H.S. Shafaat

Celebrating the wonderful visit from Madeline Ho from the Hoffman and Chen labs at Northwestern to discuss their beautiful ENDOR EPR spectroscopy studies on non-symmetrical [Fe-S] clusters. We enjoyed your talk, chatting with the group, and sharing our science.

Correlating Protein Dynamics and Catalytic Activity of a Model Hydrogenase Using Paramagnetic and Biological Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Rational catalyst design remains a significant challenge, with electronic structure, steric, and electrostatic effects known to contribute to activity. Recently, dynamics has been recognized as anothe...

Congratulations to Henry & all-- major thanks to the PNNL & OSU teams! This was a true collaborative effort that we're excited to see out. Give it a read if you're interested in paramagnetic Ni NMR, regular NMR, or catalyst dynamics-- there's even some machine learning! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

From lab days to beach nights and gift-exchange chaos (featuring one cat supervisor 🐈), the Shafaat Group & friends are wishing you warmth, joy, and a happy holiday season! ✨🎄💫

Sensitivity Enhancement in Pulsed Hyperfine EPR Spectroscopy with Hadamard-Encoded Acquisition Electron–nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) is a powerful tool for determining the spatial and electronic structure of paramagnetic systems. It often suffers from a limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ...

Check out our POTW! Thanks, Henry, for highlighting this study showing that ENDOR S/N can be significantly improved through frequency multiplexing—simultaneously pulsing multiple nuclear frequencies and decoding them via Hadamard transformation. tinyurl.com/ur73256y

Calling all #Bioinorganic folks in SoCal! The 2025 SoCal Bioinorganic Symposium is at UCLA on Nov 8th, 2025. The abstract deadline for a talk or poster has been extended to Nov 1st, 2025. We are looking forward to seeing you all! tinyurl.com/yrwnjaz7

Happy Halloween from the Shafaat group!

Calling all #Bioinorganic folks in Southern California! Join us for the 2025 SoCal Bioinorganic Symposium at UCLA on November 8, 2025. Submit your abstract for a poster or talk by October 25 → tinyurl.com/yrwnjaz7

Looking forward to this symposium, featuring Chem Sci Lectureship Winner Chris Chang!

We are thrilled to welcome Prof. Kate Buettner to our group for her sabbatical! She'll be helping us explore exciting new frontiers in metalloproteins– we can’t wait to see where this journey takes us!

Excited to showcase our group’s work at the 21st ICBIC in Long Beach! Stop by our posters and join us for the research talks!

What a great way to kick off #ICBIC21 ! A fabulous brunch with friends, old and new! @chemjen.bsky.social Make your way down to Long Beach this week for an amazing lineup of speakers and posters presenting on all things new and exciting in #bioinorganic

ICBIC 2025, Long Beach California Join the prestigious International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC) in Long Beach, California in 2025. Discover the latest advancements in the field of biological inorganic chemist...

Taking the group and counting down to ICBIC21 in beautiful Long Beach, California this July!
Over 250 speakers. Global ideas. One unforgettable week – join us! www.icbic21.org #ICBIC21 #ScienceWithoutBorders #GlobalChemistry #Bioinorganic

Diverse lineages and adaptations of oxygen-adapted hydrogenases Hydrogenases allow microorganisms to consume and produce hydrogen gas (H2). Although most hydrogenases are oxygen (O2)-sensitive, recent studies show …

Curious how enzymes adapt to oxygen? Our new collaborative review with the @Rhys_G and @Greeninglab groups explores how oxygen-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenases evolved across microbes to thrive in aerobic environments, revealing innovative metabolic changes in Earth’s evolving redox landscape.

Shoutout to our outstanding undergrads — Sofia, Megan, Ryan, and Isaiah — for showcasing their research at the UCLA Chemistry Undergraduate Research Symposium!  Great work all around! #UCLAChem

Promotional graphic with photo of Chris, his name and affiliation (Princeton University) and the phrase 'Meet the 2025 Chemical Science Lectureship winner'

We are delighted to announce that Professor Christopher Chang @christhechang.bsky.social has won the 2025 Chemical Science Lectureship! rsc.li/chemsci-lectu...

