The title “Regents’ Professor” is the highest faculty honor awarded at Arizona State University. It is conferred on ASU faculty who have made pioneering contributions in their areas of expertise, who have achieved a sustained level of distinction, and who enjoy national and international recognition for these accomplishments. This collection contains primarily open access works by ASU Regents' Professors.

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Description
Open-ended evolution (OEE) is relevant to a variety of biological, artificial and technological systems, but has been challenging to reproduce in silico. Most theoretical efforts focus on key aspects of open-ended evolution as it appears in biology. We recast the problem as a more general one in dynamical systems theory,

Open-ended evolution (OEE) is relevant to a variety of biological, artificial and technological systems, but has been challenging to reproduce in silico. Most theoretical efforts focus on key aspects of open-ended evolution as it appears in biology. We recast the problem as a more general one in dynamical systems theory, providing simple criteria for open-ended evolution based on two hallmark features: unbounded evolution and innovation. We define unbounded evolution as patterns that are non-repeating within the expected Poincare recurrence time of an isolated system, and innovation as trajectories not observed in isolated systems. As a case study, we implement novel variants of cellular automata (CA) where the update rules are allowed to vary with time in three alternative ways. Each is capable of generating conditions for open-ended evolution, but vary in their ability to do so. We find that state-dependent dynamics, regarded as a hallmark of life, statistically out-performs other candidate mechanisms, and is the only mechanism to produce open-ended evolution in a scalable manner, essential to the notion of ongoing evolution. This analysis suggests a new framework for unifying mechanisms for generating OEE with features distinctive to life and its artifacts, with broad applicability to biological and artificial systems.
Created2017-04-20
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Description
CTB-MPR is a fusion protein between the B subunit of cholera toxin (CTB) and the membrane-proximal region of gp41 (MPR), the transmembrane envelope protein of Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), and has previously been shown to induce the production of anti-HIV-1 antibodies with antiviral functions. To further improve the design

CTB-MPR is a fusion protein between the B subunit of cholera toxin (CTB) and the membrane-proximal region of gp41 (MPR), the transmembrane envelope protein of Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), and has previously been shown to induce the production of anti-HIV-1 antibodies with antiviral functions. To further improve the design of this candidate vaccine, X-ray crystallography experiments were performed to obtain structural information about this fusion protein. Several variants of CTB-MPR were designed, constructed and recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli. The first variant contained a flexible GPGP linker between CTB and MPR, and yielded crystals that diffracted to a resolution of 2.3 Å, but only the CTB region was detected in the electron-density map. A second variant, in which the CTB was directly attached to MPR, was shown to destabilize pentamer formation. A third construct containing a polyalanine linker between CTB and MPR proved to stabilize the pentameric form of the protein during purification. The purification procedure was shown to produce a homogeneously pure and monodisperse sample for crystallization. Initial crystallization experiments led to pseudo-crystals which were ordered in only two dimensions and were disordered in the third dimension. Nanocrystals obtained using the same precipitant showed promising X-ray diffraction to 5 Å resolution in femtosecond nanocrystallography experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The results demonstrate the utility of femtosecond X-ray crystallography to enable structural analysis based on nano/microcrystals of a protein for which no macroscopic crystals ordered in three dimensions have been observed before.
ContributorsLee, Ho-Hsien (Author) / Cherni, Irene (Author) / Yu, HongQi (Author) / Fromme, Raimund (Author) / Doran, Jeffrey (Author) / Grotjohann, Ingo (Author) / Mittman, Michele (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / Deb, Arpan (Author) / Dorner, Katerina (Author) / Aquila, Andrew (Author) / Barty, Anton (Author) / Boutet, Sebastien (Author) / Chapman, Henry N. (Author) / Doak, R. Bruce (Author) / Hunter, Mark (Author) / James, Daniel (Author) / Kirian, Richard (Author) / Kupitz, Christopher (Author) / Lawrence, Robert (Author) / Liu, Haiguang (Author) / Nass, Karol (Author) / Schlichting, Ilme (Author) / Schmidt, Kevin (Author) / Seibert, M. Marvin (Author) / Shoeman, Robert L. (Author) / Spence, John (Author) / Stellato, Francesco (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Williams, Garth J. (Author) / Yoon, Chun Hong (Author) / Wang, Dingjie (Author) / Zatsepin, Nadia (Author) / Hogue, Brenda (Author) / Matoba, Nobuyuki (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / Mor, Tsafrir (Author) / ASU Biodesign Center Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor)
Created2014-08-20
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Description
A major conceptual step forward in understanding the logical architecture of living systems was advanced by von Neumann with his universal constructor, a physical device capable of self-reproduction. A necessary condition for a universal constructor to exist is that the laws of physics permit physical universality, such that any transformation

