Stephen Harvey, Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Structural Biology
Ph.D., Biophysics, Dartmouth College, 1971
Email:
Phone: 404-385-4498
Fax: 404-894-0519
Office: Cherry Emerson (CE) 315
Research Interests
Professor Harvey’s research group is interested in macromolecular structure and dynamics and the relationship of these to biological function.
Structure-function relationships in the ribosome: The structures of the ribosomal large and small subunits have recently been determined by x-ray crystallography. Cryo-electron microscopic studies of complexes of mRNA, tRNA, and various cofactors have captured the ribosome at several points in the translational cycle, but only at low resolution. Dr. Harvey and collaborators are combining the data from these and other experiments into detailed models with the aim of determining the structural, thermodynamic, and kinetic basis of translational initiation, fidelity, elongation and termination. He is also interested in the evolution of ribosome structure, and in ribosome assembly.
Lipoproteins and atherosclerosis: The group is collaborating with several experimentalists to incorporate all available information into detailed atomic models for high and low density lipoproteins (HDLs and LDLs), in an effort to understand structure-function relationships in these particles.
Viral assembly: Understanding the mechanisms whereby viruses package their nucleic acids should offer new opportunities for drug design. We have two major efforts underway in this area. First, we are developing models for investigating structural and thermodynamic issues related to the packaging of double-helical DNA into bacteriophage capsids. Second, we are investigating the interplay between RNA secondary structure and RNA-protein binding in the assembly of small RNA nodaviruses. The models of both DNA viruses and RNA viruses are based on available data from x-ray diffraction and cryo-electron microscopy, and they are being evaluated against results from a variety of other kinds of experiments.
Recent Publications
S.C. Harvey, A.S. Petrov, B. Devkota and M.B. Boz, “Viral Assembly: A Molecular Modeling Perspective,” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 11, 10553-10564 (2009) doi:10.1039/B912884K.
D.J. Taylor, B. Devkota, A.D. Huang, M. Topf, E. Narayanan, A. Sali, S.C. Harvey and J. Frank, “Comprehensive Molecular Structure of the Eukaryotic Ribosome,” Structure 17, 1591-1604, PMID: 20004163 (2009).
Sarkar T, Petrov AS, Vitko JR, Santai CT, Harvey SC, Mukerji I, Hud NV. Integration host factor (IHF) dictates the structure of polyamine-DNA condensates: implications for the role of IHF in the compaction of bacterial chromatin. Biochemistry. 2009 Feb 3;48(4):667-75.
Devkota B, Petrov AS, Lemieux S, Boz MB, Tang L, Schneemann A, Johnson JE, Harvey SC. Structural and electrostatic characterization of pariacoto virus: implications for viral assembly. Biopolymers. 2009 Jul;91(7):530-8.
Petrov AS, Locker CR, Harvey SC. Characterization of DNA conformation inside bacterial viruses. Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2009 Aug;80(2 Pt 1):021914. Epub 2009 Aug 14.
Rollins GC, Petrov AS, Harvey SC. The role of DNA twist in the packaging of viral genomes. Biophys J. 2008 Mar 1;94(5):L38-40. Epub 2008 Jan 11.
Petrov AS, Harvey SC. Packaging double-helical DNA into viral capsids: structures, forces, and energetics. Biophys J. 2008 Jul;95(2):497-502. Epub 2008 May 16. Review.PMID: 18487310
Tan RK, Devkota B, Harvey SC. YUP.SCX: coaxing atomic models into medium resolution electron density maps. J Struct Biol. 2008 Aug;163(2):163-74. Epub 2008 May 16.
Petrov AS, Harvey SC. Structural and thermodynamic principles of viral packaging. Structure. 2007 Jan;15(1):21-7.
Petrov AS, Lim-Hing K, Harvey SC. Packaging of DNA by bacteriophage epsilon15: structure, forces, and thermodynamics. Structure. 2007 Jul;15(7):807-12.