{"id":110,"date":"2020-08-14T18:14:37","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T18:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/?page_id=110"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T20:09:19","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"110\" class=\"elementor elementor-110\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-36f6e44 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"36f6e44\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;video&quot;,&quot;background_video_link&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\\\/karabencheva-christova\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/MMP-mov-.mp4&quot;,&quot;background_play_on_mobile&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-video-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<video class=\"elementor-background-video-hosted\" role=\"presentation\" autoplay muted playsinline loop><\/video>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2dd5136\" data-id=\"2dd5136\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-09264ff\" data-id=\"09264ff\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a8f7a9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6a8f7a9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2aff4e3\" data-id=\"2aff4e3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5badbf0d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5badbf0d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5c9d3355\" data-id=\"5c9d3355\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4140f4a2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4140f4a2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The research in Karabencheva-Christova\u2019s lab focuses on<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ada7d75 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ada7d75\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-db3564e\" data-id=\"db3564e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-62c8853 elementor-widget elementor-widget-toggle\" data-id=\"62c8853\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"toggle.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-1031\" class=\"elementor-tab-title\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"button\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-1031\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon elementor-toggle-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-closed\"><i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened\"><i class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened fas fa-caret-up\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-toggle-title\" tabindex=\"0\">Zn(II)-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-1031\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-1031\"><p>Hydrolysis of collagen &#8211; the most abundant protein in the human body and the main component of the extracellular matrix is a central biochemical process precisely regulated in normal physiology. However, abnormal collagen degradation underlines the development of numerous pathological conditions, including arthritis, fibrosis, inflammation and tumor growth, and metastasis. The primary type of enzymes performing collagen degradation is the Zn(II)-dependent matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family, with one of its key members \u2013 the matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1). MMP-1 catalyzed collagen degradation involves significant conformational changes. By providing novel insights, through experimentally guided simulations, into the dynamics and catalytic mechanism of MMP-1 catalyzed collagen degradation, we aim to expand our knowledge of MMP-1 collagenolysis. NIH supports this research.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-97d246d\" data-id=\"97d246d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d218033 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d218033\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1593\" height=\"811\" src=\"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855.png\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048 wp-image-1591\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855.png 1593w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855-300x153.png 300w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855-1024x521.png 1024w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855-768x391.png 768w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chemsites-Research1--e1697286916855-1536x782.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1593px) 100vw, 1593px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-75f6b9f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"75f6b9f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1783f8d\" data-id=\"1783f8d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-891ff4a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"891ff4a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1171\" src=\"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-2048x1171.png\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048 wp-image-1595\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-2048x1171.png 2048w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-300x171.png 300w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-1024x585.png 1024w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-768x439.png 768w, http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image2-1536x878.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-109ac1b\" data-id=\"109ac1b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b58b3d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-toggle\" data-id=\"b58b3d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"toggle.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-1901\" class=\"elementor-tab-title\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"button\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-1901\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon elementor-toggle-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-closed\"><i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened\"><i class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened fas fa-caret-up\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-toggle-title\" tabindex=\"0\">Non-heme Fe(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) dependent oxygenases<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-1901\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-1901\"><p>Members of the non-heme Fe(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent oxygenase family of enzymes catalyze diverse reactions with vital biological roles in cells such as hydroxylation; and demethylation; halogenation, desaturation, and others, making them attractive targets for therapeutics development.\u00a0One of the essential roles of non-heme Fe(II)\/2OG oxygenases is the demethylation of DNA and RNA bases. DNA and RNA are subject to exogenous and endogenous chemical modifications by a variety of alkylating agents. Reversible DNA\/RNA methylation\/demethylation modifications can regulate gene expression in epigenetics, therefore, revealing demethylation mechanisms is of key interest. A particular target of interest in our group is nucleic acid demethylases (NADMs). The NADMs perform hydroxylation of\u00a0N-methylated DNA and RNA bases. Specifically, we study the bacterial AlkB enzyme, the human homologs- AlkBH2 and AlkBH5, and the human fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) protein.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research The research in Karabencheva-Christova\u2019s lab focuses on Zn(II)-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) Hydrolysis of collagen &#8211; the most abundant protein in the human body and the main component of the extracellular matrix is a central biochemical process precisely regulated in normal physiology. However, abnormal collagen degradation underlines the development of numerous pathological conditions, including arthritis, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-110","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":138,"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2167,"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110\/revisions\/2167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chem.sites.mtu.edu\/karabencheva-christova\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}