Faculty Connections
Faculty Connections

About this site

Faculty Connections is an aggregation of UNC Charlotte faculty profiles.

Full-time faculty who want to update their profile information, see:
Connection Update

UNC Charlotte faculty and staff can log in with their NinerNET user accounts.
Log In

Colleges & Departments

  • ►Belk College of Business
    • ►Business Info Systems/Operations
    • ►Economics
    • ►Finance
    • ►Management
    • ►Marketing
    • ►Turner School of Accountancy
  • ►College of Arts + Architecture
    • ►Art & Art History
    • ►Dance
    • ►Music
    • ►Performing Arts Services
    • ►School of Architecture
    • ►Theatre
  • ►College of Computing & Informatics
    • ►Bioinformatics and Genomics
    • ►Bioinformatics Research Center
    • ►Computer Science
    • ►Software & Information Systems
  • ►College of Education
    • ►Counseling
    • ►Ctr For STEM Education
    • ►Educational Leadership
    • ►Middle Grades Secondary & K-12
    • ►Reading & Elementary ED
    • ►School & Community Partnerships
    • ►Special Ed & Child Dev
  • ►College of Health & Human Services
    • ►Appl Phys Hlth & Clin Sci
    • ►Kinesiology
    • ►Public Health Sciences
    • ►School of Nursing
    • ►School of Social Work
  • ▼College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
    • ►Africana Studies
    • ►Anthropology
    • ►Biological Sciences
    • ►Chemistry
    • ►Communication Studies
    • ►Criminal Justice and Criminology
    • ►English
    • ►Geography and Earth Sciences
    • ►Global Studies
    • ►History
    • ►Languages and Culture Studies
    • ►Mathematics and Statistics
    • ►Philosophy
    • ▼Physics and Optical Science
      • Angela Davies
      • Awad Gerges
      • Christopher Gerardy
      • Donald Jacobs
      • Faramarz Farahi
      • Farida Mohiuddin-Jacobs
      • Glenn Boreman
      • Gregory Gbur
      • Irina Nesmelova
      • Ishwar Aggarwal
      • M.Yasin Raja
      • Menelaos Poutous
      • Michael Fiddy
      • Nathaniel Fried
      • Panfilo Deguzman
      • Pedram Leilabady
      • Ritchie Dudley
      • Rosario Porras-Aguilar
      • Shunji Egusa
      • Susan Trammell
      • Thomas Hutchens
      • Thomas Suleski
      • Tino Hofmann
      • Tsing-Hua Her
      • Umesh Silwal
      • Vasily Astratov
      • Yildirim Aktas
      • Yuri Nesmelov
    • ►Political Science and Public Administration
    • ►Psychological Science
    • ►Religious Studies
    • ►Sociology
    • ►Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies
    • Jonathan Overton
    • Kailas Venkitasubramanian
    • Ritchie Dudley
    • Umesh Silwal
  • ►Lee College of Engineering
    • ►Civil and Environmental Engr
    • ►Electrical & Computer Engineering
    • ►Engineering Tech & Constr Mgmt
    • ►EPIC
    • ►Mech Engineering & Engineering Sci
    • ►Student Dev & Success
    • ►Systems Engin & Engin Management
  • ►School of Data Science (SDS)

Programs, Centers & Initiatives

  • ►Center for Applied Geographic Information Science
  • ►Metropolitan Studies
    • ►Urban Institute

Top Links

  • performing arts
  • art
  • visual arts
  • architecture
  • diversity
  • music
  • gender
  • culture
  • theatre
  • design
  • education
  • race
  • arts and community
  • arts education
  • dance
  • environment
  • robotics
  • health disparities
  • art history
  • machine learning
  • statistics
  • sexuality
  • rhetoric
  • composition
  • computer science
  • health
  • sustainability
  • ecology
  • evolution
  • vulnerable populations
  • literacy
  • mental health
  • urban design
  • collaboration
  • politics
  • biostatistics
  • popular culture
  • mathematical physics
  • teacher education
  • artificial intelligence
  • music education
  • ethics
  • social media
  • molecular biology
  • orchestra

Full-Text Search

Irina Nesmelova

Physics and Optical Science
biophysics
molecular interactions
nuclear magnetic resonance
Optical spectroscopy
protein dynamics
protein structure
Related People
Yong Zhang
Michael Murphy
Yongge Wang

Our research area is experimental biophysics. We are trying to understand the molecular logic underlying biological function. By nature, the research is highly interdisciplinary. Students will learn spectroscopic techniques (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence), molecular modeling, and gain basic biochemistry skills.

Projects

Structure-function-dynamics of proteins

DNA transposition is the mechanism that can be used to deliver genetic information to mammalian genome. It has been employed for gene therapy and for functional genomics studies. The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon system is the most frequently used DNA transposon in functional genomics, and is the first and only DNA transposon that has been adapted for human gene therapy. The SB system consists of the transposase enzyme and of the transposon DNA. From the biophysics point of view, the SB transposition is the sequence of steps during which the transposase interacts with the transposon DNA. Accordingly, we study these steps to create a dynamic picture with atomic-level resolution of how molecular components of the SB transposon system work together.

Protein-protein interactions

Chemokines form a large family of proteins that guide the migration of leukocytes in our body. We need chemokines to fight the infection, but they can also play a negative role by promoting autoimmune and allergic inflammatory reactions, cancer, atherosclerosis, or other inflammatory disorders. Chemokines act individually or interact to form heterooligomers. These interactions alter the biological activity of individual chemokines. We are looking at different chemokines to describe their interactions at atomic level in order to design molecule that will block (or enhance) the interactions, because we believe that it may lead to the development of more targeted, anti-inflammatory pharmacological agents with minimal side effects.

Translational diffusion of proteins

Biological processes depend on diffusive transport of molecules within cell and tissue. The first step of a biochemical reaction is the translational diffusion of at least one species to recognize another species involved in the reaction. To date, the translational diffusion of biopolymers, primarily globular proteins, has been studied in dilute solutions – idealized conditions required in most biophysical studies. We aim to understand the diffusion of biopolymers in solution in a wide range of concentrations when crowding is created by like or dislike molecules.

Plant defensins

Plant defensins form a family of proteins with a broad spectrum of protective activities against fungi, bacteria, and insects. Furthermore, some plant defensins have revealed anticancer activity. In general, plant defensins are non-toxic to plant and mammalian cells, and interest in using them for biotechnological and medicinal purposes is growing. The goal of this project is to gain an insight into structure, dynamics, and the mechanism of action of defensins from Pinus sylvestris.

Funding

     

     

  • Alerts
  • Jobs
  • Make a Gift
  • Maps / Directions
  • Accessibility IconAccessibility
Follow UNC Charlotte
Facebook Blogger Twitter Flickr YouTube
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 · 704-687-UNCC (8622) © 2014 UNC Charlotte | All Rights Reserved | Terms of Use | Policy Statements | Contact Us
Skip to toolbar
  • Log In