Chris will deliver his Lectureship at the 2025 #ChemSciSymposium on 18-19 November in London, UK: rsc.li/chemscisymp2025

#ChemSky #🧪

Ultrahigh-Throughput Activity Engineering of Promiscuous Amidases through a Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting Assay Ultrahigh-throughput methods such as flow cytometry are ideal tools for the directed evolution of enzymes by enabling the screening of up to 109 variants per day. In this study, we developed an assay based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for the detection and engineering of amidase activity in whole cells. The assay establishes a stable genotype–phenotype linkage by coupling coumarin-based hydrolysis products to intracellular glutathione via a recombinantly coexpressed glutathione S-transferase. To demonstrate the applicability of the FACS-based assay, we engineered an amidase from Sphingomonas alpina (SaAmd) by screening combinatorial libraries with multiple amino acid positions randomized simultaneously. SaAmd variants containing proximal double mutations exhibited not only almost 5-fold improved activity against structurally different amide substrates but also coevolved promiscuous carbamate- and ester-hydrolyzing activities, which exceeded the wildtype activity up to 6-fold. Importantly, triple variants featuring distal mutations in three highly flexible loop regions, displayed up to 16-fold enhanced specific activities toward small molecules containing highly stable N-aryl amide and carbamate bonds. These motifs are commonly used as protecting groups for amines in organic synthesis but can also be found in environmental contaminants like pesticides and plastic waste. Therefore, the developed FACS-assisted assay has great potential to accelerate the engineering of amidases for versatile biotechnological applications.

Check out our POTW! Thanks, James, for highlighting this study using ultrahigh-throughput FACS to screen 10⁹ variants/day! Engineered enzymes showed up to 16× improved activity on highly stable N-aryl amide & carbamate bonds. bit.ly/4mAn4nB

Just saying… You will be mind blown! Join us!

Energy Unleashed: Sun, Earth, and the Spark of Life Explore the hidden forces shaping our world, from outer space to deep within the Earth. Dr. Staples reveals how solar storms from the Sun can dazzle with a…

Curious how energy research ties into the origins of life? Join us tonight in L.A. for a pint and a science talk by Hannah—you’ll leave with your mind blown and your glass empty!  🧠🍻 bit.ly/4dtGqXt

Single-molecule nanopore sensing of proline cis/trans amide isomers Molecules known as stereoisomers possess identical numbers and types of atoms, which are oriented differently in space. Cis–trans isomerization of proline, a distinctive case of stereoisomerism in pep...

Check out our POTW! Thanks, Henry, for highlighting this study, which shows that aerolysin nanopore sensing can distinguish cis/trans isomers of proline-containing peptides at the single-molecule level, opening doors for structural analysis and PPIase inhibitor screening. rsc.li/3SGyS9Y

Selective isotope labeling probes the chemical capacity and reaction mechanism of a heterobimetallic Mn/Fe protein The R2-like ligand binding oxidase (R2lox) forms a novel tyrosine-valine crosslink upon O2 activation, reflecting an overall two-electron oxidation re…

Congrats, Josephine and the team!! Check out our newest mechanistic deep dive into R2lox: Isotope labeling and EPR spectroscopy reveal that this Mn/Fe enzyme activates C–H bonds to form a unique Tyr–Val crosslink via a Mn⁴⁺/Fe⁴⁺ intermediate.

Protein Dynamics Affect O2-Stability of Group B [FeFe]-Hydrogenase from Thermosediminibacter oceani In the pursuit of sustainable “green” energy generation, [FeFe]-hydrogenases have attracted significant attention due to their ability to catalyze hydrogen production. However, the sensitivity of thes...

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Check out our POTW! Thanks, Aadhishre, for highlighting the study from the Schäfer and Happe groups identifying ToHydA, a Group B [FeFe]-hydrogenase with remarkable O₂ stability, which shows that the conserved cysteines and a hydrophobic loop support the protective Hinact state.

Big shoutout to the team who rocked the Willow Community School Science Fair this weekend! We had so much fun making ‘oobleck’ to show off non-Newtonian fluids and letting kids get creative with pH indicator art. Nothing better than sparking curiosity!

Spectroscopic and Computational Interrogation of a High-Valent Nickel-Dialkyl Complex Indicates Electronic Structure Asymmetry Drives C–C Bond Formation Reactivity The study of high-valent organometallic nickel compounds has gained considerable interest recently, primarily driven by the development of nickel-catalyzed alkyl–alkyl cross-coupling reactions that ar...

Excited to have such good news for our first post on Bluesky! Congratulations to Alina and Yusuff on our new JACS paper! It was so much fun to work with the
Mirica Group on applying pulsed EPR to characterize organometallic intermediates on our favorite metal! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....