D. A. Mitchell

KR158 spheres harboring slow-cycling cells recapitulate GBM features in an immunocompetent system

This study validates a murine model of glioblastoma stem cells that recapitulate human features and enables investigation of their interactions with the immune system.

Benzylic Radical Stabilization Permits Ether Formation During Darobactin Biosynthesis

This paper investigates how DarE enzyme modifies DarA to form ether and C-C crosslinks, identifying key residues and mechanisms involved in radical-mediated biosynthesis.

Discovery of biaryl macrocyclic peptides with C-terminal β-amino-α-keto acid groups

This study discovers a new class of macrocyclic peptides by mining genomes for biosynthetic gene clusters, revealing novel enzymatic modifications involving a cytochrome P450 and other enzymes.

Non-modular Fatty Acid Synthases Yield Unique Acylation in Ribosomal Peptides

The paper identifies lipoavitides, a novel class of RiPP/fatty acid hybrid lipopeptides with a unique HMP modification, and describes their biosynthetic pathway.

mRNA challenge predicts brain cancer immunogenicity and response to checkpoint inhibitors

The paper develops an mRNA vaccine to predict brain tumor response to checkpoint inhibitors by analyzing cytokine release patterns in vitro.

Genome mining unveils a class of ribosomal peptides with two amino termini

The paper identifies a new class of ribosomal peptides, daptides, with two amino termini, discovered through genome mining and characterized experimentally.

Bioinformatics-Guided Discovery of Biaryl-Tailored Lasso Peptides

The paper discovers and characterizes two novel biaryl-containing lasso peptides, revealing new structural modifications and biosynthetic enzymes.

McrD binds asymmetrically to methyl-coenzyme M reductase improving active site accessibility during assembly

The paper structurally characterizes intermediate states of methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR) assembly, revealing McrD's role in facilitating F430 cofactor installation.

Glioma-derived CCL2 and CCL7 mediate migration of immune suppressive CCR2+ myeloid cells into the tumor microenvironment in a redundant manner

This study shows that CCL2 and CCL7 from gliomas redundantly recruit CCR2+/CX3CR1+ myeloid cells into the tumor microenvironment, contributing to immune suppression and poor prognosis in GBM.

Reactivity-based screening for citrulline-containing natural products reveals a family of bacterial peptidyl arginine deiminases

The paper identifies a family of bacterial peptidyl arginine deiminases (PADs) responsible for arginine deimination in lasso peptides, leading to citrulline-containing variants.

Tracking Adoptive T Cell Therapy Using Magnetic Particle Imaging

This study uses magnetic particle imaging to track adoptively transferred T cells in vivo, showing its potential for monitoring T cell biodistribution in cancer treatments.

Functional interactions between post-translationally modified amino acids of methyl-coenzyme M reductase in Methanosarcina acetivorans

The paper identifies a methyltransferase responsible for S-methylcysteine modification in MCR and shows that interactions between post-translational modifications affect enzyme function and thermal stability.

Post-translational thioamidation of methyl-coenzyme M reductase, a key enzyme in methanogenic and methanotrophic Archaea

The paper identifies thioglycine modification in McrA, a key enzyme in methane metabolism, and shows its role in protein stability rather than catalysis, with implications for evolutionary origins.