Gerlits, Oksana

Our Staff

Gerlits, Oksana

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

(423) 746-5304

ogerlits@tnwesleyan.edu

EXPERTISE / RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Areas of expertise include student supervision, protein expression, deuteration, purification, crystallization, diffraction data collection, structure refinement and analysis.
  • Research Interests:
    • Neutron studies of Ribonuclease H (RNase H). RNase H is a sequence-nonspecific endonuclease that selectively hydrolyzes RNA molecule in a DNA/RNA hybrid. Activity of this enzyme is critical for the replication of retroviruses such as HIV-1, whereas the proper function of human RNase H is essential for DNA replication and repair processes.
    • Neutron studies of vitamin B6 dependent enzymes. These enzymes are abundant in cells catalyzing many biochemical reactions; some of them are important drug targets. Specifically, activity of the proteins that will be worked on is linked to lung cancer.

PUBLICATIONS

  1. A.K. Ghosh, M. Yadav, A. Sharma, M. Johnson, A.K. Ghosh, R. Prasad, M. Amano, O. Gerlits, A. Kovalevsky, H. Mitsuya (2025) Potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors containing oxabicyclo octanol-derived P2-ligands: Desing, synthesis, and X-ray structural studies of inhibitor-HIV-1 protease complexes. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 120, 130109.
  2. A. Kovalevsky, A. Aniana, R. Ghirlando, L. Coates, V.N. Drago, L. Wear, O. Gerlits, N.T. Nashed, J.M. Louis (2024) Effects of SARS-CoV-2 main protease mutations at positions L50, E166, and L167 rendering resistance to covalent and noncovalent inhibitors. J. Med. Chem. 67, 18478-18490.
  3. Drago, V.N., Campos, C., Hooper, M., Collins, A. et al. Revealing protonation states and tracking substrate in serine hydroxymethyltransferase with room-temperature X-ray and neutron crystallography. Commun Chem 6, 162 (2023).
  1. O. Gerlits, M. Fajer, X. Cheng, D.K. Blumenthal, Z. Radic, A. Kovalevsky (2022) Structural and dynamic effects of paraoxon binding to human acetylcholinesterase by X-ray crystallography and inelastic neutron scattering. Structure 30, 1538-1549.

COURSES OFFERED

  • Introduction to Chemistry, CHE 110
  • Organic Chemistry I, CHE 220
  • Organic Chemistry II, CHE 220
  • Biochemistry I, CHE 362
  • Seminar I
  • Seminar II

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Oksana Gerlits is an Associate Professor of Chemistry. She teaches Introductory, Organic, and Biochemistry courses. She earned her M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry and Chemical Technology from the Moscow State Academy of Fine Chemical Technologies in Russia, and her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. Her doctoral research focused on the synthesis, spectroscopy and crystallography of organometallic compounds. During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Gerlits shifted her research interest to biochemistry, studying structure of proteins and nucleic acids, and received extensive training in biochemistry and macromolecular crystallography techniques.

Dr. Gerlits’s current research centers on understanding catalytic mechanisms and enzyme function using advanced X-ray and neutron macromolecular crystallography techniques. She holds summer appointments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she collaborates on protein crystallography projects and provides research opportunities for TWU undergraduate students.

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHY

My first postdoctoral experience was in the laboratory of Professor Zheng Huang at Georgia State University, where I was introduced to the field of biochemistry and trained in working with proteins and nucleic acids. This shift later enabled me to contribute to several interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research projects at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, LANL and ORNL, respectively.

At LANL my work included studying protein kinase A, whose activity is associated with various cancer types, making the enzyme a promising target for drug discovery. In another project at ORNL, I focused on strategies to reactivate human acetylcholinesterase, an essential enzyme whose inhibition by organophosphorus nerve agents and pesticides can be fatal without prompt treatment.

Along my research journey, I was fortunate to gain valuable teaching experience. I served as a chemistry lecturer at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, and later as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of New Mexico’s Los Alamos branch. These experiences deepened my commitment to undergraduate education and inspired my continued involvement in both teaching and research.