Tara Pukala

Associate Professor Tara Pukala

Associate Professor

School of Physical Sciences

Faculty of Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Tara Pukala obtained a PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2006, under the supervision of Prof John Bowie. This was followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Cambridge, UK, working with Prof Dame Carol Robinson in the field of native mass spectrometry.

Tara returned to Australia to her current role as lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry at the University of Adelaide in 2008. Here she leads a multidisciplinary research group focused on developing new approaches, primarily utilising mass spectrometry, to investigate the structure, function and interactions of macromolecules important in biology.

Since 2017 she has had the role of Scientific Director of the Adelaide Proteomics Centre.

Biological macromolecules such as proteins and DNA form the machinery that underlies all biological functions. The ability to ‘see’ the atomic detail of these assemblies, including their structures and interactions with other molecules, provides an opportunity to understand their biological activity. It also helps unravel processes which have gone astray to cause disease, and therefore find new treatments for a range of human illnesses.

In recent years mass spectrometry has emerged as a powerful tool for structural biology, in many cases capable of exceeding other techniques by diversity in application and information content. This is due to the ability of mass spectrometry to precisely identify biomolecules, binding interactions, detect individual species present in a mixture, and offer conformational information for large, dynamic and heterogeneous structures, with physiological relevance.

Research in the Pukala group is directed towards development of new approaches, primarily using mass spectrometry, to obtain insight into the structure, function and interactions of macromolecules, with a focus on enhancing understanding of multi-molecular systems involved in disease.

Current projects include;

  • development of ion mobility-mass spectrometry (and complementary tools) for the study of large protein complexes
  • design of novel mass spectrometry amenable protein cross-linking strategies
  • mechanistic studies of protein misfolding and aggregation
  • structural analysis of triplex DNA

For more details of current projects, see the Pukala Group website.

