April Lukowski, PhD

Research Summary

Research in the Lukowski lab aims to understand and harness the unique chemistry of marine life through the discovery of novel biosynthetic enzymes and exploring their biocatalytic potential in an inclusive, collaborative, and multidisciplinary environment. We use techniques in enzymology, chemical analysis, and bioinformatics to identify and characterize new biocatalysts and enzyme families for their substrate scopes and reactivities with a goal of generating new natural product-derived therapeutics.

Key Contributions

• Discovered and characterized a new family of flavin-dependent halogenases capable of halogenating alkynes.
• Elucidated biosynthetic pathways for marine toxins impacting human and animal health.

Potential Collaborative Programs

• Expertise in enzyme expression, purification, activity assessment, and biocatalytic application
• Experience in a broad scope of techniques in biosynthetic pathway elucidation, including synthetic biology, chemical isolation and analysis, and in vitro reactions.

Academic Achievements

Education: B.S. in Biochemistry (2015) Saginaw Valley State University; Ph.D. in Chemical Biology (2020) University of Michigan; Postdoctoral studies (2020-2023) Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Awards and Honors: NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021), NIH NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship (2019), Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship (2019), American Chemical Society Outstanding Graduate in Chemistry (2015).

Selected Publications

• Lukowski, A. L.‡, Hubert, F. M., Ngo, T. E., Avalon, N. E., Gerwick, W. H., & Moore, B. S. (2023). Enzymatic Halogenation of Terminal Alkynes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145(34), 18716–18721.
• Adak, S.*, Lukowski, A. L.*, Schäfer, R. J. B., & Moore, B. S. (2022). From Tryptophan to Toxin: Nature's Convergent Biosynthetic Strategy to Aetokthonotoxin. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 144(7), 2861–2866.
• Lukowski, A. L.*, Liu, J.*, Bridwell-Rabb, J., & Narayan, A. R. H. (2020). Structural basis for divergent C–H hydroxylation selectivity in two Rieske oxygenases. Nat. Commun. 11(1), 2991.
• Lukowski, A. L., Denomme, N., Hinze, M. E., Hall, S., Isom, L. L., & Narayan, A. R. H. (2019). Biocatalytic Detoxification of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins. ACS Chem. Biol. 14(5), 941–948.
• Lukowski, A. L., Ellinwood, D. C., Hinze, M. E., DeLuca, R. J., Du Bois, J., Hall, S., & Narayan, A. R. H. (2018). C–H Hydroxylation in Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Biosynthesis. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 140(37), 11863–11869.
• Lukowski, A. L., Mallik, L., Hinze, M. E., Carlson, B. M., Ellinwood, D. C., Pyser, J. B., Koutmos, M., & Narayan, A. R. H. (2020). Substrate Promiscuity of a Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Amidinotransferase. ACS Chem. Biol., 15(3), 626–631.

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‡denotes corresponding author

*denotes co-first author