Gail E. Fanucci

About

Gail E. Fanucci is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on using spin‑labeling magnetic resonance (SLMR) to characterize macromolecular motions linked to function and disease. Her work spans biological macromolecules, polymer assemblies, and glycolipids, with current projects probing membrane‑binding proteins and membrane biophysics, conformational changes in HIV‑1 protease and large RNAs, and natively unstructured proteins. She complements electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) with solution NMR relaxation and Overhauser DNP to relate conformational sampling, backbone dynamics, and changes in surface water hydration. Fanucci has a distinguished academic background, including postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Florida. She has received several awards, such as the UF Term Professorship Award in 2021, the UF Research Foundation Professorship Award in 2018, and the NSF CAREER Award from 2008 to 2013. She has also served on various professional committees and editorial boards, contributing significantly to her field.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Biology
• Nanotechnology
• Cell biology
• Computational biology
• Biochemistry
• Polymer chemistry

Selected publications

• Block Copolymer Sequence Inversion through Photoiniferter Polymerization

  ACS Macro Letters · 2019-10-15 · 66 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Block copolymers prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization are often restricted to a specific comonomer blocking sequence that is dictated by intermediate radical stability and relative radical leaving group abilities. Techniques that provide alternative pathways for reinitiation of thiocarbonylthio-terminated polymers could allow access to block copolymer sequences currently unobtainable through the RAFT process. We report a method for preparing "inverte…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A metabolically engineered spin-labeling approach for studying glycans on cells

  Chemical Science · 2020 · 15 citations

  more mobile). Strikingly, different cell lines displayed varied relative populations of these two components, suggesting distinctive glycan packing, organization, and composition of different cells. This work demonstrates the capability of SDSL EPR to be a broadly useful tool for studying glycans on cells, and interpretation of the results provides insights for distinguishing the differences and changes in the local organization and heterogeneity of the cellular glycocalyx.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Post-polymerization modification of polymethacrylates enabled by keto–enol tautomerization

  Polymer Chemistry · 2020 · 15 citations

  We report a post-polymerization modification strategy to functionalize methacrylic copolymers through enol-ester transesterification.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Darunavir-Resistant HIV-1 Protease Constructs Uphold a Conformational Selection Hypothesis for Drug Resistance

  Viruses · 2020-11-08 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Multidrug resistance continues to be a barrier to the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection. Darunavir (DRV) is a highly potent protease inhibitor (PI) that is oftentimes effective when drug resistance has emerged against first-generation inhibitors. Resistance to darunavir does evolve and requires 10–20 amino acid substitutions. The conformational landscapes of six highly characterized HIV-1 protease (PR) const…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Probing Membrane Hydration at the Interface of Self-Assembled Peptide Amphiphiles Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance

  ACS Macro Letters · 2018-10-01 · 11 citations

  article

  The relative hydrophilicity at the interface of a nanoparticle was measured utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The supramolecular structure was assembled from spin-labeled peptide amphiphiles (PA) derived from N-carboxy anhydrides (NCA). Cyanuric chloride, or 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (TCT), was used as a modular platform to synthesize the spin-labeled, lipid-mimetic macroinitiator used for the ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-l-glutamic acid NCA to produce…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01GM105409

  NIH · $1.1M · 2018

• Thermodynamics and Chain Dynamics in Spin-labeled Peptide Block Copolymer Assemblies

  NSF · $600k · 2020–2025

• Spin Labeling Studies of Biomolecular Flexibility and Hydration

  NSF · $822k · 2017–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel R. Talham

  University of Florida

  40 shared

• Alexander Angerhofer

  University of Florida

  38 shared

• Karen A. Hyde

  Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

  36 shared

• Malcom Forbes

  Bridge University

  36 shared

• Michael Bowman

  Iowa State University

  36 shared

• Gary J. Gerfen

  Albert Einstein College of Medicine

  36 shared

• Kurt W. Zilm

  Yale University

  36 shared

• Martin L. Kirk

  The Ohio State University

  36 shared

Awards & honors

• UF Term Professorship Award (2021)
• UF Research Foundation Professorship Award (2018)
• Wessell's Excellence Award, UF College Outstanding Assistant…
• HHMI Distinguished Mentor Award (2008)
• NSF CAREER Award (2008–2013)

Similar researchers at University of Florida

• George Christouh-133
• Rodney J. Bartletth-118
• Alberto Perezh-59