A major conceptual step forward in understanding the logical architecture of living systems was advanced by von Neumann with his universal constructor, a physical device capable of self-reproduction. A necessary condition for a universal constructor to exist is that the laws of physics permit physical universality, such that any transformation (consistent with the laws of physics and availability of resources) can be caused to occur. While physical universality has been demonstrated in simple cellular automata models, so far these have not displayed a requisite feature of life—namely open-ended evolution—the explanation of which was also a prime motivator in von Neumann’s formulation of a universal constructor. Current examples of physical universality rely on reversible dynamical laws, whereas it is well-known that living processes are dissipative. Here we show that physical universality and open-ended dynamics should both be possible in irreversible dynamical systems if one entertains the possibility of state-dependent laws. We demonstrate with simple toy models how the accessibility of state space can yield open-ended trajectories, defined as trajectories that do not repeat within the expected Poincaré recurrence time and are not reproducible by an isolated system. We discuss implications for physical universality, or an approximation to it, as a foundational framework for developing a physics for life.
Created2017-09-01
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Description

X-ray free-electron lasers provide novel opportunities to conduct single particle analysis on nanoscale particles. Coherent diffractive imaging experiments were performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Laboratory, exposing single inorganic core-shell nanoparticles to femtosecond hard-X-ray pulses. Each facetted nanoparticle consisted of a crystalline gold core and a

X-ray free-electron lasers provide novel opportunities to conduct single particle analysis on nanoscale particles. Coherent diffractive imaging experiments were performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Laboratory, exposing single inorganic core-shell nanoparticles to femtosecond hard-X-ray pulses. Each facetted nanoparticle consisted of a crystalline gold core and a differently shaped palladium shell. Scattered intensities were observed up to about 7 nm resolution. Analysis of the scattering patterns revealed the size distribution of the samples, which is consistent with that obtained from direct real-space imaging by electron microscopy. Scattering patterns resulting from single particles were selected and compiled into a dataset which can be valuable for algorithm developments in single particle scattering research.

ContributorsLi, Xuanxuan (Author) / Chiu, Chun-Ya (Author) / Wang, Hsiang-Ju (Author) / Kassemeyer, Stephan (Author) / Botha, Sabine (Author) / Shoeman, Robert L. (Author) / Lawrence, Robert (Author) / Kupitz, Christopher (Author) / Kirian, Richard (Author) / James, Daniel (Author) / Wang, Dingjie (Author) / Nelson, Garrett (Author) / Messerschmidt, Marc (Author) / Boutet, Sebastien (Author) / Williams, Garth J. (Author) / Hartman, Elisabeth (Author) / Jafarpour, Aliakbar (Author) / Foucar, Lutz M. (Author) / Barty, Anton (Author) / Chapman, Henry (Author) / Liang, Mengning (Author) / Menzel, Andreas (Author) / Wang, Fenglin (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / Fromme, Raimund (Author) / Doak, R. Bruce (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Huang, Michael H. (Author) / Spence, John (Author) / Schlichting, Ilme (Author) / Hogue, Brenda (Author) / Liu, Haiguang (Author) / ASU Biodesign Center Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Applied Structural Discovery (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2017-04-11
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Description
Diacylglycerol kinase catalyses the ATP-dependent conversion of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid in the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli. The small size of this integral membrane trimer, which has 121 residues per subunit, means that available protein must be used economically to craft three catalytic and substrate-binding sites centred about the

