Taekjip Ha
Professor of Physics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Professor Taekjip Ha received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1996 from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Physics faculty at the University of Illinois in August 2000, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1997) and a postdoctoral research associate in Steven Chu's laboratory in the Department of Physics at Stanford University (1998-2000). He was named 2001 Searle scholar. In 2005, Dr. Ha was named an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Professor Ha has achieved many "firsts" in experimental biological physics--the first dectection of dipole-dipole interaction (fluorescence resonance energy transfer, or FRET) between two single molecules; the first observation of "quantum jumps" of single molecules at room temperature; the first detection of the rotation of single molecules; and the first detection of enzyme conformational changes via single-molecule FRET. His most recent work, using single-molecule measurements to understand protein-DNA interactions and enzyme dynamics, has led him to develop novel optical techniques, fluid-handling systems, and surface preparations.
Research Area : We are interested in using physical concepts and experimental techniques to study fundamental questions in molecular biology. Our main experimental tool is single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy, supported by nano-mechanical tools such as magnetic and optical tweezers. The biological systems under study include helicases that unzip DNA, DNA recombination intermediate called Holliday junction and its associated enzymes, folding and catalysis of ribozymes, DNA replication machinery, chromatin remodeling complexes, and membrane-binding proteins.
Selected Publications
P. V. Cornish and T. Ha, "A survey of single molecule techniques in chemical biology," ACS Chemical Biology 2(1), 53-61 (2007).
R. Roy, A. Kozlov, T. M. Lohman and T. Ha, "Dynamic structural rearrangements between DNA binding modes of E. coli SSB protein," J. Mol. Biol. 369, 1244-1257 (2007).
P. S. Shirude, B. Okumus, L. Ying, T. Ha and S. Balasubramanian, "Single Molecule Conformational Analysis of G-Quadruplex Formation in the Promoter DNA Duplex of the Proto-Oncogene C-kit," JACS 129, 7484-7485 (2007).
T. Ha, "Need for speed: Mechanical regulation of a replicative helicase," Cell 129, 1249-1250 (2007).
S. Myong, M. M. Bruno, A. M. Pyle and T. Ha, "Spring-loaded mechanism of DNA unwinding by HCV NS3 helicase," Science 317, 513-516 (2007).
I. Rasnik, S. A. McKinney, and T. Ha, "Non-blinking and Long-lasting Single Molecule Fluorescence Imaging," Nature Methods 3, 891-893 (2006)
C. Joo, S. A McKinney, M. Nakamura, I. Rasnik, S. Myong, and T. Ha, "Real Time Observation of RecA Filament Dynamics with Single Monomer Resolution," Cell 126, 515-527 (2006) ( pdf )
C. Buranachai, S. A. McKinney, and T. Ha, "Single Molecule Nanometronome", Nano Letters 102, 18938-18943 (2006) ( pdf )
S. Myong, I. Rasnik, C. Joo, T. M. Lohman, and T. Ha, "Repetitive Shuttling of a Motor Protein on DNA", Nature 437, 1321-1325 (2005) ( pdf )
Honors and Awards
- Searle Scholar Award, 2001
- Research Innovation Award, Research Corporation, 2001
- Outstanding Young Researcher Award, AKPA, 2001
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2002
- Fluorescence Young Investigator Award, The Biophysical Society, 2002
- Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 2003
- Beckman Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois, 2003
- Xerox Faculty Research Award, College of Engineering, University of Illinois, 2003
- Cottrell Scholars Award, Research Corporation, 2003
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, 2005
- Fellow, American Physical Society, 2005
- Michael and Kate Bárány Award for Young Investigators, Biophysical Society, 2007
