James Knox
Professor Emeritus
Molecular and Cell Biology
Retired: 2002
Education: Ph.D. Boston University; Postdoctoral study, Oxford and Yale Universities
Research Interests: Biophysical and stereochemical analysis of 3D macromolecular structure, especially by means of x-ray scattering and protein crystallography. The tertiary structures and enzymic mechanisms of several bacterial drug targets are being established in an effort to assist medicinal chemists in drug/inhibitor design. Current enzymes under study are the beta- lactamases and transpeptidases which interact with penicillin-type antibiotics, and two D-alanyl ligases of cell wall synthesis which are potential targets of new drugs.
Selected Publications:
110. Knox, J. R. 2012. Before Our Time: Early ß-Lactamase Papers and the People Who Wrote Them. In ß-Lactamases, Nova Science Publishers (J.-M. Frere., ed.), Chapt. 1, pp. 1-20.
84. Knox, J. R. 1995. Extended-spectrum and inhibitor-resistant TEM-type ß-lactamases: mutations, specificity and three-dimensional structure. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemother. 39: 2593-2601.
81. Fan, C., P. C. Moews, Y. Shi, C. T. Walsh and J. R. Knox. 1995. A common fold for peptide synthetases cleaving ATP to ADP: Glutathione synthetase and D-alanine:D-alanine ligase of E. coli. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92: 1172-1176.
78. Fan, C., P. C. Moews, C. T. Walsh and J. R. Knox. 1994. Vancomycin Resistance: Structure of D-alanine: D-alanine ligase at 2.3 Å resolution. Science 266: 439-443.
74. Lobkovsky, E., P. C. Moews, H. Liu, H. Zhao, J.-M. Frere and J. R. Knox. 1993. Evolution of an Enzyme Activity: Crystallographic structure at 2 Å resolution of the cephalosporinase from the ampC gene of Enterobacter cloacae P99 and comparison with a class A penicillinase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90:11257-11261.
50. Kelly, J. A., O. Dideberg, P. Charlier, J. P. Wery, M. Libert, P. C. Moews, J. R. Knox, J. M. Frere and J. M. Ghuysen. 1986. On the origin of bacterial resistance to penicillin. Comparison of a ß-lactamase and a penicillin target enzyme. Science 231:1429-1431.
41. Kelly, J. A., P. C. Moews, J. R. Knox, J. M. Frere and J. M. Ghuysen. 1982. Penicillin target enzyme and the antibiotic binding site. Science 218:479-481.