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  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2021 Sanders, H. M., Jovcevski, B., Marty, M. T., & Pukala, T. L. (2021). Structural and mechanistic insights into amyloid-β and α-synuclein fibril formation and polyphenol inhibitor efficacy in phospholipid bilayers. The FEBS Journal, [1]-[16].
    DOI
    2021 Stevens, K. G., McFarlane, L. O., Platts, K., O'Brien-Simpson, N., Li, W., Blencowe, A., . . . Pukala, T. L. (2021). Retro Diels-Alder Fragmentation of Fulvene-Maleimide Bioconjugates for Mass Spectrometric Detection of Biomolecules.. Anal Chem, 93(36), 12204-12212.
    DOI
    2021 Nguyen, S., Jovcevski, B., Pukala, T. L., & Bruning, J. B. (2021). Nucleoside selectivity of Aspergillus fumigatus nucleoside-diphosphate kinase.. The FEBS journal, 288(7), 2398-2417.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
    2021 Enot, M. M., Weiland, F., Mittal, P., Hoffmann, P., Sillero-Mahinay, M., & Pukala, T. (2021). Differential proteome analysis of the leaves of lead hyperaccumulator, Rhoeo discolor (L. Her.) Hance. Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 56(4), 11 pages.
    DOI
    2020 Tasoulis, T., Pukala, T. L., & Isbister, G. K. (2020). Comments on proteomic investigations of two Pakistani Naja snake venoms species unravel the venom complexity, posttranslational modifications, and presence of extracellular vesicles. toxins 2020, 12, 669. Toxins, 12(12), 1-3.
    DOI
    2020 Jovcevski, B., Das, S., Smid, S., & Pukala, T. L. (2020). Polyphenol honokiol and flavone 2′,3′,4′-trihydroxyflavone differentially interact with α-synuclein at distinct phases of aggregation. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 11(24), 4469-4477.
    DOI
    2020 Horsley, J. R., Jovcevski, B., Wegener, K. L., Yu, J., Pukala, T. L., & Abell, A. (2020). Rationally Designed Peptide-Based Inhibitor of Aβ42 Fibril Formation and Toxicity: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease.. Biochem J, 477(11), 2039-2054.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS5 Europe PMC3
    2020 Shrestha, S., Zhang, W., Begbie, A. J., Pukala, T. L., & Smid, S. D. (2020). Ecklonia radiata extract containing eckol protects neuronal cells against Aβ1-42 evoked toxicity and reduces aggregate density.. Food Funct, 11(7), 6509-6516.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS3 Europe PMC1
    2020 Sternicki, L. M., Nguyen, S., Pacholarz, K. J., Barran, P., Pendini, N. R., Booker, G. W., . . . Polyak, S. W. (2020). Biochemical characterisation of class III biotin protein ligases from Botrytis cinerea and Zymoseptoria tritici. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 691, 108509-1-108509-11.
    DOI
    2020 Salman Sajid, M., Jovcevski, B., Mittal, P., Fatima, B., Hussain, D., Jabeen, F., . . . Najam-ul-Haq, M. (2020). Glycosylation heterogeneity and low abundant serum glycoproteins MS analysis by boronic acid immobilized Fe<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@1,2-Epoxy-5-Hexene/DVB magnetic core shell nanoparticles. Microchemical Journal, 159, 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus1
    2020 Stevens, K. G., & Pukala, T. L. (2020). Conjugating immunoassays to mass spectrometry: solutions to contemporary challenges in clinical diagnostics.. Trends Analyt Chem, 132, 1-10.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS1 Europe PMC1
    2020 Sajid, M. S., Jovcevski, B., Pukala, T. L., Jabeen, F., & Najam-Ul-Haq, M. (2020). Fabrication of Piperazine Functionalized Polymeric Monolithic Tip for Rapid Enrichment of Glycopeptides/Glycans.. Anal Chem, 92(1), 683-689.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS5
    2020 Sanders, H. M., Jovcevski, B., Carver, J., & Pukala, T. L. (2020). The molecular chaperone β-casein prevents amorphous and fibrillar aggregation of α-lactalbumin by stabilisation of dynamic disorder. Biochemical Journal, 477(3), 629-643.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC2
    2020 Wang, C. R., Bubner, E. R., Jovcevski, B., Mittal, P., & Pukala, T. L. (2020). Interrogating the higher order structures of snake venom proteins using an integrated mass spectrometric approach.. J Proteomics, 216, 103680.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS2 Europe PMC2
    2020 Hayes, A. J., Satiaputra, J., Sternicki, L. M., Paparella, A. S., Feng, Z., Lee, K. J., . . . Polyak, S. W. (2020). Advanced resistance studies identify two discrete mechanisms in staphylococcus aureus to overcome antibacterial compounds that target biotin protein ligase. Antibiotics, 9(4), 1-20.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2019 Liu, Y., Jovcevski, B., & Pukala, T. L. (2019). C-Phycocyanin from Spirulina Inhibits α-synuclein and amyloid-β fibril formation but not amorphous aggregation. Journal of Natural Products, 82(1), 66-73.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC4