Diacylglycerol kinase catalyses the ATP-dependent conversion of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid in the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli. The small size of this integral membrane trimer, which has 121 residues per subunit, means that available protein must be used economically to craft three catalytic and substrate-binding sites centred about the membrane/cytosol interface. How nature has accomplished this extraordinary feat is revealed here in a crystal structure of the kinase captured as a ternary complex with bound lipid substrate and an ATP analogue. Residues, identified as essential for activity by mutagenesis, decorate the active site and are rationalized by the ternary structure. The γ-phosphate of the ATP analogue is positioned for direct transfer to the primary hydroxyl of the lipid whose acyl chain is in the membrane. A catalytic mechanism for this unique enzyme is proposed. The active site architecture shows clear evidence of having arisen by convergent evolution.
ContributorsLi, Dianfan (Author) / Stansfeld, Phillip J. (Author) / Sansom, Mark S. P. (Author) / Keogh, Aaron (Author) / Vogeley, Lutz (Author) / Howe, Nicole (Author) / Lyons, Joseph A. (Author) / Aragao, David (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / Fromme, Raimund (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / Grotjohann, Ingo (Author) / Kupitz, Christopher (Author) / Rendek, Kimberley (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Zatsepin, Nadia (Author) / Cherezov, Vadim (Author) / Liu, Wei (Author) / Bandaru, Sateesh (Author) / English, Niall J. (Author) / Gati, Cornelius (Author) / Barty, Anton (Author) / Yefanov, Oleksandr (Author) / Chapman, Henry N. (Author) / Diederichs, Kay (Author) / Messerschmidt, Marc (Author) / Boutet, Sebastien (Author) / Williams, Garth J. (Author) / Seibert, M. Marvin (Author) / Caffrey, Martin (Author) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Applied Structural Discovery (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor)
Created2015-12-17
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Description
Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) has opened a new era in crystallo­graphy by permitting nearly damage-free, room-temperature structure determination of challenging proteins such as membrane proteins. In SFX, femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser pulses produce diffraction snapshots from nanocrystals and microcrystals delivered in a liquid jet, which leads to high protein consumption.

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) has opened a new era in crystallo­graphy by permitting nearly damage-free, room-temperature structure determination of challenging proteins such as membrane proteins. In SFX, femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser pulses produce diffraction snapshots from nanocrystals and microcrystals delivered in a liquid jet, which leads to high protein consumption. A slow-moving stream of agarose has been developed as a new crystal delivery medium for SFX. It has low background scattering, is compatible with both soluble and membrane proteins, and can deliver the protein crystals at a wide range of temperatures down to 4°C. Using this crystal-laden agarose stream, the structure of a multi-subunit complex, phycocyanin, was solved to 2.5 Å resolution using 300 µg of microcrystals embedded into the agarose medium post-crystallization. The agarose delivery method reduces protein consumption by at least 100-fold and has the potential to be used for a diverse population of proteins, including membrane protein complexes.
ContributorsConrad, Chelsie (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / James, Daniel (Author) / Wang, Dingjie (Author) / Schaffer, Alexander (Author) / Roy Chowdhury, Shatabdi (Author) / Zatsepin, Nadia (Author) / Aquila, Andrew (Author) / Coe, Jesse (Author) / Gati, Cornelius (Author) / Hunter, Mark S. (Author) / Koglin, Jason E. (Author) / Kupitz, Christopher (Author) / Nelson, Garrett (Author) / Subramanian, Ganesh (Author) / White, Thomas A. (Author) / Zhao, Yun (Author) / Zook, James (Author) / Boutet, Sebastien (Author) / Cherezov, Vadim (Author) / Spence, John (Author) / Fromme, Raimund (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Applied Structural Discovery (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-06-30
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Description
Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) enables high-resolution protein structure determination using micrometre-sized crystals at room temperature with minimal effects from radiation damage. SFX requires a steady supply of microcrystals intersecting the XFEL beam at random orientations. An LCP–SFX method has recently been introduced in which microcrystals

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) enables high-resolution protein structure determination using micrometre-sized crystals at room temperature with minimal effects from radiation damage. SFX requires a steady supply of microcrystals intersecting the XFEL beam at random orientations. An LCP–SFX method has recently been introduced in which microcrystals of membrane proteins are grown and delivered for SFX data collection inside a gel-like membrane-mimetic matrix, known as lipidic cubic phase (LCP), using a special LCP microextrusion injector. Here, it is demonstrated that LCP can also be used as a suitable carrier medium for microcrystals of soluble proteins, enabling a dramatic reduction in the amount of crystallized protein required for data collection compared with crystals delivered by liquid injectors. High-quality LCP–SFX data sets were collected for two soluble proteins, lysozyme and phycocyanin, using less than 0.1 mg of each protein.
ContributorsFromme, Raimund (Author) / Ishchenko, Andrii (Author) / Metz, Markus (Author) / Roy Chowdhury, Shatabdi (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / Boutet, Sebastien (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / White, Thomas A. (Author) / Barty, Anton (Author) / Spence, John (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Liu, Wei (Author) / Cherezov, Vadim (Author) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Applied Structural Discovery (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor)
Created2015-08-04
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Description
Mix-and-inject serial crystallography (MISC) is a technique designed to image enzyme catalyzed reactions in which small protein crystals are mixed with a substrate just prior to being probed by an X-ray pulse. This approach offers several advantages over flow cell studies. It provides (i) room temperature structures at near atomic

