Molecular Life Sciences

Dr. Ellis Bell earned his Ph.D. from Oxford University and is currently a Professor of chemistry at University of Richmond, where his research is focused on how dynamic aspects of protein structure are involved in both catalysis and allosteric regulation of multi-subunit proteins. He is highly influential and well-respected in the field, particularly in the research of protein structure and function, enzyme kinetics and allosteric regulation, protein folding, and structural genomics. Dr. Bell is a governing member of The Protein Society (Education Committee); a member of ASBMB, where he initiated ASBMB’s Undergraduate Affiliate Network; and a member of the National Science Foundation’s Biomolecular Systems Cluster, among other organizations.

• Allostery and Quaternary Structure.- Analysis of Damaged DNA.- Artificial Chromosomes.- Artificial Endonucleases for Genome Editing.- Bacterial DNA Replicases.- Bacteriophage and Viral Cloning Vectors.- Base Intercalation.- Bioactivation of Carcinogens.- Bioinorganic Chemistry.- Blue/White Selection.- Characteristics of Enzymes and Cloning Vectors Used to Create Recombinant DNA.- Chemical Biology of DNA Replication.- Chemical Denaturation.- Chemical Reaction Kinetics: Mathematical Underpinnings.- Chromatin Remodeling during Homologous Recombination Repair in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.- Cis-Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription.- Classic Approaches to sequence determination.- Classical and Alternative End Joining.- Cloning Vector Compatibility.- Computational methods in epigenetic research.- Conjugative Transfer Systems and Classifying Plasmid Genomes.- Conservative Site-specific Recombination.- Control of Initiation in E.coli.- Co-Transcriptional mRNA Processing in Eukaryotes.- Crosslinking.- Cycling of the Lagging Strand Replicase During Okazaki Fragment Synthesis.- Depurination.- Differential Equations and Chemical Master Equation Models for Gene Regulatory Networks.- Direct Enzymatic Reversal of DNA Damage.- Division of Labor.- DNA Damage as a Therapeutic Strategy.- DNA Damage by Endogenous Chemicals.- DNA Methylation and Cancer.- DNA Polymerase III Structure.- DNA Repair.- DNA Repair Polymerases.- DNA Replication.- DNA Topology and Topoisomerases.- DnaA, DnaB, DnaC.- DnaX Complex Composition and Assembly Within Cells.- Double-strand Break Repair.- Effects of adducts on Tm.- Equilibria and Bifurcations in the Molecular Biosciences.- Eukaryotic DNA Replicases.- Evolution of Gene Regulatory Networks.- Evolution of Plant Genomes.- Exocyclic Adducts.- Experimental Assessment of Secondary Structure by Circular Dichroism.- Exploring Nuclear Lamin–Chromatin Interactions and Their Signalling Cascades.- Expression Assessment.- Fatty Acid Metabolism.- Forces Maintaining the Stability of Tertiary Structure.- Frequency of DNA Damage.- Gene Regulation.- Genes and Genomes: Structure.- Genomic Imprinting.- Genomic Imprinting in Mammals: Memories of Generations Past.- Genomic Sequence and Structural Diversity in Plants.- Genomic Signature Analysis to Predict Plasmid Host Range.- Golgi Apparatus.- Gyrase and Topoisomerase IV as Targets for Antibacterial Drugs.- HDAC Inhibitors Entinostat and Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (SAHA): The Ray of Hope for Cancer Therapy.- Helicase and Primase Interactions with Replisome Components and Accessory Factors.- Helicase Mechanism of Action.- Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer and Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibition.- Homologous Recombination in Lesion Bypass.- Hydrolytic, Deamination, and Rearrangement Reactions of DNA Adducts.- Immunology and the Immune Response.- In Silico Approaches Towards Safe Targetting of Class I Histone Deacetylases.- Inflammation and Host Response to Infection.- Innate and Regulatory B cells.- Innate Immunity.- Ion Channels and Transporters.- Kinetics of DNA Damage.- Large, Theta-replicating Plasmids.- Long-Term Genetic Silencing at Centromere and Telomeres.- Mammalian Sugar Transporters.- Many Bacteria Use a Special Mutagenic Pol III in Place of Pol V.- Mass Spectrometry Approaches.- Mathematical Modelling of Plasmid Dynamics.- Mathematical Models in the Sciences.- Mathematics of Fitting Scientific Data.- Mechanism of Initiation Complex Formation.