PhD Biochemistry and Biophysics (2012)

Heidelberg University, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Heidelberg, Germany

MSc Molecular Biology (2005)

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Zagreb, Croatia

Prof. Goran STJEPANOVIC studied molecular biology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he completed his undergraduate thesis on the oxidation of human low-density lipoproteins and their role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. He then moved to the lab of Irmgard Sinning at Heidelberg University (Germany) to pursue PhD in structural biology and membrane biochemistry. His research was focused on the signal recognition particle (SRP) pathway involved in co-translational protein translocation across membranes. After graduating, he joined the laboratory of James Hurley at UC Berkeley. There he combined structural biology techniques with mass spectrometry and biochemical reconstitution to study the early steps of autophagosome formation. His post-doctoral work was focused on understanding the structure and regulatory mechanisms of the autophagy-specific PI3-kinase and ULK1 protein complexes. In 2018, Goran became an Assistant Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He is a principal investigator at the Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4841-9949

http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-7902-2010

​Selected Publications:

​1. Stjepanovic, G., Baskaran, S., Lin, M.G., Hurley, J.H. Vps34 Kinase Domain Dynamics Regulate the Autophagic PI 3-Kinase Complex (2017) Molecular Cell, 67 (3), pp. 528-534.e3.

​2. Stjepanovic, G., Baskaran, S., Lin, M.G., Hurley, J.H. Unveiling the role of VPS34 kinase domain dynamics in regulation of the autophagic PI3K complex (2017) Molecular and Cellular Oncology, 4 (6), art. no. e1367873.

3. Su, M.-Y., Morris, K.L., Kim, D.J., Fu, Y., Lawrence, R., Stjepanovic, G., Zoncu, R., Hurley, J.H. Hybrid Structure of the RagA/C-Ragulator mTORC1 Activation Complex (2017) Molecular Cell, 68 (5), pp. 835-846.e3.

4. Stjepanovic, G., Davies, C.W., Stanley, R.E., Ragusa, M.J., Kim, D.J., Hurley, J.H. Assembly and dynamics of the autophagy-initiating Atg1 complex (2014) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (35), pp. 12793-12798.

5. Baskaran*, S., Carlson*, L.-A., Stjepanovic*, G., Young, L.N., Kim, do J., Grob, P., Stanley, R.E., Nogales, E., Hurley, J.H. Architecture and dynamics of the autophagic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex (2014) eLife, 3, art. no. e05115. (* equal contribution)

​6. Stjepanovic, G., Kapp, K., Bange, G., Graf, C., Parlitz, R., Wild, K., Mayer, M.P., Sinning, I. Lipids trigger a conformational switch that regulates Signal Recognition Particle (SRP)-mediated protein targeting (2011) Journal of Biological Chemistry, 286 (26), pp. 23489-23497.

7. Qi, S., Kim, D.J., Stjepanovic, G., Hurley, J.H. Structure of the human Atg13-Atg101 HORMA heterodimer: An interaction hub within the ULK1 complex (2015) Structure, 23 (10), pp. 1848-1857.

8. Yang, B., Stjepanovic, G., Shen, Q., Martin, A., Hurley, J.H. Vps4 disassembles an ESCRT-III filament by global unfolding and processive translocation (2015) Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, 22 (6), pp. 492-498.