Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Biological Modeling. B.A. in Computer Mathematics, 1984, University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D. in Biophysics, 1989, University of Pennsylvania; N.I.H. Postdoctoral Fellow, 1989-1992 and American Cancer Society California Division Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, 1992-1994, The Scripps Research Institute.

---

kuhnl@msu.edu

Biochemistry Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1319
Office: 517-353-8745
Lab: 517-355-3455
FAX: 517-353-9334

Structural homology deduced between the accessory subunit of DNA polymerase gamma (center) and the anticodon binding domain of class II aminoacyl + RNA synthetases (upper left; super position with DNA polymerase gamma accessory subunit shown at upper right). See L. Fan et al. (1999) PNAS 96:9527-9532.

Through computational analysis of protein sequences and structures, our laboratory seeks to understand how proteins recognize and bind to other molecules. Our research is closely coupled to collaborations in computer science and protein structural and molecular biology, providing opportunities for students to engage in computational and bench work.

Research focuses on three interconnected areas: understanding how water mediates protein interactions; using conserved water-mediated interactions and other factors in protein complementarity to improve protein and drug design;and identifying structural motifs that regulate intracellular protein targeting.

Representative Publications

E. H. Howell, U. Shukla, S. N. Hicks, R. D. Smiley, L. A. Kuhn, and M. I. Zavodszky (2001) "One Site Fits BothA Model for the Ternary Complex of Folate + NADPH in R67 Dihydrofolate Reductase, a D2 Symmetric Enzyme'', Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design, in press.

M. L. Raymer, L. A. Kuhn, and W. F. Punch (2001) "Knowledge Discovery in Biological Datasets Using a Hybrid Bayes Classifier/Evolutionary Algorithm'', IEEE Symposium on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering, in press.

M. F. Thorpe, M. Lei, A. J. Rader, D. J. Jacobs, and L. A. Kuhn (2001) "Protein Flexibility and Dynamics Using Constraint Theory'', J. Molec. Graphics and Modeling 19, 60-69.

D. J. Jacobs, A. J. Rader, L. A. Kuhn, and M. F. Thorpe (2001) "Protein Flexibility Predictions Using Graph Theory'', Proteins Structure, Function, and Genetics 44, 150-165.

V. Schnecke and L. A. Kuhn (2000) "Virtual Screening with Solvation and Ligand-Induced Complementarity", Perspectives in Drug Design and Discovery 20, 171-190.

L. Fan, P. C. Sanschagrin, L. S. Kaguni, and L. A. Kuhn (1999) "The Accessory Subunit of Mitochondrial DNA Polymerase Shares Structural Homology with a Domain in Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetases: Implications for a Dual Role as a Primer Recognition Factor and Processivity Clamp", in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 96, 9527-9532.

M. L. Raymer, W. F. Punch, E. D. Goodman, L. A. Kuhn, and A. K. Jain (1999) "Dimensionality Reduction Using Genetic Algorithms", IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation 4, 164-171.

M. F. Thorpe, B. M. Hespenheide, Y. Yang, and L. A. Kuhn (1999) "Flexibility and Critical Hydrogen Bonds in Cytochrome c'', in Proceedings of the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing, Eds. R. B. Altman, A. K. Dunker, L. Hunter, K. Lauderdale, and T. E. Klein, World Scientific, Singapore,191-202.