- Mechanism of PCNA loading by RFC.- Mechanisms of DNA Recombination.- Meiotic Recombination.- Metamobilomics – The Plasmid Metagenome of Natural Environments.- Methods for Plant Genome Annotation.- Mismatch Repair.- Mitochondrial Genomes.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Alveolates.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Amoebozoa.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Fungi.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Invertebrate Animals.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Land Plants.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Unicellular Relatives of Animals.- Mitochondrial Genomes in Vertebrate Animals.- Mitochondrial Genomes of Chromists (Stramenopiles, Haptophytes and Cryptophytes).- Mitochondrial Genomes of Excavata.- Mitochondrial Genomes of Green, Red and Glaucophyte Algae.- Mobile DNA: Mechanisms, Utility, and Consequences.- Modelling Plasmid Regulatory Systems.- Modes of Base Pairing.- mRNA localization and localized translation.- Naming and Annotation of plasmids.- Natural Products that Damage DNA.- NMR Approaches to Determine Protein Structure.- NMR Basis For Biomolecular Structure (Theory).- Nucleotide Excision Repair.- Obtaining Crystals.- Oxidative Damage.- Pattern Recognition Receptors: Evolution, Redundancy, and Cross Talk.- PCNA Structure and Interactions with Partner Proteins.- Peptide Pheromones and their Protein Receptors: Cellular Signaling in Gram-positive Bacteria.- Phagocytosis.- Plant Genome Sequencing Methods.- Plant Genomes: From Sequence to Function Across Evolutionary Time.- Plant Transposable Elements: Beyond Insertions and Interruptions.- Plasmid Cloning Vectors.- Plasmid Genomes, Introduction to.- Plasmid Incompatibility.- Plasmids as Secondary Chromosomes.- Polyglutamine Folding Diseases.- Polymerase Chain Reaction.- Practical Screening for DNA Damage.- Predictions from Sequence.- Primary Structure.- Prokaryotic Gene Regulation by Sigma Factors and RNA Polymerase.- Prokaryotic Gene Regulation by Small RNAs.- Protein Domain Structure Evolution.- Rad51 and Dmc1 Recombinases.- Reactive Oxygen Species.- Recombination: Mechanisms, Pathways, and Applications.- Recombineering.- Regulation of cytoplasmic mRNA.- Regulation of DSB Repair by Cell-cycle Signaling and the DNA Damage Response.- Regulation of Genetic Element Mobility.- Relevance of DNA Damage to Cancer.- Repeating Sequences in Proteins: Their Identification and Structural/Functional Implications.- Replication Origin of E. coli and the Mechanism of Initiation.- Replicative DNA Helicases and Primases.- Resolution of Inflammation.- Restriction Endonucleases.- RNA Interference.-RNA Quality Control.- RNA-induced chromatin remodeling.- Role of Chromatin Remodeling and DNA Modification in Transcriptional Regulation.- Roles of Post-translational Modifications in DNA Double Strand Break Repair.- Rolling-circle Replicating Plasmids.- Secondary Structure.- Selection with Antibiotics.- Selectivity of Chemicals for DNA Damage.- Sequence Selectivity of DNA Damage.- Signal Recognition in Lower Organisms: Light-Induced Control of Cell Movement in the Ciliates Blepharisma and Stentor.- SIKE: Discovery, Structure, and Function.- Single Strand Annealing.- Site-specific Mutagenesis.- Some Key Enzymes Used in Cloning.- Spectroscopy of Damaged DNA.- Synthesis of Modified Oligonucleotides.- Synthetic Plasmid Biology.- TANK-Binding Kinase 1 (TBK1): Structure, Function, and Regulation.- Target-primed Mobilization Mechanisms.- Target-site Selection.- Tertiary Structure Domains, Folds and Motifs.- The Complement System.- Theoretical Aspects of Secondary Structure.- Toll-Like Receptor 3: Structure and Function.- Toll-Like Receptors: Evolution and Structure.- Toll-Like Receptors: Pathogen Recognition and Signaling.- Topoisomerases and Cancer.- Transcription Factor Classes.- Transduction of Environmental Signals by Prokaryotic Two Component Regulatory Systems.- Transposable elements and plasmid genomes.- Transposons.- Types of DNA damage.- Types of Electrophiles.- Ultraviolet Light Damage.- uORFs: an unusual cis element that regulates translation.- Using Sequence Information to Assess Evolutionary Relationships.- Using Sequence Information to Identify Motifs.- V(D)J Recombination.- Why Do Proteins Have Quaternary Structure: Non-allosteric Proteins.