Dr. Deaconescu received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2001, and then completed doctoral work in molecular biophysics at The Rockefeller University. For her postdoctoral training, Dr. Deaconescu conducted research at Brandeis University and the HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus in the laboratory of Dr. Nikolaus Grigorieff. Her work brought structural and mechanistic insight into the processes of transcription-coupled DNA repair and cytoskeleton regulation. She is a recipient of awards from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the German Society for Biochemistry, NATO, the International Brain Research Organization, Keystone Symposia, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, The Rhode island Foundation and Brown University. She has served on review panels for the National Institutes of Health as well as foreign and international scientific organizations.
| Brugger C, Srirangam S, Deaconescu AM. "IraM remodels the RssB segmented helical linker to stabilize σ(s) against degradation by ClpXP." Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 300, no. 2, 2024, pp. 105568. |
| Brugger C, Schwartz J, Novick S, Tong S, Hoskins JR, Majdalani N, Kim R, Filipovski M, Wickner S, Gottesman S, Griffin PR, Deaconescu AM. "Structure of phosphorylated-like RssB, the adaptor delivering σ(s) to the ClpXP proteolytic machinery, reveals an interface switch for activation." Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 299, no. 12, 2023, pp. 105440. |
| Vadgama N, Kreymerman A, Campbell J, Shamardina O, Brugger C, Research Consortium GE, Deaconescu AM, Lee RT, Penkett CJ, Gifford CA, Mercola M, Nasir J, Karakikes I. "SARS-CoV-2 Susceptibility and ACE2 Gene Variations Within Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds." Frontiers in Genetics, vol. 13, 2022, pp. 888025. |
| Brugger, Christiane, Deaconescu, Alexandra. "A Gel-Based Assay for Probing Protein Translocation on dsDNA." BIO-PROTOCOL, vol. 11, no. 14, 2021. |
| Brugger C, Deaconescu AM. "A Gel-Based Assay for Probing Protein Translocation on dsDNA." BIO-PROTOCOL, vol. 11, no. 14, 2021, pp. e4094. |
| Deaconescu AM. "Mfd - at the crossroads of bacterial DNA repair, transcriptional regulation and molecular evolvability." Transcription, 2021, pp. 1-15. |
| Schwartz, Jacob, Son, Jonghyeon, Brugger, Christiane, Deaconescu, Alexandra M. "Phospho‐dependent signaling during the general stress response by the atypical response regulator and ClpXP adaptor RssB." Protein Science, vol. 30, no. 4, 2021, pp. 899-907. |
| Brugger, Christiane, Zhang, Cheng, Suhanovsky, Margaret M., Kim, David D., Sinclair, Amy N., Lyumkis, Dmitry, Deaconescu, Alexandra M. "Molecular determinants for dsDNA translocation by the transcription-repair coupling and evolvability factor Mfd." Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, 2020, pp. 3740. |
| Dorich V, Brugger C, Tripathi A, Hoskins JR, Tong S, Suhanovsky MM, Sastry A, Wickner S, Gottesman S, Deaconescu AM. "Structural basis for inhibition of a response regulator of σ<sup>S</sup> stability by a ClpXP antiadaptor." Genes & Development, vol. 33, no. 11-12, 2019, pp. 718-732. |
| Le T.T., Yang Y., Tan C., Suhanovsky M.M., Fulbright R.M., Inman J.T., Li M., Perelman S., Roberts J.W., Deaconescu A.M., Wang M.D. "Mfd Dynamically Regulates Transcription via a Release and Catch-Up Mechanism." Cell, 2018. |
| Le TT, Yang Y, Tan C, Suhanovsky MM, Fulbright RM Jr, Inman JT, Li M, Lee J, Perelman S, Roberts JW, Deaconescu AM, Wang MD. "Mfd Dynamically Regulates Transcription via a Release and Catch-Up Mechanism." Cell, vol. 173, no. 7, 2018, pp. 1823. |
| Vemu A, Szczesna E, Zehr EA, Spector JO, Grigorieff N, Deaconescu AM, Roll-Mecak A. "Severing enzymes amplify microtubule arrays through lattice GTP-tubulin incorporation." Science, vol. 361, no. 6404, 2018. |
| Deaconescu AM, Suhanovsky MM. "From Mfd to TRCF and Back Again - A Perspective on Bacterial Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair." Photochemistry and photobiology, 2016. |
