Olivier Julien

Research:

The central goal of our research is to characterize how proteases regulate important biological processes such as apoptosis and cell differentiation. For example, the dysregulation of caspases underlies several human diseases that include cancer and inflammatory disorders, and a better understanding of these enzymes is of great importance in order to design new therapies. Using functional proteomics approaches, our lab focus on characterizing how protease substrates play critical roles in such vital processes, to advances our knowledge about the role of these proteases in human diseases. Harnessing recent progress in cellular engineering, we take advantage of tools such as CRISPRi technology and antibody engineering to further support our proteomics findings.

Selected Publications:

The Unique Cofactor Region of Zika Virus NS2B-NS3 Protease Facilitates Cleavage of Key Host Proteins.
Hill ME, Kumar A, Wells JA, Hobman TC,Julien O, Hardy JA.
ACS Chem Biol. 2018 Aug 14. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00508. [Epub ahead of print]

Caspase substrates in cell death and remodeling.
Julien O, Wells JA.
Cell Death Differ (2017) 24:1380-1389

Quantitative MS-based enzymology of caspases reveals distinct protein substrate specificities, hierarchies, and cellular roles.
Julien O, Zhuang M, Wiita AP, O'Donoghue AJ, Knudsen GM, Craik CS, Wells JA.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2016) 113:E2001-2010.

Unraveling the mechanism of cell death induced by chemical fibrils.
Julien O, Kampmann M, Bassik MC, Zorn JA, Venditto VJ, Shimbo K,Agard NJ, Shimada K, Rheingold AL, Stockwell BR, Weissman JS, Wells J.A.
Nat. Chem. Biol. (2014) 10:969-976.

Solution Structure of a DNA Duplex Containing the Potent Anti-Poxvirus Agent Cidofovir.
Julien O, Beadle JR, Magee WC, Chatterjee S, Hostetler K.Y, Evans DH, Sykes BD (2011)
Journal of the American Chemical Society. 133:2264-2274.

Differential stability of the bovine prion protein upon urea unfolding.
Julien O, Chatterjee S, Graether SP, Thiessen A, Sykes BD.
Protein Science (2009) 18:2172-2182.