Dr. Saumen Chakraborty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mississippi.
Research Interests
Research in the Chakraborty group focuses on designing artificial biocatalysts (metalloenzymes) inspired by naturally occurring proteins, as applicable to bioenergy and medicine. Students trained in our group will have strong foundations in interdisciplinary areas of protein design and engineering, inorganic chemistry, peptide chemistry, spectroscopy, macromolecular crystallography, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis.
Specific projects are:
- C-H activation: Using protein engineering to activate strong C-H bonds of abundant biomass and the greenhouse gas methane to potential biofuels
- Hydrogen Energy and CO2: Using protein engineering to create artificial metalloenzymes for H2 fuel production and CO2 capture
- Neurodegeneration: Using protein design to tackle neurodegenerative diseases
Biography
Dr. Chakraborty received his B.Sc. from the University of Calcutta in 2004 and M.Sc. from IIT Madras in 2006. He then did his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He became an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi in 2016 and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2022. Graduate students trained in the lab have acquired successful post-doctoral and industry positions, while undergraduates have gone on to medical and graduate schools.
Chakraborty, S.; Babanova. S.; Rocha, R. C.; Desireddy, A.; Artyushkova, K.; Boncella, A. E.; Atanassov, P.; Martinez, J. S. “A Hybrid DNA-Templated Gold Nanocluster For Enhanced Enzymatic Reduction of Oxygen” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 11678–11687 (Highlighted in Science Daily, EurekaAlert, Los Alamos Daily Post, Santa Fe NewMexican, Nanotechnology News, Phys.Org, Clean Technica, Fuel Cell Works, Biofuels International)
Chakraborty, S.; Reed, J.; Ross, M.; Nilges, M. J.; Petrik, I. D.; Ghosh, S.; Hammes-Schiffer, S.; Sage, J. T.; Zhang, Y.; Schulz, C. E.; Lu, Y. “Spectroscopic and Computational Study of a Non-heme Iron-Nitrosyl Center in a Biosynthetic Model of Nitric Oxide Reductase” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 56, 2417-2421
Matsumura, H.; Hayashi, T.; Chakraborty, S.; Lu, Y.; Moenne-Loccoz, P. “The Production of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) by the Heme/Non-heme Diiron Center of Engineered Myoglobins (FeBMbs) Proceeds Through a trans Iron-Nitrosyl Dimer” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 2420-2431
Liu, J.; Chakraborty, S.; Hosseinzadeh, P.; Yu, Y.; Tian, S.; Petrik, I.; Bhagi, A. Lu, Y. “Metalloproteins Containing Cytochrome, Iron-sulfur or Copper Redox Centers” Chem. Rev., (special issue on bioinorganic enzymology II, Eds. Edward Solomon, and Richard Holm), 2014, 114, 4366-4469 (Equal contribution)
Chakraborty, S.; Iranzo O.; Zuiderweg, E. R. P.; Pecoraro V. L. “Experimental and Theoretical Evaluation of Multisite Cadmium(II) Exchange in Designed Three-Stranded Coiled-Coil Peptides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 6191-6203
Chakraborty, S.; Kravitz, J. Y.; Thulstrup, P. W.; Hemmingsen, L.; DeGrado, W.F.; Pecoraro, V. L. “Design of a Three-Helix Bundle Capable of Binding Heavy Metals in a Triscysteine Environment” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2049-2053. (Inside cover)
Iranzo, O.; Chakraborty, S.; Hemmingsen, L.; Pecoraro, V. L. “Controlling and Fine Tuning the Physical Properties of Two Identical Metal Coordination Sites in De Novo Designed Three Stranded Coiled Coil Peptides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 239-251 (Equal contribution)
Chakraborty, S.; Touw, D. S.; Peacock, A. F. A.; Stuckey, J. A.; Pecoraro, V. L. “Structural Comparisons of Apo- and Three Stranded Coiled Coils Clarify Metal Binding Determinants in Thiolate Containing Designed Peptides” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132, 13240-13250
Courses Taught
- Liba 103 STEM Research Experience
- Chem 251 Introduction to Individual Research
- Chem 351 Individual Research
- Chem 451 Senior Individual Research
- Chem 471 Biochemistry I
- Chem 473 Biochemistry II
- Chem 617 Research Methodology in Chemistry
- Chem 697 Thesis
- Chem 765 Bioinorganic Chemistry
- Chem 771 Biochemistry I
- Chem 773 Biochemistry II
- Chem 797 Dissertation
Education
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (2011)