Bio

Visualizing Molecular Machines to Understand Disease-Critical Biology

The LeBlanc Group investigates how enzymes and other protein machines coordinate to carry out essential biological processes and how failures in these systems contribute to complex diseases such as cancer. The group focuses on uncovering the molecular details of protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid interactions, with particular interest in how dynamic conformational changes regulate enzyme function. A major research emphasis is the ribosome assembly pathway, a highly coordinated process critical for cellular growth and viability. Using advanced fluorescence approaches, including confocal microscopy and time-correlated single photon counting, the group studies these interactions at the single-molecule level to capture fast, transient biological events. Complementary efforts explore the use of quantum dots for biological sensing applications. Together, this work advances fundamental understanding of molecular machinery while providing new tools to probe pathways central to human health.