Eric L. Hegg

Research Interests

The Hegg lab has a long- standing interest in the biosynthesis and activation of small molecules, including O₂ and H₂. Very often the enzymes involved in these reactions require metal cofactors for activity. Clearly these metal cofactors are absolutely required for enzyme activity, and yet they are also potentially toxic if they are not properly transported and regulated. Therefore our research focuses on cofactor regulation and transport as well as the mechanism employed by these unique metalloenzymes. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of our research, students are exposed to numerous biochemical and biophysical techniques including spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, catalysis, protein purification, and mechanistic enzymology.

There are currently three major projects in the Hegg lab.

1. Elucidating the biosynthesis, transport, and regulation of heme A. MORE
2. Identifying and characterizing novel hydrogenase enzymes from diverse organisms including both halophiles and thermophiles. MORE
3. Assessing metabolic activity by monitoring the isotope ratio of intracellular water.  MORE

Recent Publications

Yang H, Gandhi H, Shi L, Kreuzer HW, Ostrom NE, Hegg EL. "Using GC-IRMS to Determine the Fractionation Factor for H₂ Production by Hydrogenases." Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2012, 26, 61-68. See PubMed

Cornish AJ, Gärtner K, Yang H, Peters JW, Hegg EL. "Mechanism of Proton Transfer in [FeFe]-Hydrogenase from Clostridium pasteurianum." J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 286, 38341-38347. See PubMed

Hong G, Cornish AJ, Hegg EL, Pachter R. "On Understanding Proton Transfer to the Biocatalytic [Fe-Fe]_H Sub-cluster in [Fe-Fe] H₂ases: QM/MM MD Simulations." Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Bioenergetics 2011, 1807, 510-517. See PubMed

Miller R, Wu G, Deshpande RR, Vieler A, Gaertner K, Li X, Moellering ER, Zauner S, Cornish A, Liu B, Bullard B, Sears BB, Kuo MH, Hegg EL, Shachar-Hill Y, Shiu SH, Benning C. "Changes in Transcript Abundance in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Following Nitrogen-Deprivation Predict Diversion of Metabolism." Plant Physiol. 2010, 154, 1737-1752. See PubMed

Mathrubootham V, Thomas J, Staples R, McCraken J, Shearer J, Hegg EL. "Bisamidate and Mixed Amine/Amidate NiN2S2 Complexes as Models for Nickel-Containing Acetyl Coenzyme A Synthase and Superoxide Dismutase: An Experimental and Computational Study." Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 5393-5406. See PubMed

Wang Z, Wang Y, Hegg EL. "Regulation of the Heme A Biosynthetic Pathway: Differential Regulation of Heme A Synthase and Heme O Synthase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." J. Biol. Chem. 2009, 9, 284(2):839-47. See PubMed

Morrison, M.S.; Cobine, P.A.; Hegg, E.L. "Probing the role of copper in the biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor in Escherichia coli and Rhodobacter sphaeroides." J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2007, 12(8):1129-39. See PubMed

Kreuzer-Martin, H.W.; Lott, M.J.; Ehleringer, J.R.; Hegg, E.L. "Metabolic Processes Account for the Majority of the Intracellular Water in Log-Phase Escherichia coli Cells As Revealed by Hydrogen Isotopes." Biochemistry 2006, 45, 13622-13630. See PubMed

Zhuang, J.; Reddi, A.R.; Wang, Z.; Khodaverdian, B.; Hegg, E.L. ; Gibney, B.R. "Evaluating the Roles of the Heme a Sidechains in Cytochrome c Oxidase Using Designed Heme Proteins." Biochemistry 2006, 45, 12530-12538. See PubMed

Kreuzer-Martin, H.W.; Ehleringer, J.R.; Hegg, E.L. "Oxygen Isotopes Indicate Most Intracellular Water in Log-Phase Escherichia coli Is Derived from Metabolism." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2005, 102, 17337-17341. See PubMed

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