    2019 Satiaputra, J., Sternicki, L. M., Hayes, A. J., Pukala, T. L., Booker, G. W., Shearwin, K. E., & Polyak, S. W. (2019). Native mass spectrometry identifies an alternative DNA-binding pathway for BirA from Staphylococcus aureus. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 2767-1-2767-13.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2019 Alcock, L. J., Oliveira, B. L., Deery, M. J., Pukala, T. L., Perkins, M. V., Bernardes, G. J. L., & Chalker, J. M. (2019). Norbornene probes for the detection of cysteine sulfenic acid in cells. ACS chemical biology, 14(4), 594-598.
    DOI Scopus20 WoS18 Europe PMC9
    2019 Iacobucci, C., Piotrowski, C., Aebersold, R., Amaral, B. C., Andrews, P., Bernfur, K., . . . Sinz, A. (2019). First Community-Wide, Comparative Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry Study. Analytical Chemistry, 91(11), 6953-6961.
    DOI Scopus45 WoS38 Europe PMC20
    2019 Aung, T. N., Nourmohammadi, S., Qu, Z., Harata-Lee, Y., Cui, J., Shen, H. Y., . . . Adelson, D. L. (2019). Fractional deletion of Compound Kushen Injection indicates cytokine signaling pathways are critical for its perturbation of the cell cycle. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 14200-1-14200-16.
    DOI
    2019 Li, J., Begbie, A., Boehm, B. J., Button, A., Whidborne, C., Pouferis, Y., . . . Pukala, T. L. (2019). Ion mobility-mass spectrometry reveals details of formation and structure for GAA·TCC DNA and RNA triplexes. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 30(1), 103-112.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
    2019 Harrison, J. A., Kelso, C., Pukala, T. L., & Beck, J. L. (2019). Conditions for analysis of native protein structures using uniform field drift tube ion mobility mass spectrometry and characterization of stable calibrants for TWIM-MS. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 30(2), 256-267.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC5
    2018 Child, S. A., Bradley, J. M., Pukala, T. L., Svistunenko, D. A., Le Brun, N. E., & Bell, S. G. (2018). Electron transfer ferredoxins with unusual cluster binding motifs support secondary metabolism in many bacteria. Chemical Science, 9(41), 7948-7957.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS10 Europe PMC3
    2018 Alcock, L., Farrell, K., Akol, M., Jones, G., Tierney, M., Kramer, H., . . . Chalker, J. (2018). Norbornene probes for the study of cysteine oxidation. Tetrahedron, 74(12), 1220-1228.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS16
    2018 Boehm, B., Whidborne, C., Button, A., Pukala, T., & Huang, D. (2018). DNA triplex structure, thermodynamics, and destabilisation: insight from molecular simulations. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20(20), 14013-14023.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC3
    2018 Das, S., Pukala, T., & Smid, S. (2018). Exploring the structural diversity in inhibitors of α-Synuclein amyloidogenic folding, aggregation, and neurotoxicity. Frontiers in Chemistry, 6(MAY), 181-1-181-12.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS13 Europe PMC5
    2018 Young, T., Pukala, T., Cappai, R., Wedd, A., & Xiao, Z. (2018). The human amyloid precursor protein binds copper ions dominated by picomolar-affinity site in the helix-rich E2 domain. Biochemistry, 57(28), 4165-4176.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC5
    2018 Frkic, R. L., Marshall, A. C., Blayo, A. -L., Pukala, T. L., Kamenecka, T. M., Griffin, P. R., & Bruning, J. B. (2018). PPARγ in complex with an antagonist and inverse agonist: a tumble and trap mechanism of the activation helix. iScience, 5, 69-79.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS13 Europe PMC8
    2018 Pukala, T. (2018). Importance of collision cross section measurements by ion mobility-mass spectrometry in structural biology. Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM, 33(S3), 1-10.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS7
    2016 Calabrese, A., Liu, Y., Wang, T., Musgrave, I., Pukala, T., Tabor, R., . . . Bowie, J. (2016). The amyloid fibril-forming properties of the amphibian antimicrobial peptide uperin 3.5. ChemBioChem, 17(3), 239-246.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC8
