Thomas E. Dever

Our studies of protein synthesis are focused on three main areas: Translation GTPases The GTPases eIF2 and eIF5B promote, respectively, the first and final steps in translation initiation. eIF2a Phosphorylation We are studying how the function of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2) is regulated by phosphorylation, focusing on determinants of substrate recognition by the eIF2α protein kinases and the structure and regulation of these enzymes. eIF5A The factor eIF5A was originally identified by its ability to stimulate the yield (endpoint) of methionyl-puromycin synthesis, a model assay for first peptide bond synthesis.