benjamin | rhau
benjamin.rhau 
ucsf.edu
Graduate Student
Education
Graduate Group in Biophysics
University of California, San Francisco
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Columbia University, New York, NY
Fellowships and Awards
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2006 - 2009
Research
Mammalian cells express over a thousand G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that mediate distinct responses. I am interested in how cells achieve and maintain GPCR signaling specificity despite the relatively small number of heterotrimeric G proteins. One possibility is that GPCRs are held in proximity with its cognate effectors, either by direct coupling or via scaffold/adaptor proteins. I am investigating this hypothesis by engineering non-native GPCR-effector coupling in an attempt to rewire and reshape signaling pathways that govern chemotaxis.
Publications
Karakas, E., Truglio, J.J., Croteau, D., Rhau, B., Wang, L., Van Houten, B., and Kisker, C. "Structure of the C-terminal half of UvrC reveals an RNase H endonuclease domain with an Argonaute-like catalytic triad." EMBO Journal 26, 613-622 (2007).
Truglio, J.J., Karakas, E., Rhau, B., Wang, H., DellaVecchia, M.J., Van Houten, B., and Kisker, C. "Structural basis for DNA recognition and processing by UvrB." Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 13, 360-364 (2006).
Truglio, J.J., Rhau, B., Croteau, D.L., Wang, L., Skorvaga, M., Karakas, E., DellaVecchia, M.J., Wang, H., Van Houten, B., and Kisker, C. "Structural insights into the first incision reaction during nucleotide excision repair." EMBO Journal 24, 885-894 (2005).