Ekaterina V. PletnevaView profile
Professor
Ekaterina V. Pletneva is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Dartmouth College. Her research focuses on the redox reactivity of metalloproteins, particularly heme enzymes and electron carriers in bacterial energy pathways. She leads the Pletneva Research Group, which is dedicated to understanding how coordination environments, protein dynamics, and neighboring protonation and redox sites influence the reactivity of redox metal ions and how electrons are guided through complex redox circuits at molecular and regulatory levels. Dr. Pletneva earned her M.S. from the Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences and her Ph.D. from Iowa State University. Her expertise spans bioinorganic chemistry, heme proteins, thermodynamic and kinetic studies of reaction mechanisms, spectroscopy, and structural biology. Her research group employs a diverse array of spectroscopic and structural methods alongside molecular biology to characterize metalloproteins and their reaction mechanisms. This work provides fundamental insights into biological electron transfer and its regulation in energy generation and multielectron catalysis, with implications for bacterial fitness and virulence, development of switchable devices for artificial photosynthesis, and optimization of microbial-based strategies to mitigate global warming. The group's investigations often focus on cytochrome c and related proteins, examining their structural dynamics, redox properties, and interactions with membranes and other biomolecules. Analysis of Dr. Pletneva's recent publications reveals a strong focus on cytochrome systems, particularly examining structural determinants of redox properties, conformational changes during electron transfer, and the effects of mutations and environmental factors on protein function. Her work spans structural biology, biophysics, and bioinorganic chemistry, with significant contributions to understanding heme protein dynamics and electron transfer mechanisms in both bacterial and eukaryotic systems. While specific scientific awards are not mentioned in the provided materials, Dr. Pletneva's extensive publication record in high-impact journals demonstrates significant contributions to her field. Her research has been supported by various funding mechanisms that enable her interdisciplinary investigations of metalloprotein structure and function. The Pletneva Research Group maintains a collaborative environment that integrates experimental and computational approaches to study metalloprotein function. The lab utilizes advanced spectroscopic techniques, structural methods, and molecular biology tools to investigate the complex redox circuits that govern electron transfer in biological systems. Current research directions include understanding how protein dynamics influence electron transfer pathways and how these processes can be harnessed for applications in energy conversion and environmental sustainability.