| Kutter S, Eichner T, Deaconescu AM, Kern D. "Regulation of Microtubule Assembly by Tau and not by Pin1." Journal of molecular biology, vol. 428, no. 9 Pt A, 2016, pp. 1742-59. |
| Spector, Jeffrey, Szyk, Agnieszka, Deaconescu, Alexandra M., Valenstein, Max, Goodman, Benjamin, Kormendi, Vasilisa, Grigorieff, Nikolaus, Roll-Mecak, Antonina. "Molecular Basis for Age-Dependent Acetylation by Tubulin Acetyltransferase." Biophysical Journal, vol. 108, no. 2, 2015, pp. 449a. |
| Roll-Mecak, Antonina, Szyk, Agnieszka, Deaconescu, Alexandra, Spector, Jeffrey, Valenstein, Max, Grigorieff, Niko. "Molecular Basis for Age-Dependent Microtubule Acetylation." Biophysical Journal, vol. 108, no. 2, 2015, pp. 448a. |
| Szyk A, Deaconescu AM, Spector J, Goodman B, Valenstein ML, Ziolkowska NE, Kormendi V, Grigorieff N, Roll-Mecak A. "Molecular basis for age-dependent microtubule acetylation by tubulin acetyltransferase." Cell, vol. 157, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1405-15. |
| Deaconescu AM. "RNA polymerase between lesion bypass and DNA repair." Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, vol. 70, no. 23, 2013, pp. 4495-509. |
| Deaconescu AM, Artsimovitch I, Grigorieff N. "Interplay of DNA repair with transcription: from structures to mechanisms." Trends in biochemical sciences, vol. 37, no. 12, 2012, pp. 543-52. |
| Deaconescu AM, Sevostyanova A, Artsimovitch I, Grigorieff N. "Nucleotide excision repair (NER) machinery recruitment by the transcription-repair coupling factor involves unmasking of a conserved intramolecular interface." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 109, no. 9, 2012, pp. 3353-8. |
| Kutter, Steffen, Deaconescu, Alexandra, Kern, Dorothee. "Tau vs. Glycerol - A Kinetic Study of the Tubulin Polymerization." Biophysical Journal, vol. 100, no. 3, 2011, pp. 449a. |
| Szyk A, Deaconescu AM, Piszczek G, Roll-Mecak A. "Tubulin tyrosine ligase structure reveals adaptation of an ancient fold to bind and modify tubulin." Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, vol. 18, no. 11, 2011, pp. 1250-8. |
| Okada K, Bartolini F, Deaconescu AM, Moseley JB, Dogic Z, Grigorieff N, Gundersen GG, Goode BL. "Adenomatous polyposis coli protein nucleates actin assembly and synergizes with the formin mDia1." The Journal of cell biology, vol. 189, no. 7, 2010, pp. 1087-96. |
| Okada, Kyoko, Deaconescu, Alexandra M., Moseley, James B., Dogic, Zvonimir, Grigorieff, Nikolaus, Goode, Bruce L. "Starting Actin Filaments Anew - Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Is an Actin Nucleator." Biophysical Journal, vol. 96, no. 3, 2009, pp. 124a. |
| Deaconescu AM, Savery N, Darst SA. "The bacterial transcription repair coupling factor." Current Opinion in Structural Biology, vol. 17, no. 1, 2007, pp. 96-102. |
| Deaconescu AM, Chambers AL, Smith AJ, Nickels BE, Hochschild A, Savery NJ, Darst SA. "Structural basis for bacterial transcription-coupled DNA repair." Cell, vol. 124, no. 3, 2006, pp. 507-20. |
| Deaconescu AM, Darst SA. "Crystallization and preliminary structure determination of Escherichia coli Mfd, the transcription-repair coupling factor." Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology and crystallization communications, vol. 61, no. Pt 12, 2005, pp. 1062-4. |
| Deaconescu AM, Roll-Mecak A, Bonanno JB, Gerchman SE, Kycia H, Studier FW, Burley SK. "X-ray structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologous mitochondrial matrix factor 1 (Hmf1)." Proteins, vol. 48, no. 2, 2002, pp. 431-6. |
Research in my laboratory focuses on the biochemical and biophysical underpinnings of DNA transactions essential for the maintenance of genomes and for controlling the flow of genetic information. Our approach combines biochemistry and biophysics with complementary structure determination methods (X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopy) with the goal of elucidating the architecture, function, and regulation of protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes.