    2016 Das, S., Stark, L., Musgrave, I., Pukala, T., & Smid, S. (2016). Bioactive polyphenol interactions with β amyloid: a comparison of binding modelling, effects on fibril and aggregate formation and neuroprotective capacity. Food & Function, 7(2), 1138-1146.
    DOI Scopus37 WoS35 Europe PMC14
    2015 Liu, Y., Graetz, M., Ho, L., & Pukala, T. (2015). Ion mobility-mass spectrometry-based screening for inhibition of α-synuclein aggregation. European Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 21(3), 255-264.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS7 Europe PMC3
    2015 Calabrese, A., Bowie, J., & Pukala, T. (2015). Structural Analysis of Calmodulin Binding by nNOS Inhibitory Amphibian Peptides. Biochemistry, 54(2), 567-576.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC5
    2014 Liu, Y., Carver, J., Calabrese, A., & Pukala, T. (2014). Gallic acid interacts with α-synuclein to prevent the structural collapse necessary for its aggregation. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1844(9), 1481-1485.
    DOI Scopus61 WoS62 Europe PMC28
    2014 Liu, Y., Carver, J., Ho, L., Elias, A., Musgrave, I., & Pukala, T. (2014). Hemin as a generic and potent protein misfolding inhibitor. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 454(2), 295-300.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC6
    2013 Liu, Y., Pukala, T., Musgrave, I., Williams, D., Dehle, F., & Carver, J. (2013). Gallic acid is the major component of grape seed extract that inhibits amyloid fibril formation. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 23(23), 6336-6340.
    DOI Scopus72 WoS68 Europe PMC34
    2013 Calabrese, A., & Pukala, T. (2013). Chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry for the structural analysis of protein assemblies. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 66(7), 749-759.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS14
    2013 Cottam, J., Scanlon, D., Karas, J., Calabrese, A., Pukala, T., Forbes, B., . . . Abell, A. (2013). Chemical synthesis of a fluorescent IGF-II analogue. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics, 19(1), 61-69.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3
    2013 Williams, D., & Pukala, T. (2013). Novel insights into protein misfolding diseases revealed by ion mobility-mass spectrometry. Mass Spectrometry Reviews, 32(3), 169-187.
    DOI Scopus31 WoS29 Europe PMC14
    2013 Scott, D., Ehebauer, M., Pukala, T., Marsh, M., Blundell, T., Venkitaraman, A., . . . Hyvonen, M. (2013). Using a fragment-based approach to target protein-protein interactions. ChemBioChem, 14(3), 332-342.
    DOI Scopus95 WoS91 Europe PMC54
    2013 Calabrese, A., Wang, T., Bowie, J., & Pukala, T. (2013). Negative ion fragmentations of disulfide-containing cross-linking reagents are competitive with aspartic acid side-chain-induced cleavages. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 27(1), 238-248.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC2
    2012 Calabrese, A., Good, N., Wang, T., He, J., Bowie, J., & Pukala, T. (2012). A negative ion mass spectrometry approach to identify cross-linked peptides utilizing characteristic disulfide fragmentations. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 23(8), 1364-1375.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC6
    2012 Calabrese, A., Speechley, L., & Pukala, T. (2012). Characterisation of calmodulin structural transitions by ion mobility mass spectrometry. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 65(5), 504-511.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS5
    2012 Leung, H., Mohan, P., Pukala, T., Scanlon, D., Lincoln, S., & Kee, T. (2012). Reduction of Copper(II) to Copper(I) in the Copper-Curcumin Complex Induces Decomposition of Curcumin. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 65(5), 490-495.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS5
    2012 McColl, G., Roberts, B., Pukala, T., Kenche, V., Roberts, C., Link, C., . . . Cherny, R. (2012). Utility of an improved model of amyloid-beta (Aβ₁₋₄₂) toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans for drug screening for Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 7(1), 1-9.
    DOI Scopus107 WoS103 Europe PMC74
    2011 Pukala, T. (2011). Mass spectrometry for structural biology: determining the composition and architecture of protein complexes. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 64(6), 681-691.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS5
    2011 Wang, T., Andreazza, H., Pukala, T., Sherman, P., Calabrese, A., & Bowie, J. (2011). Histidine-containing host-defence skin peptides of anurans bind Cu²⁺. An electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and computational modelling study. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 25(9), 1209-1221.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC1
    2011 Sanchez, L., Madurga, S., Pukala, T., Vilaseca, M., Lopez-Iglesias, C., Robinson, C., . . . Carulla, N. (2011). Aβ40 and Aβ42 amyloid fibrils exhibit distinct molecular recycling. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 133(17), 6505-6508.
    DOI Scopus80 WoS77 Europe PMC48
    2011 Jackway, R., Pukala, T., Donnellan, S., Sherman, P., Tyler, M., & Bowie, J. (2011). Skin peptide and cDNA profiling of Australian anurans: Genus and species identification and evolutionary trends. Peptides, 32(1), 161-172.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS17 Europe PMC13
    2011 Liu, Y., Ho, L., Carver, J., & Pukala, T. (2011). Ion mobility mass spectrometry studies of the inhibition of alpha synuclein amyloid fibril formation by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 64(1), 36-40.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS12
    2009 Pukala, T., Ruotolo, B., Zhou, M., Politis, A., Stefanescu, R., Leary, J., & Robinson, C. (2009). Subunit architecture of multiprotein assemblies determined using restraints from gas-phase measurements. Structure, 17(9), 1235-1243.
    DOI Scopus89 WoS84 Europe PMC58
    2008 Pukala, T., Urathamakul, T., Watt, S., Beck, J., Jackway, R., & Bowie, J. (2008). Binding studies of nNOS-active amphibian peptides and Ca²⁺ calmodulin, using negative ion electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 22(22), 3501-3509.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS12 Europe PMC3
    2008 Jackway, R., Pukala, T., Maselli, V., Musgrave, I., Bowie, J., Liu, Y., . . . Tyler, M. (2008). Disulfide-containing peptides from the glandular skin secretions of froglets of the genus Crinia: Structure, activity and evolutionary trends. Regulatory Peptides, 151(1-3), 80-87.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS9 Europe PMC5
    2008 Gehman, J., Luc, F., Hall, K., Lee, T., Boland, M., Pukala, T., . . . Separovic, F. (2008). Effect of antimicrobial peptides from Australian tree frogs on anionic phospholipid membranes. Biochemistry, 47(33), 8557-8565.
    DOI Scopus69 WoS72 Europe PMC35
    2007 Pukala, T., Boland, M., Gehman, J., Kuhn-Nentwig, L., Separovic, F., & Bowie, J. (2007). Solution structure and interaction of cupiennin 1a, a spider venom peptide, with phospholipid bilayers. Biochemistry, 46(11), 3576-3585.
    DOI Scopus35 WoS37 Europe PMC24
    2007 Pukala, T., Doyle, J., Llewellyn, L., Kuhn-Nentwig, L., Sorrell, M., Separovic, F., & Bowie, J. (2007). Cupiennin 1a, an antimicrobial peptide from the venom of the neotropical wandering spider Cupiennius salei, also inhibits the formation of nitric oxide by neuronal nitric oxide synthase. FEBS Journal, 274(7), 1778-1784.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC8
    2006 Pukala, T., Bertozzi, T., Donnellan, S., Bowie, J., Surinya, K., Liu, Y., . . . Tyler, M. (2006). Host-defence peptide profiles of the skin secretions of interspecific hybrid tree frogs and their parents, female Litoria splendida and male Litoria caerulea. FEBS Journal, 273(15), 3511-3519.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS21 Europe PMC12
    2006 Pukala, T., Bowie, J., Maselli, V., Musgrave, I., & Tyler, M. (2006). Host-defence peptides from the glandular secretions of amphibians: structure and activity. Natural Product Reports, 23(3), 368-393.
    DOI Scopus167 WoS159 Europe PMC100
    2004 Sorrell, M., Pukala, T., Brinkworth, C., Maselli, V., Bowie, J., Tyler, M., . . . Llewellyn, L. (2004). Host-defence peptides of Australian anurans: structure, mechanism of action and evolutionary significance. Peptides, 25(6), 1035-1054.
    DOI Scopus184 WoS180 Europe PMC97
    2004 Brinkworth, C., Pukala, T., Bowie, J., & Tyler, M. (2004). Host defence peptides from the skin glands of Australian amphibians. Caerulein neuropeptides and antimicrobial, anticancer, and nNOS inhibiting citropins from the glandular frog Litoria subglandulosa.. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 57(7), 693-701.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS5
    2004 Pukala, T., Brinkworth, C., Carver, J., & Bowie, J. (2004). Investigating the importance of the flexible hinge in caerin 1.1: Solution structures and activity of two synthetically modified caerin peptides. Biochemistry, 43(4), 937-944.
    DOI Scopus52 WoS54 Europe PMC23

