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Charles O. Rock, PhD †
Charles O. Rock, PhD †

Charles O. Rock, PhD †

  • Member, St. Jude Faculty, 1980-2023

Departments

Education

BS (Zoology) – Colorado State University, Ft. Collins
PhD (Lipid Biochemistry) – University of Tennessee at Oak Ridge

Honors & Awards

  • 2020 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 

Research Interests

  • Control points in fatty acid biosynthesis
  • Regulation of membrane phospholipid metabolism
  • Small molecule therapeutics

Selected Publications

See Full Publications List

Bishop TR, Subramanian C, Bilotta EM, Garnar-Wortzel L, Ramos AR, Zhang Y, Asiaban JN, Ott CJ, Rock CO, Erb MA. 2023. Acetyl-CoA biosynthesis drives resistance to histone acetyltransferase inhibition. Nat Chem Biol 2023 (in press).

Whaley SG, Frank MW, Rock CO. A short-chain acyl-CoA synthetase that supports branched-chain fatty acid synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus. J Biol Chem 299:103036, 2023.

Subramanian C, Frank MW, Yun MK, Rock CO. The phospholipase A1 activity of glycerol ester hydrolase (Geh) is responsible for extracellular 2-12(S)-methyltetradecanoyl-lysophosphatidylglycerol production in Staphylococcus aureus. mSphere e0003123, 2023.

Subramanian C, Frank MW, Tangallapally R, Yun MK, White SW, Lee RE, Rock CO, Jackowski S. Relief of CoA sequestration and restoration of mitochondrial function in a mouse model of propionic acidemia. J Inherit Metab Dis 46:28-42, 2023.  

Rosconi F, Rudmann E, Li J, Surujon D, Anthony J, Frank M, Jones DS, Rock C, Rosch JW, Johnston CD, van Opijnen T. A bacterial pan-genome makes gene essentiality strain-dependent and evolvable. Nat Microbiol 7:1580-1592, 2022.

Radka CD, Rock CO. Mining fatty acid biosynthesis for new antimicrobials. Annu Rev Microbiol 76:281-304, 2022.

Radka CD, Miller DJ, Frank MW, Rock CO. Biochemical characterization of the first step in sulfonolipid biosynthesis in Alistipes finegoldii. J Biol Chem 298:102195, 2022.

Li Y, Steinberg J, Coleman Z, Wang S, Subramanian C, Li Y, Patay Z, Akers W, Rock CO, Jackowski S, Bagga P. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy detects cerebral metabolic derangement in a mouse model of brain coenzyme A deficiency. J Transl Med 20:103, 2022.

Leshchiner D, Rosconi F, Sundaresh B, Rudmann E, Ramirez LMN, Nishimoto AT, Wood SJ, Jana B, Bujan N, Li K, Gao J, Frank M, Reeve SM, Lee RE, Rock CO, Rosch JW, van Opijnen T. A genome-wide atlas of antibiotic susceptibility targets and pathways to tolerance. Nat Commun 13:3165, 2022.

Subramanian C, Cuypers MG, Radka CD, White SW, Rock CO. Domain architecture and catalysis of the Staphylococcus aureus fatty acid kinase. J Biol Chem 298:101993, 2022.

Gullett, JM, Cuypers MG, Grace CR, Pant S, Subramanian C, Tajkhorshid E, Rock CO, White SW. Identification of structural transitions in bacterial fatty acid binding proteins that permit ligand entry and exit at membranes. J Biol Chem 298:101676, 2022.  

Last update: September 2023

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