![Louis Luk](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/7432?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Louis Luk
(he/him)
Senior Lecturer in Biological Chemistry
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Our group drives innovation in protein science and technology, bridging chemistry and biology to tackle challenges in medicinal chemistry, antibacterial peptide research, bioactive candidate design, as well as biotherapeutic manufacturing. By advancing the interface of these research topics, we excel in diverse techniques such as peptide/protein synthesis, molecular cloning, biological assays, structural biology, and biocatalysis. In addition to technical expertise, group members gain valuable experience in communication, networking, and management, promoting a well-rounded advancement of their professional profile. Our training consistently leads to successful placements in knowledge-based industries, empowering members to thrive in their scientific careers.
Links
Personal website: http://louisluklab.org/
Publication
2024
- Tang, T. M. S. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2024. Towards controlling activity of a peptide asparaginyl ligase (PAL) by lumazine synthetase compartmentalization. Faraday Discussions 252, pp. 403-421. (10.1039/D4FD00002A)
- Abramiuk, M. et al. 2024. Biocatalytic pathways, cascades, cells and systems: general discussion. Faraday Discussions 252, pp. 241-261. (10.1039/D4FD90023E)
- Williams, T. L. et al. 2024. Secondary amine catalysis in enzyme design: broadening protein template diversity through genetic code expansion. Angewandte Chemie International Edition (10.1002/anie.202403098)
- Lander, A. J., Kong, Y., Jin, Y., Wu, C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2024. Deciphering the synthetic and refolding strategy of a cysteine-rich domain in the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) for racemic crystallography analysis and d-peptide ligand discovery. ACS Bio & Med Chem Au 4(1), pp. 68-76. (10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.3c00060)
2023
- Ma, M., Tang, S. T., Dickerson, M. T. and Luk, L. Y. 2023. Preparing recombinant “Split AEP” for protein labeling. In: Lloyd, M. ed. Methods in Enzymology., Vol. 690. Methods in Enzymology Elsevier, pp. 501-540., (10.1016/bs.mie.2023.07.004)
- Lander, A. J., Mercado, L. D., Li, X., Taily, I. M., Findlay, B. L., Jin, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Roles of inter- and intramolecular tryptophan interactions in membrane-active proteins revealed by racemic protein crystallography. Communications Chemistry 6(1), article number: 154. (10.1038/s42004-023-00953-y)
- Cardella, D., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Towards the use of an amino acid cleavable linker for solid-phase chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 21, pp. 966-969. (10.1039/d2ob02198f)
- Hayes, H. C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Investigating the effects of cyclic topology on the performance of a plastic degrading enzyme for polyethylene terephthalate degradation. Scientific Reports 13, article number: 1267. (10.1038/s41598-023-27780-4)
2022
- Lander, A. J., Jin, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2022. D‐peptide and d‐protein technology: recent advances, challenges, and opportunities. ChemBioChem, article number: e202200537. (10.1002/cbic.202200537)
- Allemann, R. K., Samperio, R., Mart, R., Luk, L., Tsai, Y., Jones, A. and Cruz Samperio, R. 2022. Spatio-temporal control of cell death by selective delivery of photo-activatable proteins. ChemBioChem 23(12), article number: e202200115. (10.1002/cbic.202200115)
- Cardella, D., Deng, W., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2022. Effect of trimethine cyanine dye- and folate-conjugation on the in vitro biological activity of proapoptotic peptides. Biomolecules 12(5), article number: 725. (10.3390/biom12050725)
- Galmés, M. ?., Nodling, A. R., He, K., Luk, L. Y. P., Swiderek, K. and Moliner, V. 2022. Computational design of an amidase by combining the best electrostatic features of two promiscuous hydrolases. Chemical Science 13(17), pp. 4779-4787. (10.1039/D2SC00778A)
2021
- Nodling, A. R. et al. 2021. The role of protein environment in catalysis by biotinylated secondary amines. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19, pp. 10424-10431. (10.1039/D1OB01947C)
- Galmés, M. ?., Nodling, A. R., Luk, L., Swiderek, K. and Moliner, V. 2021. Combined theoretical and experimental study to unravel the differences in promiscuous amidase activity of two nonhomologous enzymes. ACS Catalysis 11(14), pp. 8635-8644. (10.1021/acscatal.1c02150)
