M. Joanne Lemieux

Area of Study / Keywords

Membrane protein structure enzymology SAXS NMR protein structure

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About

Joanne completed a B.Sc. in Biochemistry with Dr. Catherine Mezei at Dalhousie University (1986-1991) where she worked on membrane proteins in the myelinating peripheral nerve. This was followed by an M.Sc. with Dr Carl Breckenridge in Biochemistry/Neuroscience at Dalhousie (1992-1994) where she studied lipoproteins and lipid biosynthesis in the myelinating nerve. After working as a technician with Dr. Da Neng Wang at New York University School of Medicine, she completed a Ph.D. in the Cell Biology/Structural Biology, Biomedical Sciences program. During this time, she solved one of the first X-ray crystal structures of a gradient driven transporter, GlpT (Science, 2003). Joanne completed a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Michael James at the University of Alberta where she solved the structure of the rhomboid peptidase hiGlpG (PNAS, 2007). In December 2007, Joanne started her own research group. She is presently a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and as of January 2018 Director of the Membrane Protein Disease Research Group

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Research

Dr. Lemieux runs a multidisciplinary research program focused on membrane protease structure and function. She is internationally recognized as a leader in membrane protein crystallography having solved two distinct membrane protein crystal structures (Science 2003; Proceedings National Academy of Science, 2007).

She is an emerging leader in in the rhomboid protease field and has developed in vitro assays to determine catalytic parameters of these specialized enzymes including rhomboid proteases (GlpG) and lipid modifying enzymes (DGAT1). With their roles in human health and disease, these studies will have direct outcomes to human health and in particular related to our understanding of the role of these enzymes in human disease.

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Teaching

Biochemistry 420/520: Protein structure and function

Biochemistry 626: Protein structure and enzymology seminar series

Biochemistry 660: Professional Development Career Skills for Graduate studies

BIOCH 420 - Proteins: Structure, Function, and Regulation

Principles of protein structure, function, and dynamics, with an introduction to force fields used in modern molecular dynamics. Focus topics include an introduction to intrinsically disordered proteins and their role in misfolding diseases, the structural biology, ligand binding, and mechanisms of membrane bound enzymes, and mechanisms underlying the regulation of protein function and enzymes involved in cell signaling. Prerequisites: BIOCH 320, with a minimum grade of B- or consent of Department. This course is intended for students in Honors or Specialization in Biochemistry. Students in other programs may be admitted subject to availability and with the consent of the Department. Graduate students may not register for credit (see BIOCH 520).

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BIOCH 520 - Protein Chemistry, Structure, and Function

Principles of protein structure, function, and dynamics, with an introduction to force fields used in modern molecular dynamics. Focus topics include an introduction to intrinsically disordered proteins and their role in misfolding diseases, the structural biology, ligand binding, and mechanisms of membrane bound enzymes, and mechanisms underlying the regulation of protein function and enzymes involved in cell signaling. Prerequisites: BIOCH 320, with a minimum grade of B- or consent of Department. Lectures are the same as for BIOCH 420, but with additional assignments and evaluation appropriate to graduate studies. Students in other programs may be admitted subject to availability and with the consent of the Department This course may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained in BIOCH 420.

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BIOCH 660A - Professional Development for Career Success

The goal of this course is to provide training in the skills required to succeed in the modern work place. The course will take the form of four-hour monthly sessions, consisting of group discussions, lectures, short assignments and student presentations. There will be presentations by highly successful Ph.D. alumni, which will serve as case studies in how the transition from graduate school to the workplace can occur, and what pitfalls need be avoided in the workplace. Course is graded on cr/nc, students must attend the classes and complete required assignments. Open to graduate students in the Department of Biochemistry and other graduate students with permission of the course instructor.

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BIOCH 660B - Professional Development for Career Success

The goal of this course is to provide training in the skills required to succeed in the modern work place. The course will take the form of four-hour monthly sessions, consisting of group discussions, lectures, short assignments and student presentations. There will be presentations by highly successful Ph.D. alumni, which will serve as case studies in how the transition from graduate school to the workplace can occur, and what pitfalls need be avoided in the workplace. Course is graded on cr/nc, students must attend the classes and complete required assignments. Open to graduate students in the Department of Biochemistry and other graduate students with permission of the course instructor.

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Browse more courses taught by M. Joanne Lemieux

Chen G., Harwood J.L., Lemieux M.J., Stone S.J., Weselake R.J.

PROGRESS IN LIPID RESEARCH. 2022 July; 88 10.1016/j.plipres.2022.101181

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Bak J.J., Aguayo-Ortiz R., Rathod N., Primeau J.O., Khan M.B., Robia S.L., Lemieux M.J., Espinoza-Fonseca L.M., Young H.S.

