Tatyana Polenova

Biography

(b. 1970) B.S., 1992, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia); Ph.D., 1997, Columbia University; Postdoctoral Scientist 1997 – 1999, Columbia University; Assistant Professor 1999 – 2003 ,City University of New York- Hunter College; Assistant Professor 2003 – 2006, University of Delaware; Associate Professor 2006-2011, University of Delaware; Director NIH-COBRE "Molecular Design of Advanced Biomaterials" 2014-Present; Professor 2011-Present, University of Delaware
 

Current Research

The research in my laboratory is interdisciplinary and focuses on understanding structure, dynamics and function of complex macromolecular assemblies, biological tissues and inorganic materials in the solid state. The main experimental tool is NMR spectroscopy combined with computational quantum-mechanical and biophysical methods. Biomolecular solid-state NMR spectroscopy is an integral biophysics and structural biology tool due to its unique capability to yield atomic-level information in insoluble macroscopically disordered systems, such as biological assemblies, membrane proteins, and fibrils. Of particular interest to us are systems where solid-state NMR methods provide unique (and often the only) insight into structure and dynamics: i) HIV-1 capsid protein assemblies whose function is integral in the virus pathogenicity; ii) physiologically important microtubule/cargo protein assemblies whose malfunction is associated with multiple diseases; iii) biotechnologically important vanadium haloperoxidases; iv) intervertebral disc tissues whose aging and damage cause the prevalent degenerative disc disease; v) technologically relevant oxoanionic solids. Understanding structure, dynamics and function of these complex systems is critical for design of novel therapeutic strategies and diagnostic methods. We combine fundamental investigations in physical chemistry, biophysics, and structural biology with applied biomedical research seeking to develop novel magnetic-resonance-based diagnostic methods. Much of our research involves development of new solid-state NMR methods. We employ rigorous computational methods, at the level of molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical (Density Functional Theory) calculations, to gain comprehensive insight into the structure and dynamics of biological and inorganic systems and connect these to function. 
 

Representative Publications

Caitlin M. Quinn, Mingzhang Wang, Matthew P. Fritz, Brent Runge, Jinwoo Ahn, Chaoyi Xu, Juan R. Perilla, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2018) Dynamic Regulation of HIV-1 Capsid Interaction with the Restriction Factor TRIM5α Identified by Magic-Angle Spinning NMR and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 115(45):11519-11524. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1800796115.

Mingzhang Wang, Matthew P. Fritz, Caitlin M. Quinn, In-Ja L. Byeon, Jochem Struppe, Werner Maas, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2018) Fast Magic Angle Spinning 19F NMR Spectroscopy of HIV-1 Capsid Protein Assemblies. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 57(50):16375-16379. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201809060.

Mingzhang Wang, Caitlin M. Quinn, Juan R. Perilla, Huilan Zhang, Randall Shirra Jr., Guangjin Hou, In-Ja L. Byeon, Christopher L. Suiter, Sherimay Ablan, Emiko Urano, Theodore J. Nitz, Christopher Aiken, Eric O. Freed, Peijun Zhang, Klaus Schulten, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2017) Quenching Protein Dynamics Interferes with HIV Capsid Maturation. Nature Communications. 8(1): 1779, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01856-y.

Jochem Struppe, Caitlin M. Quinn, Manman Lu, Mingzhang Wang, Guangjin Hou, Jodi Kraus, Loren B. Andreas, Jan Stanek, Daniela Lalli, Anne Lesage, Guido Pintacuda, Werner Maas, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2017) Expanding the Horizons for Structural Analysis of Fully Protonated Protein Assemblies by NMR Spectroscopy at MAS Frequencies Above 100 kHz. Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Special Issue on Ultrafast Magic Angle Spinning NMR, DOI: 10.1016/j.ssnmr.2017.07.001.

Jenna Yehl, Elena Kudryashova, Emil Reisler, Dmitri Kudryashov, Tatyana Polenova (2017) Structural Analysis of Human Cofilin 2/Filamentous Actin Assemblies: Atomic-Resolution Insights from Magic Angle Spinning NMR Spectroscopy. Scientific Reports, 7:44506, DOI: 10.1038/srep44506.

Huilan Zhang, Guangjin Hou, Manman Lu, Jinwoo Ahn, In-Ja Byeon, Christopher Langmead, Juan Perilla, Ivan Hung, Peter Gor’kov, Zhehong Gan, William Brey, David Case, Klaus Schulten, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2016) HIV-1 Capsid Function is Regulated by Dynamics: Quantitative Atomic-Resolution Insights by Integrating Magic-Angle-Spinning NMR, QM/MM, and MD, Journal of the American Chemical Society. 138(42), pp 14066–14075. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b08744.

Rupal Gupta, Manman Lu, Guangjin Hou, Marc A. Caporini, Melanie Rosay, Werner Maas, Jochem Struppe, Christopher L. Suiter, Jinwoo Ahn, In-Ja L. Byeon, W. Trent Franks, Marcela Orwick-Rydmark, Andrea Bertarello, Hartmut Oschkinat, Anne Lesage, Guido Pintacuda, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2016) Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Enhanced MAS NMR Spectroscopy for Structural Analysis of HIV-1 Protein Assemblies. Journal of Physical Chemistry B; 120 (2): 329-339. DOI: doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b12134.

Si Yan, Changmiao Guo, Guangjin Hou, Huilan Zhang, John C. Williams, Tatyana Polenova (2015) Atomic-Resolution Structure of the CAP-Gly Domain of Dynactin on Polymeric Microtubules Determined by Magic Angle Spinning NMR Spectroscopy.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA; 112(47):14611-6. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1509852112.

Rupal Gupta, Guangjin Hou, Rokus Renirie, Ron Wever, Tatyana Polenova (2015) 51V NMR Crystallography of Vanadium Chloroperoxidase and its Directed Evolution P395D/L241V/T343A Mutant: Protonation Environments of the Active Site. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 137(16):5618-28. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b02635.

Manman Lu, Guangjin Hou, Huilan Zhang, Christopher L. Suiter, Jinwoo Ahn, In-Ja L. Byeon, Juan R. Perilla, Christopher Langmead, Ivan Hung, Peter L. Gor'kov, Zhehong Gan, William Brey, Christopher L. Aiken, Peijun Zhang, Klaus Schulten, Angela M. Gronenborn, Tatyana Polenova (2015) Dynamic Allostery Governs Cyclophilin A – HIV Capsid Interplay. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA; 112(47):14617-22. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1516920112.