- Adesina, A. S., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2021. Cryo‐kinetics reveal dynamic effects on the chemistry of human dihydrofolate reductase. ChemBioChem 22(14), pp. 2410-2414. (10.1002/cbic.202100017)
- Tang, T. M. S. L. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2021. Asparaginyl endopeptidases: enzymology, applications and limitations. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19(23), pp. 5048-5062. (10.1039/D1OB00608H)
- Hayes, H. C., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2021. Approaches for peptide and protein cyclisation. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19(18), pp. 3983-4001. (10.1039/D1OB00411E)
- Santi, N., Morrill, L. C., Swiderek, K., Moliner, V. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2021. Transfer hydrogenations catalyzed by streptavidin-hosted secondary amine organocatalyst. Chemical Communications 57(15), pp. 1919-1922. (10.1039/D0CC08142F)
- Williams, T. L., Iskandar, D. J., Nödling, A. R., Tan, Y., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2021. Transferability of N-terminal mutations of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase in one species to that in another species on unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency. Amino Acids 53, pp. 89-96. (10.1007/s00726-020-02927-z)
2020
- Thomas, S. R. et al. 2020. Exploring the chemoselectivity towards cysteine arylation by cyclometalated Au(III) compounds: new mechanistic insights. ChemBioChem 21(21), pp. 3071-3076. (10.1002/cbic.202000262)
- Adesina, A. S., Swiderek, K., Luk, L. Y. P., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2020. Electric field measurements reveal the pivotal role of Cofactor-Substrate interaction in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. ACS Catalysis 10(14), pp. 7907-7914. (10.1021/acscatal.0c01856)
- Tang, T. M. S., Cardella, D., Lander, A. J., Li, X., Escudero, J. S., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Use of an asparaginyl endopeptidase for chemo-enzymatic peptide and protein labeling. Chemical Science 11(23), pp. 5881-5888. (10.1039/D0SC02023K)
- Santi, N., Morrill, L. C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Streptavidin-hosted organocatalytic aldol addition. Molecules 25(10), article number: 2457. (10.3390/molecules25102457)
- Nödling, A. et al. 2020. Cyanine dye mediated mitochondrial targeting enhances the anti-cancer activity of small-molecule cargoes. Chemical Communications 56(34), pp. 4672-4675. (10.1039/C9CC07931A)
- Nödling, A. R., Santi, N., Williams, T. L., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Enabling protein-hosted organocatalytic transformations. RSC Advances 10(27), pp. 16147-16161. (10.1039/D0RA01526A)
- Zheng, X. et al. 2020. Condensation of 2-((Alkylthio)(aryl)methylene)malononitrile with 1,2-Aminothiol as a novel bioorthogonal reaction for site-specific protein modification and peptide cyclization. Journal of the American Chemical Society 142(11), pp. 5097-5103. (10.1021/jacs.9b11875)
- Mills, E. M., Barlow, V. L., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2020. Applying switchable Cas9 variants to in vivo gene editing for therapeutic applications. Cell Biology and Toxicology 36, pp. 17-29. (10.1007/s10565-019-09488-2)
- Meier-Menches, S. M. et al. 2020. Comparative biological evaluation and G-quadruplex interaction studies of two new families of organometallic gold(I) complexes featuring N-heterocyclic carbene and alkynyl ligands. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 202, article number: 110844. (10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2019.110844)
2019
- Allemann, R. K., Scott, A. F., Luk, L. Y., Tuñón, I. and Moliner, V. 2019. Heavy enzymes and the rational redesign of protein catalysts. ChemBioChem 20(22), pp. 2807-2812. (10.1002/cbic.201900134)
- Angelastro, A., Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2019. Loss of hyperconjugative effects drives hydride transfer during dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. ACS Catalysis 9(11), pp. 10343-10349. (10.1021/acscatal.9b02839)
- Nodling, A. R., Spear, L. A., Williams, T. L., Luk, L. Y. and Tsai, Y. 2019. Using genetically incorporated unnatural amino acids to control protein functions in mammalian cells. Essays in Biochemistry 63(2), pp. 237-266. (10.1042/EBC20180042)
- Scott, A. F., Cresser-Brown, J., Williams, T. L., Rizkallah, P. J., Jin, Y., Luk, L. Y. and Allemann, R. K. 2019. Crystal structure and biophysical analysis of furfural detoxifying aldehyde reductase from clostridium beijerinkii. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (10.1128/AEM.00978-19)