Mix-and-inject serial crystallography (MISC) is a technique designed to image enzyme catalyzed reactions in which small protein crystals are mixed with a substrate just prior to being probed by an X-ray pulse. This approach offers several advantages over flow cell studies. It provides (i) room temperature structures at near atomic resolution, (ii) time resolution ranging from microseconds to seconds, and (iii) convenient reaction initiation. It outruns radiation damage by using femtosecond X-ray pulses allowing damage and chemistry to be separated. Here, we demonstrate that MISC is feasible at an X-ray free electron laser by studying the reaction of M. tuberculosis ß-lactamase microcrystals with ceftriaxone antibiotic solution. Electron density maps of the apo-ß-lactamase and of the ceftriaxone bound form were obtained at 2.8 Å and 2.4 Å resolution, respectively. These results pave the way to study cyclic and non-cyclic reactions and represent a new field of time-resolved structural dynamics for numerous substrate-triggered biological reactions.
ContributorsKupitz, Christopher (Author) / Olmos, Jose L. (Author) / Holl, Mark (Author) / Tremblay, Lee (Author) / Pande, Kanupriya (Author) / Pandey, Suraj (Author) / Oberthur, Dominik (Author) / Hunter, Mark (Author) / Liang, Mengning (Author) / Aquila, Andrew (Author) / Tenboer, Jason (Author) / Calvey, George (Author) / Katz, Andrea (Author) / Chen, Yujie (Author) / Wiedorn, Max O. (Author) / Knoska, Juraj (Author) / Meents, Alke (Author) / Majriani, Valerio (Author) / Norwood, Tyler (Author) / Poudyal, Ishwor (Author) / Grant, Thomas (Author) / Miller, Mitchell D. (Author) / Xu, Weijun (Author) / Tolstikova, Aleksandra (Author) / Morgan, Andrew (Author) / Metz, Markus (Author) / Martin Garcia, Jose Manuel (Author) / Zook, James (Author) / Roy Chowdhury, Shatabdi (Author) / Coe, Jesse (Author) / Nagaratnam, Nirupa (Author) / Meza-Aguilar, Domingo (Author) / Fromme, Raimund (Author) / Basu, Shibom (Author) / Frank, Matthias (Author) / White, Thomas (Author) / Barty, Anton (Author) / Bajt, Sasa (Author) / Yefanov, Oleksandr (Author) / Chapman, Henry N. (Author) / Zatsepin, Nadia (Author) / Nelson, Garrett (Author) / Weierstall, Uwe (Author) / Spence, John (Author) / Schwander, Peter (Author) / Pollack, Lois (Author) / Fromme, Petra (Author) / Ourmazd, Abbas (Author) / Phillips, George N. (Author) / Schmidt, Marius (Author) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor) / Applied Structural Discovery (Contributor)
Created2016-12-15
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Description
Because collective cognition emerges from local signaling among group members, deciphering communication systems is crucial to understanding the underlying mechanisms. Alarm signals are widespread in the social insects and can elicit a variety of behavioral responses to danger, but the functional plasticity of these signals has not been well studied.

Because collective cognition emerges from local signaling among group members, deciphering communication systems is crucial to understanding the underlying mechanisms. Alarm signals are widespread in the social insects and can elicit a variety of behavioral responses to danger, but the functional plasticity of these signals has not been well studied. Here we report an alarm pheromone in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus that elicits two different behaviors depending on context. When an ant was tethered inside an unfamiliar nest site and unable to move freely, she released a pheromone from her mandibular gland that signaled other ants to reject this nest as a potential new home, presumably to avoid potential danger. When the same pheromone was presented near the ants' home nest, they were instead attracted to it, presumably to respond to a threat to the colony. We used coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify candidate compounds from the mandibular gland and tested each one in a nest choice bioassay. We found that 2,5-dimethylpyrazine was sufficient to induce rejection of a marked new nest and also to attract ants when released at the home nest. This is the first detailed investigation of chemical communication in the leptothoracine ants. We discuss the possibility that this pheromone's deterrent function can improve an emigrating colony's nest site selection performance.
Created2014-09-01