W. M. Jacobs

Emergence of multiphase condensates from a limited set of chemical building blocks

This study develops a theoretical framework to design multiphase biomolecular condensates from limited chemical building blocks and validates it through simulations.

Active learning of the thermodynamics-dynamics tradeoff in protein condensates

This study uses simulations to show that condensate dynamics and thermodynamics are correlated, then identifies sequences that break this correlation to design tunable biomaterials.

DBFOLD: An efficient algorithm for computing folding pathways of complex proteins

DBFOLD predicts protein folding pathways and transition rates by combining Monte-Carlo simulations with high-temperature unfolding simulations to account for non-native interactions.

Effect of protein structure on evolution of cotranslational folding

This study simulates protein evolution to show how native structure influences cotranslational folding, finding that low contact order proteins are more likely to fold cotranslationally.

Co-translational folding allows misfolding-prone proteins to circumvent deep kinetic traps

This paper shows co-translational folding helps misfolding-prone proteins avoid kinetic traps by optimizing nascent chain lengths and translation rates.

Conformational catalysis of cataract-associated aggregation in a human eye lens crystallin occurs via interface stealing.

This study reveals that wild-type HγD accelerates aggregation of the cataract-related W42Q variant through a mechanism called interface stealing, where intermolecular domain interactions outcompete native intramolecular stabilization.

Accurate protein-folding transition-path statistics from a simple free-energy landscape

The paper introduces a first-principles free-energy landscape to predict protein-folding transition-path statistics without requiring dynamical data, showing agreement with simulations and experiments.

Accessibility of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence dictates N-terminal codon bias in E. coli

The paper shows that Shine-Dalgarno sequence accessibility affects N-terminal codon bias in E. coli by modulating translation initiation efficiency.