- Patel, S. G. et al. 2019. Cell-penetrating peptide sequence and modification dependent uptake and subcellular distribution of green florescent protein in different cell lines. Scientific Reports 9(1), pp. -., article number: 6298. (10.1038/s41598-019-42456-8)
2018
- Nodling, A. R. et al. 2018. Reactivity and selectivity of iminium organocatalysis improved by a protein host. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57(38), pp. 12478-12482. (10.1002/anie.201806850)
- Williams, T. L., Nodling, A., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2018. Carbapenems as water soluble organocatalysts. Wellcome Open Research 2018(3), article number: 107. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14721.1)
- Suzuki, T., Asami, M., Patel, S. G., Luk, L. Y. P., Tsai, Y. and Perry, A. C. F. 2018. Switchable genome editing via genetic code expansion. Scientific Reports 8(1), article number: 10051. (10.1038/s41598-018-28178-3)
- Behiry, E. M., Ruiz-Pernia, J. J., Luk, L., Tunon, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2018. Isotope substitution of promiscuous alcohol dehydrogenase reveals the origin of substrate preference in the transition state. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57(12), pp. 3128-3131. (10.1002/anie.201712826)
- Świderek, K., Nödling, A., Tsai, Y., Luk, L. and Moliner, V. 2018. Reaction mechanism of organocatalytic Michael addition of nitromethane to cinnamaldehyde: a case study on catalyst regeneration and solvent effects. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 122(1), pp. 451-459. (10.1021/acs.jpca.7b11803)
2017
- Liao, J. et al. 2017. Acetylome of acinetobacter baumannii SK17 reveals a highly-conserved modification of histone-like protein HU. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 4, article number: 77. (10.3389/fmolb.2017.00077)
- Angelastro, A., Dawson, W. M., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. Chemoenzymatic assembly of isotopically labeled folates. Journal of the American Chemical Society 139(37), pp. 13047-13054. (10.1021/jacs.7b06358)
- Wilkins, L. C., Santi, N., Luk, L. Y. P. and Melen, R. L. 2017. Reactions of biologically inspired hydride sources with B(C6F5)3. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 375(2101), article number: 20170009. (10.1098/rsta.2017.0009)
- Scott, A. F., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. Chemical ligation and isotope labeling to locate dynamic effects. In: Imperiali, B. ed. Methods in Enzymology., Vol. 596. Elsevier, pp. 23-41., (10.1016/bs.mie.2017.06.040)
- Lai, S. et al. 2017. Site-specific His/Asp phosphoproteomic analysis of prokaryotes reveals putative targets for drug resistance. BMC Microbiology 17(1), article number: 123. (10.1186/s12866-017-1034-2)
- Loveridge, E. J. et al. 2017. Reduction of folate by dihydrofolate reductase from thermotoga maritima. Biochemistry 56(13), pp. 1879-1886. (10.1021/acs.biochem.6b01268)
- Angelastro, A., Dawson, W. M., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. A versatile disulfide-driven recycling system for NADP+ with high cofactor turnover number. ACS Catalysis 7(2), pp. 1025-1029. (10.1021/acscatal.6b03061)
2016
- Castillo, J. P. et al. 2016. β1-subunit–induced structural rearrangements of the Ca2+- and voltage-activated K+ (BK) channel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(23), pp. E3231-E3239. (10.1073/pnas.1606381113)
- Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Behiry, E., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2016. Minimization of dynamic effects in the evolution of dihydrofolate reductase. Chemical Science 7(5), pp. 3248-3255. (10.1039/C5SC04209G)
2015
- Luk, L. Y. P., Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Adesina, A. S., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2015. Chemical ligation and isotope labeling to locate dynamic effects during catalysis by dihydrofolate reductase. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 54(31), pp. 9016-9020. (10.1002/anie.201503968)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2015. Protein motions and dynamic effects in enzyme catalysis. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 17, pp. 30817-30827. (10.1039/C5CP00794A)
- Allemann, R. K., Loveridge, E. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2015. Protein motions, dynamic effects and thermal stability in dihydrofolate reductase from the hyperthermophile thermotoga maritima. In: Olivares-Quiroz, L., Guzmán-López, O. and Jardón-Valadez, H. E. eds. Physical Biology of Proteins and Peptides: Theory, Experiment, and Simulation. Springer International Publishing, pp. 99-113., (10.1007/978-3-319-21687-4_6)
