Steve Reichow, Ph.D.

Steve Reichow

Associate Professor, Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry

Joint Appointment, Vollum Institute

Biography

Steve Reichow received his BSc degree from the University of St. Thomas, MN in 2001, and went on to the University of Washington where he received his PhD in 2006. After completing his post-doctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2014, Reichow joined Portland State University as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. Reichow came to Oregon Health & Science University in 2022, with joint appointments in the Department of Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry and the Vollum Institute.

Research Interests

Research in the Reichow Lab is inspired by the molecular mechanisms driving biology. We apply cutting-edge methods in the high-resolution imaging technology of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), to unveil the inner-workings of individual protein molecules – nature’s nano-machines. Our lab is harnessing emerging technologies of cryo-EM, coupled with molecular dynamics simulations, biophysical analyses, and functional studies to elucidate the complex properties of these systems and how aberrant conditions lead to their misfunction. It is our hope that the atomic-level blueprints produced by our research to describe these processes will ultimately guide us toward the rational development of new tools (drugs) to effectively control and/or prevent disease.

Reichow also currently serves as a Principal Investigator with the Pacific Northwest Center for Cryo-EM (PNCC), one of three national centers supported by the NIH.

Selected Publications

Mostofian B, McFarland R, Estelle A, Howe J, Barbar E*, Reichow SL*, Zuckerman DM*, Continuum dynamics and statistical correction of compositional heterogeneity in multivalent IDP oligomers resolved by single-particle EM. Journal of Molecular Biology (2022) May 15;434(9):167520 DOI

Buonarati OR, Miller AP, Coultrap SJ, Bayer KU* and Reichow SL*, Conserved and divergent features of neuronal CaMKII holoenzyme structure, function and high-order assembly. Cell Reports (2021) Dec 28;37(13):110168 DOI [Front Cover]

Tong JJ, Khan U, Haddad BG, Minogue BS, Beyer EC, Berthoud VM, Reichow SL*, Ebihara L*, Molecular mechanisms underlying enhanced hemichannel function of a cataract-associated Cx50 mutant. Biophysical Journal (2021) Dec 21;120(24):5644-5656 DOI

Yue B, Haddad BG, Khan U, Chen H, Atalla M, Zhang Z, Zuckerman DM, Reichow SL* and Bai D*, Connexin 46 and connexin 50 gap junction channel properties are shaped by structural and dynamic features of their N-terminal domains. Journal of Physiology (2021) Jul 1;599(13):3259-3260 DOI

Flores JA, Haddad BG, Dolan KA, Myers JB, Yoshioka CC, Copperman J, Zuckerman DM, Reichow SL*, Connexin-46/50 in a dynamic lipid environment resolved by CryoEM at 1.9Å. Nature Communications (2020) Aug 28;11:4331 DOI

Myers JB, Haddad BG, O’Neill SE, ChorevDS, Yoshioka CC, Robinson CV, Zuckerman DM and Reichow SL*, Structure of native lens connexin-46/50 intercellular channels by CryoEM. Nature (2018) Dec 12;564(7736):372-377 DOI

Clark SA, Myers JB, Fiala R, Novacek J, Pearce G, King A, Heierhorst J, Reichow SL, Barbar E, Multivalency Regulates Activity in an Intrinsically Disordered Transcription Factor. eLife (2018) May 1;7:e36258 DOI

Myers JB, Zaegel V, Coultrap SJ, Miller AP, Bayer KU*, Reichow SL*, The CaMKII holoenzyme structure in activation-competent conformations. Nature Communications (2017) Jun 7;8:15742 DOI