Assistant Professor
Research website
Office: Wake Downtown, Room 2819
Phone: 336.702.1945
Email: stichta@wfu.edu
Education
Post-Doctoral research associate/Associate Research Specialist, University of California-Davis, 2005-2018, (R. David Britt)
Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000-2005, (Thomas C. Brunold)
B.Sc. Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University 1996-2000, (Michael P. Hendrich)
Research Description
Free radicals are reactive molecules that damage cells by degrading proteins and by attacking DNA and are thus a leading cause of aging. Nature, however, has harnessed these radicals to perform exotic chemical syntheses. Our lab uses a combination of biochemical and spectroscopic tools to learn how the enzymes that catalyze these reactions control the chemistry and prevent deleterious side-effects.
We will focus our efforts on interrogating the radical SAM family of enzymes, which employ an iron-sulfur cluster and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to generate substrate radicals that the protein matrix then guides toward product formation. In investigating these processes, researchers in the Stich group will gain skills in protein expression and anaerobic purification; in manipulating the chemistry via biochemical and genetic means; and in using a variety of spectroscopic techniques including electron paramagnetic resonance.
Publications
Barr, I; Stich, TA; Gizzi, A; Grove, T; Bonanno, JB; Latham, JA; Chung, T; Wilmot, CM; Britt, RD; Almo, SC; Klinman, JP X-ray and EPR Characterization of the Auxiliary Fe-S Clusters in the Radical SAM Enzyme PqqE Biochemistry. 2018. 57: 1306–1315. Link
Tao, L; Stich, TA; Liou, S-H; Soldatova, AV; Delgadillo, D; Romano, CA; Spiro, TG; Goodin, DB; Tebo, BM; Casey, WH; Britt, RD Copper Binding Sites in the Manganese-Oxidizing Mnx Protein Complex Investigated by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2017. 139: 8868–8877. Link
Stich, TA; McAlpin, JG; Wall, RM; Rigsby, ML; Britt, RD Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Characterization of Dioxygen-Bridged Cobalt Dimers with Relevance to Water Oxidation Inorganic Chemistry. 2016. 55: 12728–12736. Link
Stich, TA; Gagnon DM; Anderson, BL; Nocera, DG; Britt, RD EPR Spectroscopic Characterization of a Jahn-Teller Distorted (C3v→Cs) Four-Coordinate Chromium(V) Oxo Species Israel Journal of Chemistry. 2016. 56: 864–871. Link
Wagner, CL; Tao, L; Thompson, EJ; Stich, TA; Guo, J; Fettinger, JC; Berben, LA; Britt, RD; Nagase, S; Power, PP Dispersion Force Assisted Disproportionation: Synthesis and Characterization of a Stable Two-Coordinate Copper(II) Complex Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2016. 55: 10444–10447. Link
Oyala, PH; Ravichandran, KR; Funk, MA; Stucky, PA; Stich, TA; Drennan, CL; Britt, RD; Stubbe, JS Biophysical Characterization of Fluorotyrosine Probes Site-Specifically Incorporated into Enzymes: E. coliRibonucleotide Reductase as an Example Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2016. 138: 7951–7964. Link
Tao, L; Stich, TA; Butterfield, CN; Romano, CA; Spiro, TG; Tebo, BM; Casey, WH; Britt, RD Mn(II) Binding and Subsequent Oxidation by the Multicopper Oxidase MnxG Investigated by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2015. 137: 10563–10575. Link
Oyala, PH; Stich, TA; Debus, RJ; Britt, RD Ammonia Binds to the Dangler Manganese of the Photosystem II Oxygen Evolving Complex Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2015. 137: 8829–8837. Link
Britt, RD; Suess, DLM; Stich, TA An Mn(V)-Oxo Role in Splitting Water? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015. 112: 5265–5266. Link A commentary accompanying Gupta, R et al. PNAS 2015. Link
Parthasarathy, A; Stich, TA; Lohner, ST; Lesnefsky, A; Fincker, M; Britt, RD; Spormann, AM Biochemical and EPR-spectroscopic Investigation into Heterologously Expressed Vinyl Chloride Reductive Dehalogenase (VcrA) from Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain VS Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2015. 137: 3525–3532. Link
Myers, WK*;Stich, TA*; Suess, DLM; Kuchenreuther, JM; Swartz, JR; Britt, RD The Cyanide Ligands of [FeFe]Hydrogenase: Pulse EPR Studies of 13C and 15N-Labeled H-Cluster Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2014. 136: 12237–12240. Link
Stich, TA; Myers, WK; Britt, RD Paramagnetic Intermediates in Radical SAM Enzymes Accounts of Chemical Research. 2014. 47: 2235–2243. Link
Kuchenreuther, JM*; Myers, WK*; Suess, DLM;Stich, TA; Cramer, SP; Swartz, JR; Britt, RD; George, SJ The HydG Enzyme Generates an Fe(CO)2(CN) Synthon in Assembly of [FeFe] Hydrogenase H-Cluster Science. 2014. 343: 424–427. Link
Kuchenreuther, JM*; Myers, WK*;Stich, TA; George, SJ; NejatyJahromy, Y; Swartz, JR; Britt, RD A Radical Intermediate in Tyrosine Scission to the CO and CN− Ligands of [FeFe] Hydrogenase Science. 2013. 342: 472–475. Link
Cotruvo, J; Stich, TA; Britt, RD; Stubbe, J Mechanism of Assembly of the Dimanganese-Tyrosyl Radical Cofactor of Class Ib Ribonucleotide Reductase: Enzymatic Generation of Superoxide is Required for Tyrosine Oxidation via a Mn(III)Mn(IV) Intermediate Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2013. 135: 4027–4039. Link
Fugate, CJ;Stich, TA; Kim, EG; Myers, WK; Britt, RD; Jarrett, JT 9-Mercaptodethiobiotin is Generated as a Ligand to the [2Fe-2S]+ Cluster During the Reaction Catalyzed by Biotin Synthase from Escherichia coli Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2012. 134: 9042–9045. Link
Sheng, Y; Stich, TA; Barnese, K; Gralla, EB; Cascio, D; Britt, RD; Cabelli, DE; Valentine, JS A Comparison of Two Yeast MnSODs: Mitochondrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae versus Cytosolic Candida albicans Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2011. 133: 20878–20889. Link
McAlpin, JG; Stich, TA; Ohlin, CA; Surendranath, Y; Nocera, DG; Casey, WH; Britt, RD Electronic Structure Description of a [Co(III)3Co(IV)O4] Cluster, a Model for the Paramagnetic Intermediate in Cobalt-catalyzed Water Oxidation Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2011. 133: 15444–15452. Link
Stich, TA*; Yeagle, GJ*; Service, RJ; Debus, RJ; Britt, RD D1-His332 and D1-Asp170 Amino Acid Ligation to the Manganese Cluster of Photosystem II from SynechocystisAssessed by Multifrequency Pulse EPR Spectroscopy Biochemistry. 2011. 50: 7390–7404. Link
Stich, TA; Whittaker, JW; Britt, RD Multifrequency EPR Studies of Manganese Catalases Provide a Complete Description of Proteinaceous Nitrogen Coordination Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2010. 114: 14178–14188. Link
Stull, JA; Stich, TA; Service, RJ; Debus, RJ; Mandal, SK; Armstrong, WH; Britt, RD. 13C ENDOR Reveals that the D1 Polypeptide C-Terminus is Directly Bound to Mn in the Photosystem II Oxygen Evolving Complex Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2010. 132: 446–447. Link