2014
- Luk, L. Y. P., Ruiz-Pernia, J. J., Dawson, W. M., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Protein isotope effects in dihydrofolate reductase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus show entropic-enthalpic com-pensatory effects on the rate constant. Journal of the American Chemical Society 136(49), pp. 17317-17323. (10.1021/ja5102536)
- Behiry, E. M., Luk, L. Y. P., Matthews, S. M., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Role of the occluded conformation in bacterial dihydrofolate reductases. Biochemistry 53(29), pp. 4761-4768. (10.1021/bi500507v)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Different dynamical effects in mesophilic and hyperthermophilic dihydrofolate reductases. Journal of the American Chemical Society 136(19), pp. 6862-6865. (10.1021/ja502673h)
- Guo, J. N., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Thermal adaptation of dihydrofolate reductase from the moderate thermophile geobacillus stearothermophilus. Biochemistry 53(17), pp. 2855-2863. (10.1021/bi500238q)
2013
- Ruiz-Pernia, J. J. et al. 2013. Increased dynamic effects in a catalytically compromised variant of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase. Journal of the American Chemical Society 135(49), pp. 18689-18696. (10.1021/ja410519h)
- Luk, L. Y. P. et al. 2013. Unraveling the role of protein dynamics in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(41), pp. 16344-16349. (10.1073/pnas.1312437110)
- Guo, J., Loveridge, E. J., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2013. Effect of dimerization on dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. Biochemistry 52(22), pp. 3881-3887. (10.1021/bi4005073)
2011
- Luk, L. Y. P., Qian, Q. and Tanner, M. E. 2011. A cope rearrangement in the reaction catalyzed by dimethylallyltryptophan synthase?. Journal of the American Chemical Society 133(32), pp. 12342-12345. (10.1021/ja2034969)
2009
- Luk, L. Y. P. and Tanner, M. E. 2009. Mechanism of dimethylallyltryptophan synthase: Evidence for a dimethylallyl cation intermediate in an aromatic prenyltransferase reaction. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131(39), pp. 13932-13933. (10.1021/ja906485u)
2007
- Luk, L. Y. P., Bunn, S., Liscombe, D. K., Facchini, P. J. and Tanner, M. E. 2007. Mechanistic studies on norcoclaurine synthase of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis: An enzymatic Pictet-Spengler reaction. Biochemistry 46(35), pp. 10153-10161. (10.1021/bi700752n)
Articles
- Tang, T. M. S. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2024. Towards controlling activity of a peptide asparaginyl ligase (PAL) by lumazine synthetase compartmentalization. Faraday Discussions 252, pp. 403-421. (10.1039/D4FD00002A)
- Abramiuk, M. et al. 2024. Biocatalytic pathways, cascades, cells and systems: general discussion. Faraday Discussions 252, pp. 241-261. (10.1039/D4FD90023E)
- Williams, T. L. et al. 2024. Secondary amine catalysis in enzyme design: broadening protein template diversity through genetic code expansion. Angewandte Chemie International Edition (10.1002/anie.202403098)
- Lander, A. J., Kong, Y., Jin, Y., Wu, C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2024. Deciphering the synthetic and refolding strategy of a cysteine-rich domain in the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) for racemic crystallography analysis and d-peptide ligand discovery. ACS Bio & Med Chem Au 4(1), pp. 68-76. (10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.3c00060)
- Lander, A. J., Mercado, L. D., Li, X., Taily, I. M., Findlay, B. L., Jin, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Roles of inter- and intramolecular tryptophan interactions in membrane-active proteins revealed by racemic protein crystallography. Communications Chemistry 6(1), article number: 154. (10.1038/s42004-023-00953-y)
- Cardella, D., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Towards the use of an amino acid cleavable linker for solid-phase chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 21, pp. 966-969. (10.1039/d2ob02198f)
- Hayes, H. C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2023. Investigating the effects of cyclic topology on the performance of a plastic degrading enzyme for polyethylene terephthalate degradation. Scientific Reports 13, article number: 1267. (10.1038/s41598-023-27780-4)