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    2019 Jovcevski, B., & Pukala, T. (2019). Mass Spectrometry and Its Applications. In V. Ramesh (Ed.), Biomolecular and Bioanalytical Techniques Theory, Methodology and Applications (pp. 219-253). USA: Wiley.
    2013 Pukala, T. (2013). Mass spectrometry: mapping large stable protein complexes. In G. Roberts (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Biophysics (1 ed., pp. 1422-1429). Germany: Springer.
    DOI
    2009 Doyle, J., Bowie, J., Jackway, R., Llewellyn, L., Pukala, T., Sorrell, M., & Booker, G. (2009). Anuran host-defense peptides that complex with Ca2+ calmodulin and inhibit the synthesis of the cell signalling agent nitric oxide by neuronal nitric oxide synthase. In J. Howl, & S. Jones (Eds.), Bioactive Peptides (1 ed., pp. 315-332). United States: CRC Press.

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2015 Smid, S., Das, S., Musgrave, I., & Pukala, T. (2015). Bioactive polyphenol interactions with beta amyloid: a comparison of binding, fibril inhibition and neuroprotection. In JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY Vol. 134 (pp. 363-364). Cairns, AUSTRALIA: WILEY-BLACKWELL.
    2008 Sanchez-Torner, L., Pukala, T., Vilaseca, M., Robinson, C., Giralt, E., & Carulla, N. (2008). Recycling in A beta(1-42) amyloid fibrils. In JOURNAL OF PEPTIDE SCIENCE Vol. 14 (pp. 108). WILEY.
    2008 Sanchez, L., Pukala, T., Zhou, M., Vilaseca, M., Carulla, N. L., & Giralt, E. (2008). Structure and dynamic characterization of beta A aggregates using HID exchange experiments by mass spectrometry. In JOURNAL OF PEPTIDE SCIENCE Vol. 14 (pp. 110). WILEY.
    2007 Gehman, J. D., Boland, M. P., Pukala, T. L., Bowie, J. H., & Separovic, F. (2007). Membrane interactions of antimicrobial peptides from Australian tree frogs.. In BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL (pp. 70A). Baltimore, MD: BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY.

