ISSN: 0974-276X
X Song
Department of Biological Sciences
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge
USA
X Cynthia Song scientific area of expertise is biophysical chemistry. Specifically, my group works on the biophysical and protein chemistry of important circulatory and tissue-localized human proteins that regulate formation and breakdown of blood clots. I am particularly interested in protein: protein interactions, evaluating the mechanisms and structures of complexes (even higher-order complexes) that form and modulate the function of circulatory proteins. These interests have been leveraged over the years to study structure, activity and regulation of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) PAI-1, which inhibits serine proteases that initiate plasminogen activation leading to fibrinolysis. We have had fruitful studies on the cofactor vitronectin that have provided some of the first structural detail about this protein.