- Lander, A. J., Jin, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2022. D‐peptide and d‐protein technology: recent advances, challenges, and opportunities. ChemBioChem, article number: e202200537. (10.1002/cbic.202200537)
- Allemann, R. K., Samperio, R., Mart, R., Luk, L., Tsai, Y., Jones, A. and Cruz Samperio, R. 2022. Spatio-temporal control of cell death by selective delivery of photo-activatable proteins. ChemBioChem 23(12), article number: e202200115. (10.1002/cbic.202200115)
- Cardella, D., Deng, W., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2022. Effect of trimethine cyanine dye- and folate-conjugation on the in vitro biological activity of proapoptotic peptides. Biomolecules 12(5), article number: 725. (10.3390/biom12050725)
- Galmés, M. ?., Nodling, A. R., He, K., Luk, L. Y. P., Swiderek, K. and Moliner, V. 2022. Computational design of an amidase by combining the best electrostatic features of two promiscuous hydrolases. Chemical Science 13(17), pp. 4779-4787. (10.1039/D2SC00778A)
- Nodling, A. R. et al. 2021. The role of protein environment in catalysis by biotinylated secondary amines. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19, pp. 10424-10431. (10.1039/D1OB01947C)
- Galmés, M. ?., Nodling, A. R., Luk, L., Swiderek, K. and Moliner, V. 2021. Combined theoretical and experimental study to unravel the differences in promiscuous amidase activity of two nonhomologous enzymes. ACS Catalysis 11(14), pp. 8635-8644. (10.1021/acscatal.1c02150)
- Adesina, A. S., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2021. Cryo‐kinetics reveal dynamic effects on the chemistry of human dihydrofolate reductase. ChemBioChem 22(14), pp. 2410-2414. (10.1002/cbic.202100017)
- Tang, T. M. S. L. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2021. Asparaginyl endopeptidases: enzymology, applications and limitations. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19(23), pp. 5048-5062. (10.1039/D1OB00608H)
- Hayes, H. C., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2021. Approaches for peptide and protein cyclisation. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 19(18), pp. 3983-4001. (10.1039/D1OB00411E)
- Santi, N., Morrill, L. C., Swiderek, K., Moliner, V. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2021. Transfer hydrogenations catalyzed by streptavidin-hosted secondary amine organocatalyst. Chemical Communications 57(15), pp. 1919-1922. (10.1039/D0CC08142F)
- Williams, T. L., Iskandar, D. J., Nödling, A. R., Tan, Y., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2021. Transferability of N-terminal mutations of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase in one species to that in another species on unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency. Amino Acids 53, pp. 89-96. (10.1007/s00726-020-02927-z)
- Thomas, S. R. et al. 2020. Exploring the chemoselectivity towards cysteine arylation by cyclometalated Au(III) compounds: new mechanistic insights. ChemBioChem 21(21), pp. 3071-3076. (10.1002/cbic.202000262)
- Adesina, A. S., Swiderek, K., Luk, L. Y. P., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2020. Electric field measurements reveal the pivotal role of Cofactor-Substrate interaction in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. ACS Catalysis 10(14), pp. 7907-7914. (10.1021/acscatal.0c01856)
- Tang, T. M. S., Cardella, D., Lander, A. J., Li, X., Escudero, J. S., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Use of an asparaginyl endopeptidase for chemo-enzymatic peptide and protein labeling. Chemical Science 11(23), pp. 5881-5888. (10.1039/D0SC02023K)
- Santi, N., Morrill, L. C. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Streptavidin-hosted organocatalytic aldol addition. Molecules 25(10), article number: 2457. (10.3390/molecules25102457)
- Nödling, A. et al. 2020. Cyanine dye mediated mitochondrial targeting enhances the anti-cancer activity of small-molecule cargoes. Chemical Communications 56(34), pp. 4672-4675. (10.1039/C9CC07931A)
- Nödling, A. R., Santi, N., Williams, T. L., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2020. Enabling protein-hosted organocatalytic transformations. RSC Advances 10(27), pp. 16147-16161. (10.1039/D0RA01526A)
- Zheng, X. et al. 2020. Condensation of 2-((Alkylthio)(aryl)methylene)malononitrile with 1,2-Aminothiol as a novel bioorthogonal reaction for site-specific protein modification and peptide cyclization. Journal of the American Chemical Society 142(11), pp. 5097-5103. (10.1021/jacs.9b11875)
- Mills, E. M., Barlow, V. L., Luk, L. Y. P. and Tsai, Y. 2020. Applying switchable Cas9 variants to in vivo gene editing for therapeutic applications. Cell Biology and Toxicology 36, pp. 17-29. (10.1007/s10565-019-09488-2)
