Elizabeth Lynn Zechiedrich is a professor in the department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

. Her laboratory's research considers the structure-function properties of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

and DNA

topoisomerase DNA topoisomerases (or topoisomerases) are enzymes that catalyze changes in the topological state of DNA, interconverting relaxed and supercoiled forms, linked (catenated) and unlinked species, and knotted and unknotted DNA. Topological issues in ...

s. She was elected to the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

in 2017. Zechiedrich is the technical Founder of Twister Biotech, a Baylor College of Medicine spinout company.

Early life and education

Zechiedrich was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Zechiedrich studied zoology, music, and mathematics at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. She moved to

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

School of Medicine for graduate studies, where she started to study toposiomerases.

Research and career

In 1997, Zechiedrich was appointed to the faculty at the

. Her research considers the structure-function properties of DNA and DNA

s. DNA topisomerases are enzymes that modulate DNA structure and function (for example replication, recombination and chromosome segregation), and they are often targets of anti-cancer drugs. Zechiedrich has developed novel mathematical and experimental approaches to characterize the topography of DNA. Zechiedrich's laboratory has focused on better understanding

fluoroquinolone Quinolone antibiotics constitute a large group of broad-spectrum bacteriocidals that share a bicyclic core structure related to the substance 4-quinolone. They are used in human and veterinary medicine to treat bacterial infections, as well ...

s, broad-spectrum antibiotics that target type-2 topoisomerases. These

quinolone antibiotic Quinolone antibiotics constitute a large group of broad-spectrum bacteriocidals that share a bicyclic core structure related to the substance 4-quinolone. They are used in human and veterinary medicine to treat bacterial infections, as wel ...

s stabilize topoisomerase-DNA cleavage intermediates. She is interested in how ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Escherichia'' that is commonly fo ...

'' interact with fluoroquinolones. The breaking and resealing of topoisomerases modulates the formation of DNA supercoils and knots, which are overproduced by certain anticancer and antibiotic drugs and can cause cell death. She showed that this coiling and knotting transmits stress along the DNA backbone, which promotes the separation of helical strains and exposes DNA bases. Zechiedrich's collaborators made use of

electron cryotomography Cryogenic electron tomography (cryoET) is an imaging technique used to reconstruct high-resolution (~1–4 nm) three-dimensional volumes of samples, often (but not limited to) biological macromolecules and cells. cryoET is a specialized appli ...

to better understand the three-dimensional structures of DNA. Zechiedrich’s laboratory conceived small circular DNA nanoparticles ("minimized vectors") that can be used to study

supercoiling DNA supercoiling refers to the amount of twist in a particular DNA strand, which determines the amount of strain on it. A given strand may be "positively supercoiled" or "negatively supercoiled" (more or less tightly wound). The amount of a st ...

and the function of therapeutic

topoisomerase inhibitor Topoisomerase inhibitors are chemical compounds that block the action of topoisomerases, which are broken into two broad subtypes: type I topoisomerases (TopI) and type II topoisomerases (TopII). Topoisomerase plays important roles in cellular rep ...

s. The dynamic movement of the DNA 'minivectors' was investigated using

atomic force microscopy Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the opti ...

by Alice Pyne at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. Minimized vectors can be used as substrates for enzymes that act on DNA, as well as serving as gene therapy vectors. Zechiedrich has theorized that minimized vectors could assist in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

and

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, ...

therapies.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zechiedrich, Lynn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American biochemists University of Arkansas alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Baylor College of Medicine faculty American classical flautists American women flautists Scientists from Houston 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American scientists American women scientists