BIOCHEMISTRY. 2022 June; 61 (14):1419-1430 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00246

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Lu J., Chen S.A., Khan M.B., Brassard R., Arutyunova E., Lamer T., Vuong W., Fischer C., Young H.S., Vederas J.C., Lemieux M.J.

Frontiers in Chemistry. 2022 February; 10 10.3389/fchem.2022.852210

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Neves A.L.A., Yu J., Suzuki Y., Baez-Magana M., Arutyunova E., O’Hara E., McAllister T., Ominski K.H., Lemieux M.J., Guan L.L.

Microbiome. 2022 January; 9 (1) 10.1186/s40168-021-01147-1

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Nasu Y., Murphy-Royal C., Wen Y., Haidey J.N., Molina R.S., Aggarwal A., Zhang S., Kamijo Y., Paquet M.E., Podgorski K., Drobizhev M., Bains J.S., Lemieux M.J., Gordon G.R., Campbell R.E.

Nature Communications. 2021 December; 12 (1) 10.1038/s41467-021-27332-2

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Vuong W., Fischer C., Khan M.B., van Belkum M.J., Lamer T., Willoughby K.D., Lu J., Arutyunova E., Joyce M.A., Saffran H.A., Shields J.A., Young H.S., Nieman J.A., Tyrrell D.L., Lemieux M.J., Vederas J.C.

European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2021 October; 222 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113584

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Law J.L.M., Logan M., Joyce M.A., Landi A., Hockman D., Crawford K., Johnson J., LaChance G., Saffran H.A., Shields J., Hobart E., Brassard R., Arutyunova E., Pabbaraju K., Croxen M., Tipples G., Lemieux M.J., Tyrrell D.L., Houghton M.

VACCINE. 2021 August; 39 (40):5769-5779 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.08.081

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Bai B., Arutyunova E., Khan M.B., Lu J., Joyce M.A., Saffran H.A., Shields J.A., Kandadai A.S., Belovodskiy A., Hena M., Vuong W., Lamer T., Young H.S., Vederas J.C., Tyrrell D.L., Lemieux M.J., Nieman J.A.

RSC Medicinal Chemistry. 2021 August; 12 (10):1722-1730 10.1039/d1md00247c

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Rathod N., Bak J.J., Primeau J.O., Fisher M.E., Espinoza-fonseca L.M., Lemieux M.J., Young H.S.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021 August; 22 (16) 10.3390/ijms22168891

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Bai B., Belovodskiy A., Hena M., Kandadai A.S., Joyce M.A., Saffran H.A., Shields J.A., Khan M.B., Arutyunova E., Lu J., Bajwa S.K., Hockman D., Fischer C., Lamer T., Vuong W., Van Belkum M.J., Gu Z., Lin F., Du Y., Xu J., Rahim M., Young H.S., Vederas J.C., Tyrrell D.L., Lemieux M.J., Nieman J.A.

JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY. 2021 July; 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00616

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Fisher M.E., Bovo E., Aguayo-Ortiz R., Cho E.E., Pribadi M.P., Dalton M.P., Rathod N., Lemieux M.J., Espinoza-Fonseca L.M., Robia S.L., Zima A.V., Young H.S.

eLife. 2021 June; 10 10.7554/eLife.65545

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Arutyunova E., Khan M.B., Fischer C., Lu J., Lamer T., Vuong W., van Belkum M.J., McKay R.T., Tyrrell D.L., Vederas J.C., Young H.S., Lemieux M.J.

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2021 June; 433 (13) 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167003

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Vuong W., Fischer C., Khan M.B., van Belkum M.J., Lamer T., Willoughby K.D., Lu J., Arutyunova E., Joyce M.A., Saffran H.A., Shields J.A., Young H.S., Nieman J.A., Tyrrell D.L., Lemieux M.J., Vederas J.C.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY. 2021 May; 222 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113584

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Lu X., Wen Y., Zhang S., Zhang W., Chen Y., Shen Y., Lemieux M.J., Campbell R.E.

Chemical Science. 2021 May; 12 (28):9658-9672 10.1039/d1sc01059j

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Arutyunova E., Lysyk L., Morrison M., Brooks C., Joanne Lemieux M.

Methods in Molecular Biology. 2021 April; 2302 10.1007/978-1-0716-1394-8_1

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Lysyk L., Brassard R., Arutyunova E., Siebert V., Jiang Z., Takyi E., Morrison M., Young H.S., Lemberg M.K., ODonoghue A.J., Joanne Lemieux M.

JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 2021 January; 296 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100383

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Vuong W., Khan M.B., Fischer C., Arutyunova E., Lamer T., Shields J., Saffran H.A., McKay R.T., van Belkum M.J., Joyce M.A., Young H.S., Tyrrell D.L., Vederas J.C., Lemieux M.J.

Nature Communications. 2020 December; 11 (1) 10.1038/s41467-020-18096-2