Group Members

Katherine Larochelle

Current Graduate Student

BS in Biochemistry, University of Maine, USA
katherine.e.larochelle [ at ] vanderbilt.edu
Vanderbilt University - MBRIII 5140 Office Suite

Research Interests:

• Membrane proteins
• Membrane mimetic environments
• Protein structure determination

My research in the Meiler Lab involves expressing and purifying membrane proteins from E. coli for a wide variety of applications. These applications include paramagnetic NMR, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). For NMR and EPR, I site-specifically encode a noncanonical amino acid for site-directed paramagnetic spin labeling, which gives rise to a rich source of structural information for computational modeling. Additionally, I work on deuteration protocols for expressing, purifying and circularizing cNW9 nanodiscs for membrane protein reconstitution and investigations by SANS. My long-term goal is to pursue graduate studies in structural biology and protein biochemistry.