Student Profile: Fleurie Kelley

 

Department: Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Advisor: Benjamin Schuster
fk202@scarletmail.rutgers.edu

Education
BS, Chemical Engineering, University at Buffalo, 2018
PhD Candidate, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University, 2018 - Present

Research Interests
Self-assembly, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), peptides, microscopy, liquid-liquid phase separation

Research Summary

Liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins has recently been shown to play an important role in cellular organization. Phase separation gives rise to distinct compartments, called membraneless organelles that are essential to cellular processes such as autophagy and gene expression. We are motivated to understand the mechanisms behind phase separation of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and the assembly of membraneless organelles with hierarchical structures, to derive new biological materials and enable biotechnology applications through compartmentalization.

One example of phase-separating IDPs is the RGG domain within LAF-1, an important protein found in C. Elegans P granules, which are homologous to the germ granules found in other species including humans. Using the RGG domain as a starting point, our lab sought to design protein droplets with hierarchical structures with fusion proteins that are amphiphilic, with a non-phase-separating domain fused to a phase-separating domain. Our goal is to characterize the mechanisms through which hierarchical structures form in membraneless organelles, and to leverage the unique properties of IDPs and membraneless organelles to maximize bioproduction through enzyme compartmentalization.

 

Awards & Honors
Rutgers NIH Biotechnology Training Program Grant Fellowship | 2020 - Present
MIT-DOW ACCESS Program Participant, 2017
University at Buffalo Dean's List, Fall 2016, Fall 2017
 
Publications
Kelley FM, Favetta B, Regy RM, Mittal J, Schuster BS. Amphiphilic proteins coassemble into multiphasic condensates and act as biomolecular surfactants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021; 118. PMCID: PMC8713756.
Schuster BS, Dignon GL, Tang WS, Kelley FM, Ranganath AK, Jahnke CN, Simpkins AG, Regy RM, Hammer DA, Good MC, Mittal J. Identifying sequence perturbations to an intrinsically disordered protein that determine its phase separation behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117: 11421-11431. PMCID: PMC7261017.
 
Representative Graduate Courses Taken
Biochemical Engineering
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Advanced Transport Phenomena I
Advanced Transport Phenomena II
Advanced Thermodynamics
Kinetics/Catalysis and Reaction Design