Booker, 2022, ACS Bio and Med Chem Au on p. 456-468

Structural characterization of cobalamin-dependent radical S-adenosylmethionine methylases

Hayley L. Knox, Squire J. Booker, 2022, on p. 3-27

Using peptide substrate analogs to characterize a radical intermediate in NosN catalysis

Bo Wang, Alexey Silakov, Squire J. Booker, 2022, Methods Enzymol on p. 469-487

Most-Cited Papers

Mechanistic diversity of radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methylation

Matthew Bauerle, Erica Schwalm, Squire Booker, 2015, Journal of Biological Chemistry on p. 3995-4002

Radical S-Adenosylmethionine Enzymes in Human Health and Disease

Bradley Landgraf, Erin McCarthy, Squire Booker, 2016, Annual Review of Biochemistry on p. 485-514

X-ray structure of an AdoMet radical activase reveals an anaerobic solution for formylglycine posttranslational modification

Peter J. Goldman, Tyler L. Grove, Lauren A. Sites, Martin I. McLaughlin, Squire J. Booker, Catherine L. Drennan, 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 8519-8524

Atlas of the Radical SAM Superfamily: Divergent Evolution of Function Using a “Plug and Play” Domain

Gemma L. Holliday, Eyal Akiva, Elaine C. Meng, Shoshana D. Brown, Sara Calhoun, Ursula Pieper, Andrej Sali, Squire J. Booker, Patricia C. Babbitt, 2018, on p. 1-71

Mössbauer spectroscopy of Fe/S proteins

Maria-Eirini Pandelia, Nicholas Lanz, Squire Booker, Carsten Krebs, 2015, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Cell Research on p. 1395-1405

Auxiliary iron-sulfur cofactors in radical SAM enzymes

Nicholas Lanz, Squire Booker, 2015, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Cell Research on p. 1316-1334

Destruction and reformation of an iron-sulfur cluster during catalysis by lipoyl synthase

Erin L. McCarthy, Squire J. Booker, 2017, Science on p. 373-377

A high-throughput screen for quorum-sensing inhibitors that target acyl-homoserine lactone synthases

Quin H. Christensen, Tyler L. Grove, Squire J. Booker, E. Peter Greenberg, 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 13815-13820

Crystallographic snapshots of sulfur insertion by lipoyl synthase

Martin I. McLaughlin, Nicholas D. Lanz, Peter J. Goldman, Kyung Hoon Lee, Squire J. Booker, Catherine L. Drennan, 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 9446-9450

Consecutive radical S-adenosylmethionine methylations form the ethyl side chain in thienamycin biosynthesis

Daniel R. Marous, Evan P. Lloyd, Andrew R. Buller, Kristos A. Moshos, Tyler L. Grove, Anthony J. Blaszczyk, Squire J. Booker, Craig A. Townsend, 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 10354-10358

News Articles Featuring Squire Booker

Dec 05, 2022

Why synonymous mutations are not always silent

New modeling shows how synonymous mutations — those that change the DNA sequence of a gene but not the sequence of the encoded protein — can still impact protein production and function.

Full Article

Aug 22, 2022

Revealed missing step in lipid formation could enable detection of past climate

The missing step in the formation of a lipid molecule that allows certain single-celled organisms to survive the most extreme environments on Earth has now been deciphered.

Full Article

Aug 18, 2022

Booker honored by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Squire J. Booker, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State, holder of the Eberly Family Distinguished Chair in Science, and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been awarded the ASBMB-Merck Award and the Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)

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Apr 18, 2022

Booker receives Hans Neurath Award from Protein Society

Squire J. Booker, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State, Holder of the Eberly Family Distinguished Chair in Science, and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been honored with the Hans Neurath Award from the Protein Society, the premier international society dedicated to supporting protein research.

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Apr 06, 2022

First round of funded projects announced from the Benkovic Research Initiative

Four projects have been announced as recipients of funding from the Patricia and Stephen Benkovic Research Initiative, which supports risky, highly innovative investigation at the interface of chemistry and the life sciences.

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Feb 02, 2022

The key to a powerful antibiotic’s formation now clear

A powerful class of antibiotics called carbapenems can circumvent antibiotic resistance thanks to a particular chain of atoms in their structure. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State and Johns Hopkins University have imaged an enzyme involved in the creation of this chain to better understand how it forms — and perhaps replicate the process to improve future antibiotics.

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Oct 22, 2021

How To Modify RNA: Crucial Steps for Adding Chemical Tag To Transfer RNA Discovered

The chemical steps in an important cellular modification process that adds a chemical tag to some RNAs have been revealed in a new study. Interfering with this process in humans can lead to neuronal diseases, diabetes, and cancers. A research team, led by chemists at Penn State, has imaged a protein that facilitates this RNA modification in bacteria, allowing the researchers to reconstruct the process.

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Sep 30, 2021

Enzymes show off new moves

A 2022 annual meeting session on enzymology

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Sep 15, 2021

Modifying RNA: Crucial steps for adding chemical tag to transfer RNA revealed

The chemical steps in an important cellular modification process that adds a chemical tag to some RNAs have been revealed in a new study. Interfering with this process in humans can lead to neuronal diseases, diabetes, and cancers.

Full Article

Apr 27, 2021

Squire Booker named inaugural fellow of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Squire J. Booker, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State, holder of the Eberly Family Distinguished Chair in Science, and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been named an inaugural fellow of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

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