The Deaconescu Laboratory on the Web: https://www.deaconesculab.com/
Our collaborators include:
Dr. Dorothee Kern (Brandeis University and HHMI) - biomolecular NMR
Dr. Antonina Roll-Mecak (National Institutes of Health) - cytoskeleton biology
Dr. Michelle Wang (Cornell University and HHMI) - single-molecule biophysics
Dr. Susan Gottesman (National Cancer Institute, NIH) - molecular genetics
Dr. Sue Wickner (National Cancer Institute, NIH) - mechanisms of unfoldases
2014 Medical Research Grant, The Rhode Island Foundation
2014 Pilot Project Grant, RI-INBRE
2015-2017 Career Development Award, RI-INBRE
2016 Career Development Award Supplement, RI-INBRE
2016 Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award from Brown University
2017- R01 GM121975 from NIH-NIGMS
2018 Seed Award from Brown University
2021 Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award from Brown University
Vemu A, Szczesna E, Zehr E, Spector JO, Grigorieff N, Deaconescu AM, Roll-Mecak A. Severing Enzymes Amplify Microtubules Arrays Through GTP-Tubulin Incorporation, Science (in press)
Le TT, Yang Y, Tan C, Suhanovsky MM, Fulbright M Jr, Inman JT, Li M, Perelman Sugrd, Roberts J, Deaconescu AM, Wang. M.D. Mfd Dynamically Regulates Transcription via a Release and Catch-up Mechanism (2018) Cell 172(1-2): 344-357
Deaconescu AM* and Suhanovsky MM. From Mfd to TRCF and Back Again –A Perspective on Bacterial Transcription-Coupled DNA Repair (2017) Photochemistry and Photobiology 93(1):268-279 [*corresponding and invited author]
Kutter S., Eichner T., Deaconescu A.M., Kern D. Regulation of microtubule assembly by Tau and not Pin1. J. Mol. Biol. (2016) 428(9): 1742-1759
Szyk A.*, Deaconescu A.M.*, Spector J.*, Goodman B., Valenstein M.L., Ziolkowska N.E., Kormendi V., Grigorieff N., Roll-Mecak A. Molecular Basis for Age-Dependent Microtubule Acetylation by Tubulin Acetyltransferase. Cell (2014) 157(6): 1405-1415 (*equal contribution)
Deaconescu, A.M.,# RNA polymerase between lesion bypass and DNA repair (2013) Cell. and Mol. Life Sci. (2013) 70(23):4495-4509(# invited author)
Deaconescu A.M., Sevostyanova A, Artsimovitch I., Grigorieff N., NER Machinery Recruitment by Transcription-Repair Coupling Factor Involves Unmasking of a Conserved Intramolecular Interface (2012) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109(9):3353-3358
Deaconescu A.M.,*,# Artsimovitch I, Grigorieff N. Interplay of DNA repair and transcription- from structures to mechanisms (2012) Trends Biochem. Sci. 37(12):543-52 (*corresponding author, # invited author)
Szyk A., Deaconescu A.M., Piszczek G., Roll-Mecak A. Tubulin tyrosine ligase structure reveals adaptation of an ancient fold to bind and modify tubulin (2011) Nat Struct Mol Biol. 18(11):1250-1258
Okada K., Bartolini F., Deaconescu A.M., Moseley J.B., Dogic Z., Grigorieff N., Gundersen G.G., Goode B.L. The tumor suppressor protein APC is a potent nucleator of actin assembly that synergizes with the formin mDia1 (2010) J Cell Biol 189:1087-96
Deaconescu A.M., Savery N.J., Darst S.A. The bacterial transcription-repair coupling factor (2007) Curr Opin Struct Biol. 1:96-102
Deaconescu A.M., Chambers A.L., Smith A.J., Nickels B.E., Hochschild A., Savery N.J., Darst S.A. Structural Basis for Bacterial Transcription-Coupled DNA Repair (2006) Cell. 124(3): 507-520
Deaconescu A.M. and Darst S.A. Crystallization and preliminary structure determination of Escherichia coli Mfd, the transcription-repair coupling factor (2005) Acta Cryst. F. F61: 1062-1064
Deaconescu A.M., Roll-Mecak A., Bonanno J.B., Kycia H., Gerchman S.E., Studier W., and Burley S.K. X-ray Structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Homologous Mitochondrial Matrix Factor Hmf1 (2002) Proteins. 48(2): 431-6
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | PhD | The Rockefeller University |
| 2001 | BE | The Cooper Union School of the Advancement of Science and Art |
Selected Grants and Awards
2021- Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award from Brown University
2018 - Seed Award from Brown University (co-PI: Gerwald Jogl)
2016 - Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award from Brown University
2013 - Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Brandeis University Scholar Award in Quantitative Biology
2012 - W.M. Keck Postdoctoral Fellowship, The W.M. Keck Foundation and the Gulf Coast Research Consortium/Computational Cancer Biology Program (declined)
2010 - Scholarship, International School of Crystallography at Ettore Majorana Centre, Erice, Italy, A NATO Advanced Study Institute
2008-2010 - Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
2008 - Fellowship, Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and International Brain Research Organization
2006 - Award from the German Society for Biochemistry
2004 - "Rockefeller University Abroad" Prize, The Rockefeller University
2001-2006 David Rockefeller Graduate Program Fellowship, The Rockefeller University
2001- The Herbert B. Baldwin Prize for Excellence in Chemical Engineering
Trainer, Program in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry
Trainer, Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology
Trainer, Pathobiology Program
| BIOL 0280 - Biochemistry |
| BIOL 1270 - Advanced Biochemistry |
| BIOL 2121 - The Biochemistry of Signaling and Regulation from Prokaryotes to Eukaryotes |
| BIOL 2270 - Advanced Biochemistry |
