Charles E. Bell

Home > Directory > Faculty Directory > Charles E. Bell

Associate Professor

Ph.D. - University of California, Los Angeles
Post Doctoral - University of Pennsylvania

Research in the Bell Lab is focused on the structural biology of homologous recombination, an important mechanism in all cells for repairing double- stranded DNA breaks. One area of interest is the E. coli RecA protein, which is important as a model system for understanding the underlying mechanistic principles of homologous recombination. RecA is a DNA-dependant ATPase that forms a right-handed helical filament on single stranded DNA, within which the homologous alignment and DNA strand-exchange steps of homologous recombination occur. We are interested in understanding the molecular details of the protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, as well as the ATP-mediated conformational changes that coordinate the strand-exchange reaction. The research combines the powerful technique of x-ray crystallography to obtain high resolution structural information, with other biochemical and biophysical methods to arrive at a complete understanding of the structure/function of RecA and other proteins involved in this important DNA repair process.

Recent Publications:

• Zhang J, Xing X, Herr AB and Bell CE (2009) "Crystal structure of E. coli RecE protein reveals a toroidal tetramer for processing double-stranded DNA breaks" Structure 17(5):690-702.
• Gopishetty B, Zhu J, Rajan R, Sobczak AJ, Wnuk SF, Bell CE and Pei D (2009) "Probing the catalytic mechanism of S-ribosylhomocysteinase (LuxS) with catalytic intermediates and substrate analogues" J Am Chem Soc 131(3):1243-50.
• Galkin VE, Yu X, Bielnicki J, Ndjonka D, Bell CE and Egelman EH (2009) "Cleavage of bacteriophage lambda cI repressor involves the RecA C-terminal domain" J Mol Biol 385(3):779-87.
• Bohl CE, Wu Z, Chen J, Mohler ML, Yang J, Hwang DJ, Mustafa S, Miller DD, Bell CE and Dalton JT (2008) "Effect of B-ring substitution pattern on binding mode of propionamide selective androgen receptor modulators" Bioorg Med Chem Lett 18(20):5567-70.
• Pauff JM, Zhang J, Bell CE and Hille R (2008) "Substrate orientation in xanthine oxidase: crystal structure of enzyme in reaction with 2-hydroxy-6-methylpurine" J Biol Chem 283(8):4818-24.
• Bohl CE, Wu Z, Miller DD, Bell CE and Dalton JT (2007) "Crystal structure of the T877A human androgen receptor ligand-binding domain complexed to cyproterone acetate provides insight for ligand-induced conformational changes and structure-based drug design" J Biol Chem 282(18):13648-55.
• Ndjonka D and Bell CE (2006) "Structure of a Hyper-cleavable Monomeric Fragment of Phage ? Repressor Containing the Cleavage Site Region" J Mol Biol 362(3):479-89.
• Wu Z, Xing X, Bohl CE, Wisler JW, Dalton JT and Bell CE (2006) "Domain structured DNA binding regions of ß protein from Bacteriophage ?" J Biol Chem 281(35):25205-14.
• Shen G, Rajan R, Zhu J, Bell CE and Pei D (2006) "Design and synthesis of substrate and intermediate analogue inhibitors of S-ribosylhomocysteinase" J Med Chem 49(10):3003-11.
• Rajan R, Wisler JD and Bell CE (2006) "Probing the DNA sequence specificity of Escherichia coli RECA protein" Nucleic Acids Res 34(8):2463-71.
• Wilson RC, Bohlen CJ, Foster MP and Bell CE (2006) "Structure of Pfu Pop5, an archaeal RNase P protein" Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103(4):873-8.
• Bell CE (2005) MicroReview: "Structure and mechanism of Escherichia coli RecA ATPase" Mol Microbiol 58(2):358-66.
• Bohl CE, Gau W, Miller DD, Bell CE and Dalton JT (2005) "Structural basis for antagonism and resistance of bicalutamide in prostate cancer" Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102(17):6201-6.
• Bohl CE, Miller DD, Chen J, Bell CE and Dalton JT (2005) "Structural basis for accommodation of nonsteroidal ligands in the androgen receptor" J Biol Chem 280(45): 37747-54.
• Rajan R, Zhu J, Hu, Pei D and Bell CE (2005) "Crystal structure of S ribosylhomocysteinase (LuxS) in complex with a catalytic 2-keystone intermediate" Biochemistry 44(10):3745-53.
• Xing X and Bell CE (2004) "Crystal Structures of Escherichia coli RecA in a compressed helical filament" J Mol Biol 342(5):1471-85.
• Rajan R and Bell CE (2004) "Crystal Structure of RecA from Deinococcus radiodurans: Insights into the structure basis of extreme radioresistance" J Mol Biol 344(4):951-63.
• Xing X and Bell CE (2004) "Crystal structures of Escherichia coli RecA in complex with MgADP and MnAMP-PNP" Biochemistry 43(51):16142-52.
• Bell CE and Lewis M (2001) "The Lac repressor: a second generation of structural and functional studies" Curr Opin Struct Biol 11(1):19-25.
• Bell CE, Frescura P, Hochschild A and Lewis M (2001) "Crystal structure of the lambda repressor C- terminal domain provides a model for cooperative operator binding" Cell 101(7):801-11.
• Bell CE and Lewis M (2000) "A closer view of the conformation of the Lac repressor bound to operator" Nat Struct Biol 7(3):209-14.