- Meier-Menches, S. M. et al. 2020. Comparative biological evaluation and G-quadruplex interaction studies of two new families of organometallic gold(I) complexes featuring N-heterocyclic carbene and alkynyl ligands. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 202, article number: 110844. (10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2019.110844)
- Allemann, R. K., Scott, A. F., Luk, L. Y., Tuñón, I. and Moliner, V. 2019. Heavy enzymes and the rational redesign of protein catalysts. ChemBioChem 20(22), pp. 2807-2812. (10.1002/cbic.201900134)
- Angelastro, A., Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2019. Loss of hyperconjugative effects drives hydride transfer during dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. ACS Catalysis 9(11), pp. 10343-10349. (10.1021/acscatal.9b02839)
- Nodling, A. R., Spear, L. A., Williams, T. L., Luk, L. Y. and Tsai, Y. 2019. Using genetically incorporated unnatural amino acids to control protein functions in mammalian cells. Essays in Biochemistry 63(2), pp. 237-266. (10.1042/EBC20180042)
- Scott, A. F., Cresser-Brown, J., Williams, T. L., Rizkallah, P. J., Jin, Y., Luk, L. Y. and Allemann, R. K. 2019. Crystal structure and biophysical analysis of furfural detoxifying aldehyde reductase from clostridium beijerinkii. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (10.1128/AEM.00978-19)
- Patel, S. G. et al. 2019. Cell-penetrating peptide sequence and modification dependent uptake and subcellular distribution of green florescent protein in different cell lines. Scientific Reports 9(1), pp. -., article number: 6298. (10.1038/s41598-019-42456-8)
- Nodling, A. R. et al. 2018. Reactivity and selectivity of iminium organocatalysis improved by a protein host. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57(38), pp. 12478-12482. (10.1002/anie.201806850)
- Williams, T. L., Nodling, A., Tsai, Y. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2018. Carbapenems as water soluble organocatalysts. Wellcome Open Research 2018(3), article number: 107. (10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14721.1)
- Suzuki, T., Asami, M., Patel, S. G., Luk, L. Y. P., Tsai, Y. and Perry, A. C. F. 2018. Switchable genome editing via genetic code expansion. Scientific Reports 8(1), article number: 10051. (10.1038/s41598-018-28178-3)
- Behiry, E. M., Ruiz-Pernia, J. J., Luk, L., Tunon, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2018. Isotope substitution of promiscuous alcohol dehydrogenase reveals the origin of substrate preference in the transition state. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57(12), pp. 3128-3131. (10.1002/anie.201712826)
- Świderek, K., Nödling, A., Tsai, Y., Luk, L. and Moliner, V. 2018. Reaction mechanism of organocatalytic Michael addition of nitromethane to cinnamaldehyde: a case study on catalyst regeneration and solvent effects. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 122(1), pp. 451-459. (10.1021/acs.jpca.7b11803)
- Liao, J. et al. 2017. Acetylome of acinetobacter baumannii SK17 reveals a highly-conserved modification of histone-like protein HU. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 4, article number: 77. (10.3389/fmolb.2017.00077)
- Angelastro, A., Dawson, W. M., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. Chemoenzymatic assembly of isotopically labeled folates. Journal of the American Chemical Society 139(37), pp. 13047-13054. (10.1021/jacs.7b06358)
- Wilkins, L. C., Santi, N., Luk, L. Y. P. and Melen, R. L. 2017. Reactions of biologically inspired hydride sources with B(C6F5)3. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 375(2101), article number: 20170009. (10.1098/rsta.2017.0009)
- Lai, S. et al. 2017. Site-specific His/Asp phosphoproteomic analysis of prokaryotes reveals putative targets for drug resistance. BMC Microbiology 17(1), article number: 123. (10.1186/s12866-017-1034-2)
- Loveridge, E. J. et al. 2017. Reduction of folate by dihydrofolate reductase from thermotoga maritima. Biochemistry 56(13), pp. 1879-1886. (10.1021/acs.biochem.6b01268)
- Angelastro, A., Dawson, W. M., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. A versatile disulfide-driven recycling system for NADP+ with high cofactor turnover number. ACS Catalysis 7(2), pp. 1025-1029. (10.1021/acscatal.6b03061)
- Castillo, J. P. et al. 2016. β1-subunit–induced structural rearrangements of the Ca2+- and voltage-activated K+ (BK) channel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(23), pp. E3231-E3239. (10.1073/pnas.1606381113)
- Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Behiry, E., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2016. Minimization of dynamic effects in the evolution of dihydrofolate reductase. Chemical Science 7(5), pp. 3248-3255. (10.1039/C5SC04209G)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Ruiz-Pernía, J. J., Adesina, A. S., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2015. Chemical ligation and isotope labeling to locate dynamic effects during catalysis by dihydrofolate reductase. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 54(31), pp. 9016-9020. (10.1002/anie.201503968)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2015. Protein motions and dynamic effects in enzyme catalysis. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 17, pp. 30817-30827. (10.1039/C5CP00794A)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Ruiz-Pernia, J. J., Dawson, W. M., Loveridge, E. J., Tuñón, I., Moliner, V. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Protein isotope effects in dihydrofolate reductase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus show entropic-enthalpic com-pensatory effects on the rate constant. Journal of the American Chemical Society 136(49), pp. 17317-17323. (10.1021/ja5102536)
- Behiry, E. M., Luk, L. Y. P., Matthews, S. M., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Role of the occluded conformation in bacterial dihydrofolate reductases. Biochemistry 53(29), pp. 4761-4768. (10.1021/bi500507v)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Different dynamical effects in mesophilic and hyperthermophilic dihydrofolate reductases. Journal of the American Chemical Society 136(19), pp. 6862-6865. (10.1021/ja502673h)
- Guo, J. N., Luk, L. Y. P., Loveridge, E. J. and Allemann, R. K. 2014. Thermal adaptation of dihydrofolate reductase from the moderate thermophile geobacillus stearothermophilus. Biochemistry 53(17), pp. 2855-2863. (10.1021/bi500238q)
- Ruiz-Pernia, J. J. et al. 2013. Increased dynamic effects in a catalytically compromised variant of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase. Journal of the American Chemical Society 135(49), pp. 18689-18696. (10.1021/ja410519h)
- Luk, L. Y. P. et al. 2013. Unraveling the role of protein dynamics in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(41), pp. 16344-16349. (10.1073/pnas.1312437110)
- Guo, J., Loveridge, E. J., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2013. Effect of dimerization on dihydrofolate reductase catalysis. Biochemistry 52(22), pp. 3881-3887. (10.1021/bi4005073)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Qian, Q. and Tanner, M. E. 2011. A cope rearrangement in the reaction catalyzed by dimethylallyltryptophan synthase?. Journal of the American Chemical Society 133(32), pp. 12342-12345. (10.1021/ja2034969)
- Luk, L. Y. P. and Tanner, M. E. 2009. Mechanism of dimethylallyltryptophan synthase: Evidence for a dimethylallyl cation intermediate in an aromatic prenyltransferase reaction. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131(39), pp. 13932-13933. (10.1021/ja906485u)
- Luk, L. Y. P., Bunn, S., Liscombe, D. K., Facchini, P. J. and Tanner, M. E. 2007. Mechanistic studies on norcoclaurine synthase of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis: An enzymatic Pictet-Spengler reaction. Biochemistry 46(35), pp. 10153-10161. (10.1021/bi700752n)
Book sections
- Ma, M., Tang, S. T., Dickerson, M. T. and Luk, L. Y. 2023. Preparing recombinant “Split AEP” for protein labeling. In: Lloyd, M. ed. Methods in Enzymology., Vol. 690. Methods in Enzymology Elsevier, pp. 501-540., (10.1016/bs.mie.2023.07.004)
- Scott, A. F., Luk, L. Y. P. and Allemann, R. K. 2017. Chemical ligation and isotope labeling to locate dynamic effects. In: Imperiali, B. ed. Methods in Enzymology., Vol. 596. Elsevier, pp. 23-41., (10.1016/bs.mie.2017.06.040)
- Allemann, R. K., Loveridge, E. and Luk, L. Y. P. 2015. Protein motions, dynamic effects and thermal stability in dihydrofolate reductase from the hyperthermophile thermotoga maritima. In: Olivares-Quiroz, L., Guzmán-López, O. and Jardón-Valadez, H. E. eds. Physical Biology of Proteins and Peptides: Theory, Experiment, and Simulation. Springer International Publishing, pp. 99-113., (10.1007/978-3-319-21687-4_6)
Research
Our research empowers protein science and its applications, broadly categorised into the following areas:
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Scalable and Precise Protein Labeling via Biocatalysis: Advancing Biotherapeutic Design and Manufacturing.
