Research Interest:

The Khan Lab is interested in uncovering the fundamental mechanisms of proteostasis in cells experiencing stalled protein synthesis. The lab focuses on ribosome-associated quality control pathways to understand how cells leverage biophysical forces to regulate mRNA-free protein synthesis and how failures in this process give rise to neurological disease.

Post-Doctoral Publications

Khan, D., Vinayak, A.A., Sitron, C.S., and Brandman, O. (2026). Mechanical forces regulate the composition and fate of stalled nascent chains. Molecular Cell 86, 97–113 e114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2025.12.008

Media coverage: Chemical & Engineering News (2026).

https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/biochemistry/protein-translation-fails-mechanical-forces/104/web/2026/01

Geng, J., Li, S., Li, Y., Wu, Z., Bhurtel, S., Rimal, S., Khan, D., Ohja, R., Brandman, O., and Lu, B. (2024). Stalled translation by mitochondrial stress upregulates a CNOT4-ZNF598 ribosomal quality control pathway important for tissue homeostasis. Nature Communications 15, 1637. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45525-3.

Geng, J., Wang, X., Pan, J., Khan, D., Pimcharoen, S., Zhang, Y., Mosammaparast, N., Hirose, S., Petrucelli, L., Brandman, O., et al. (2025). CRISPR activation of the ribosome-associated quality control factor ASCC3 ameliorates fragile X syndrome phenotypes in mice. Science Translational Medicine 17, eadq3551. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adq3551.

Alford, B.D.*, Tassoni-Tsuchida, E.*, Khan, D., Work, J.J., Valiant, G., and Brandman, O. (2021). ReporterSeq reveals genome-wide dynamic modulators of the heat shock response across diverse stressors. eLife 10. 10.7554/eLife.57376.

PhD Publications

Khan, D., McGrath, K.R., Dorosheva, O., Bankaitis, V.A., and Tripathi, A. (2016). Structural elements that govern Sec14-like PITP sensitivities to potent small molecule inhibitors. Journal of Lipid Research 57, 650–662. https://doi.org/10.1194/jlr.M066381.

Pries, V.*, Nocker, C.*, Khan, D.*, Johnen, P.*, Hong, Z.*, Tripathi, A.*, Keller, A.L., Fitz, M., Perruccio, F., Filipuzzi, I., et al. (2018). Target Identification and Mechanism of Action of Picolinamide and Benzamide Chemotypes with Antifungal Properties. Cell Chemical Biology 25, 279–290 e277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.12.007. (* = co-first authors)

Khan, D., Lee, D., Gulten, G., Aggarwal, A., Wofford, J., Krieger, I., Tripathi, A., Patrick, J.W., Eckert, D.M., Laganowsky, A., et al. (2020). A Sec14-like phosphatidylinositol transfer protein paralog defines a novel class of heme-binding proteins. eLife 9. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57081.

Sugiura, T., Takahashi, C., Chuma, Y., Fukuda, M., Yamada, M., Yoshida, U., Nakao, H., Ikeda, K., Khan, D., and Nile, A.H. (2019). Biophysical Parameters of the Sec14 Phospholipid Exchange Cycle. Biophysical Journal 116, 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2018.11.3131.

Tripathi, A., Martinez, E., Obaidullah, A.J., Lete, M.G., Lonnfors, M., Khan, D., Soni, K.G., Mousley, C.J., Kellogg, G.E., and Bankaitis, V.A. (2019). Functional diversification of the chemical landscapes of yeast Sec14-like phosphatidylinositol transfer protein lipid-binding cavities. Journal of Biological Chemistry 294, 19081–19098. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.011153.

Chen, X.R., Poudel, L., Hong, Z., Johnen, P., Katti, S., Tripathi, A., Nile, A.H., Green, S.M., Khan, D., Schaaf, G., et al. (2023). Mechanisms by which small molecules of diverse chemotypes arrest Sec14 lipid transfer activity. Journal of Biological Chemistry  299, 102861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102861.

Complete list of publications is available here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Io7g3FcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao