The Allen Lab is focused on the elucidation of enzyme catalytic mechanisms with an eye toward the use of protein structure and mechanistic knowledge in the design of therapeutic inhibitory ligands as well as the design of protein-based tools. We utilize macromolecular X-ray crystallography and Cryo-EM supported by small-angle X-ray scattering, molecular modeling, and kinetics combined with bioinformatics to obtain desired liganded structures toward mechanistic understanding and to perform inhibitor design based on the structures and binding properties.