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Discovery of Peptide Binders as Lead Candidates: Integrating Synthetic Biology into Medicinal Chemistry Development.
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Enzyme-Catalysed Bifunctional Ligand Synthesis: Advancing Targeted Protein Degradation for Therapeutic Applications
Progress in these projects enable exposure in a wide array of valuable techniques, including organic synthesis, molecular cloning, peptide/protein engineering, enzyme engineering, mass spectrometry and protein crystallography. These skills are routinely employed in both academic and industrial laboratories, equipping trainees for success in diverse scientific careers.
Teaching
CHT352: Techniques in Drug Discovery
CHT235: Structure and Techniques in Chemical Biology
CH3412: Supramolecular Chemistry
CH3317: Engineered Biocatalysis
Biography
Honours and awards
BBSRC. 03/2021-02/2024. Principle Investigator. EC-LOOP.
Royal Society International Exchange Scheme. 03/2018-02/2020. Principal Investigator. Protein Nanoreactor: Encapsulating Toxic Biocatalyst for the Production of High-Value Cyclic Peptides.
Royal Society Research Grant. 03/2018-02/2019. Principal Investigator. Large scale fermentation of cyclic proteins.
Leverhulme Trust. 11/2017-10/2020. Principal Investigator. Designing Multifunctional Organocatalytic Artificial Enzymes.
Wellcome Seed Trust. 08/2016-08/2018. Principal Investigator. Dihydrofolate reductase interactome: an unrecognised network that can control DNA synthesis and cell replication.
BBSRC. 08/2014-07/2017. Co-investigator. Reaction-coupled dynamics in DHFR catalysis.
BBSRC. 04/2017-03/2020. Co-investigator. Traceless, non-invasive and spatiotemporal control of protein activity in cells.
Professional memberships
RSC PPSG Communication Officer and Committee Member
RSC CBBG Committee Member
Head of Ethics Committee at Cardiff School of Chemistry
Member of EDI Committee at Cardiff School of Chemistry
Academic positions
2020-Present: Senior Lecturer
2019-2020: Lecturer
2016-2020: Cardiff University Research Fellow
2012-2020: Post-doctoral Researcher (Cardiff University)
2010-2012: Post-doctoral Research Associate (University of Chicago)
2004-2010: PhD Chemistry (University of British Columbia)
1999-2004: BSc Chemistry and Microbiology & Immunology (University of British Columbia)
Speaking engagements
- Chemistry, St Andrews, Scotland, UK, 2024
- European Peptide Synthesis Conference, Czech Republic, 2024
- British Peptide Society: Chemistry & Biology of Peptides, Liverpool, UK, 2024
- Chemistry, King's College London, London, UK, 2024
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), Manchester, UK, 2024
- Trends in Enzyme Catalysis, Spain, 2022
- CEM New Frontiers inPeptide Synthesis, Liverpool, UK, 2022
- Chemistry, Nanyang University, Singapore, 2022
- Cardiff School of Pharmacy, UK, 2020
- Chemistry, Leeds University, Leeds, UK, 2020
- Chemistry, Northeastern University, China, 2019
- RSC Organic Division Southwest Regional, Oxford, UK, 2019
- Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2019
- Molecular Sciences,University of Western Australia, Australia, 2019
- Chemistry (Hilvert's group), ETH, Switzerland, 2019
- Chemistry, Jaume I University, Spain, 2019
- Chemistry, Xiamen University, China, 2019
- Applied Science, Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, China, 2019
- Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laurier Wilfred University, Canada, 2019
Contact Details
LukLY@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29225 10161
Main Building, Floor 1st , Room 1.54, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
+44 29225 10161
Main Building, Floor 1st , Room 1.54, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
Research themes
Specialisms
- chemical biology
- Medicinal and biomolecular chemistry
- Medical biochemistry of proteins and peptides
- Biocatalysis and enzyme technology
- Organic chemistry
