The University of Tennessee Southern

Zane Laughlin Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Contact Information

Office Address:

Phone: 931-424-2062, Ext. 3146

Email: zlaughl1@utsouthern.edu

Biography

Dr. Laughlin serves as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry with an expertise in Biochemistry and Structural Biology. His research interests include the structure and function of antimicrobial resistance-associated proteins and the molecular interactions of small molecule therapeutics and their targets.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Chemistry with a Specialization in Biochemistry, University of Virginia, 2016
Doctorate of Philosophy, Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, Emory University, 2022

Publications

  1. Laughlin ZT, Arifova L, Munoz-Tello P, Yu X, Giridhar MNK, Dong J, Harp JM, Zhu D, Kamenecka TM, Kojetin DJ. Structural Basis of PPARγ-Mediated Transcriptional Repression by the Covalent Inverse Agonist FX-909. J Med Chem. 2025 Aug 12. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c01252. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40797371.
  2. Arifova M, MacTavish B, Laughlin ZT, Zhu D, Kamenecka TM, Kojetin DJ. Shifting the dynamic PPARγ conformational ensemble towards a transcriptionally repressive state improves covalent inhibitor efficacy. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Mar 7:2025.03.04.640448. doi: 10.1101/2025.03.04.640448. PMID: 40093152; PMCID: PMC11908191.
  3. Lujan Hernandez AG, Laughlin ZT, et al. Structural basis of SARS-CoV-2 spike recognition by engineered Synthetic Multivalent VHH Antibodies. To be published- in revisions.
  4. Patel A, Kumar S, Lai L, Keen M, Valanparambil R, Chakravarthy C, Laughlin Z, Frank F, Cheedarla N, Verkerke HP, Neish AS, Roback JD, Davis CW, Wrammert J, Sharma A, Ahmed R, Suthar MS, Murali-Krishna K, Chandele A, Ortlund E. Light chain of a public SARS-CoV-2 class-3 antibody modulates neutralization against Omicron. Cell Rep. 2023 Sep 26;42(9):113150. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113150. Epub 2023 Sep 13. PMID: 37708028.
  5. Laughlin ZT, Conn GL. Tuberactinomycin antibiotics: Biosynthesis, anti-mycobacterial action, and mechanisms of resistance. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022 ;13:961921. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.961921. PMID: 36033858; PMCID: PMC9403184.
  6. Laughlin ZT, Nandi S, Dey D, Zelinskaya N, Witek MA, Srinivas P, Nguyen HA, Kuiper EG, Comstock LR, Dunham CM, Conn GL. 50S subunit recognition and modification by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis ribosomal RNA methyltransferase TlyA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Apr 5;119(14):e2120352119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2120352119. Epub 2022 Mar 31. PMID: 35357969; PMCID: PMC9168844.