  • Conference Items
    Year Citation
    2021 Hull, A., Li, Y., Hsieh, W., Staudacher, A., Pukala, T., Tieu, W., . . . Bezak, E. (2021). RADIOIMMUNOCONJUGATE DEVELOPMENT: PRELIMINARY TESTING OF A C595 BASED IMMUNOCONJUGATE. Poster session presented at the meeting of INTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL. WILEY.
    2019 Pukala, T., Begbie, A., & Li, J. (2019). Ion mobility mass spectrometry to characterize formation and structure of DNA assemblies. Poster session presented at the meeting of ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. San Diego, CA: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.

Australian Research Council
2020-22:  ARC Discovery Project (DP200102291)
T Pukala Revealing molecular detail of DNA triplexes to underpin antigene technology, $450K

2018-20:  ARC Discovery Project (DP180103974)
V Bulone and T Pukala.  Characterisation of vital carbohydrate synthases in pathogenic oomycetes, $546K 

2017-19:  ARC Discovery Project (DP170102033)
T Pukala and A Politis. Mass spectrometry to reveal the role of lipids in protein misfolding, $324K

2011-13:  ARC Discovery Project (DP110100496)
T Pukala. Structural and functional investigations of the human transcription machinery by ion mobility mass spectrometry, $340K

2010-12:  ARC Discovery Project (DP1093143)
T Pukala and J Bowie. Novel mass spectrometric approaches to the study of protein-protein interactions, $360K

2020:  ARC LIEF (LE200100183)
P Hoffmann, T Chataway, T Pukala, M Herderich, E Hilder, D Keating, K Kirkbride, S Plush, S Pitson, C Proud, D Brooks.  Protein Quantitation Centre of South Australia renewal for Systems Biology, $950K

2013:  ARC LIEF (LE130100199)
P Hoffmann, T Chataway, J Bowie, G Fincher, M Brown, T Pukala, C Franco, D Keating, D Brooks, L Cosgrove, K Fung, M Herderich, W Hines.  Establishment of the peptide and protein quantitation centre of South Australia: PAPQuaC-SA, $475K

2012:  ARC LIEF (LE120100181)
L Botten, D Leinweber, L Radom, J Gready, M England, A Mark, H Blackburn, A Hogg, C Jakob, A Pitman, BJ Powell, K Rasmussen, L Moresi, A Yu, M Knackstedt, M Bilek, M Ragan, B Schmidt, R Muller, T Pukala, J Sori, C Turney, K Hourigan, D Adelson, R Khanna, J Denier, B Pailthorpe. Strengthened merit-based access and support at the new NCI petascale supercomputing facility, $650K

Other
2019-2022: Department of Industry and Skills Research Consortia Program (FND000639)
Bulone V, Pukala T, Abell A, Zannettino A, Beattie D, Krasowska M, Zhou Q, Koltunow A. Research Consortium Program for Agricultural Product Development, $4M

2016-2018:  The Australia & Pacific Science Foundation
S Petit, T Pukala, R Schumann, A Naikatini, A Scanlon. Unique pollination system of an important rainforest tree involving obligate manipulation by bats, $45K

2016-17: University of Adelaide Interdisciplinary Research Fund
V Bulone, T Pukala, A Zannettino, C Doonan, C Sumby. An interdisciplinary research program to map the protein-glycan interactome of key eukaryotic cellular systems: interfacing biophysics and chemistry with cancer research, microbiology and plant sciences, $25K

2016: University of Adelaide Faculty of Sciences eLearning Program
NM Williamson, TL Pukala, CJ Doonan.  Development of level II chemistry online assessment and student feedback. $7K

2013-14: University of Adelaide Interdisciplinary Research Fund
I Musgrave, S Smid, L O’Keefe, T Pukala. Structure function relationships of antiamyloid drugs: verification in an in-vivo model, $21K

2013-14: University of Adelaide Interdisciplinary Research Fund
T Pukala and M Fuller. Mass spectrometric approaches to characterise alpha-synuclein-glucosylsphingosine interations: application to the Parkinsonian Syndrome, $25K

Teaching interests include:

Biological structure determination
Mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy
Biological and synthetic organic chemistry
Physical organic chemistry
Foundations of chemistry

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  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2021 Principal Supervisor Investigating the formation, inhibition and detection of amyloid oligomers in the context of neurodegenerative disease Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Shaun Thomas Ellis
    2021 Principal Supervisor Characterisation of Snake Venom Proteins to Inform New Advances in Biotechnology Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Lewis Owen McFarlane
    2021 Principal Supervisor New insights into protein misfolding disorders through proteomics development Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Siqi Li
    2020 Principal Supervisor Chemical and Functional Exploration of Agricultural Waste for Identification of High Value Bioactives Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr River Jack Pachulicz
    2020 Co-Supervisor Developing synchrotron imaging technology to address questions in redox biology. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jake William Andersen
    2020 Principal Supervisor Structural characterisation of snake venom proteins by mass spectrometry Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Chia-De Ruth Wang
    2020 Principal Supervisor Biophysical characterisation of DNA triplexes for antigene technology Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jack Klose
    2019 Principal Supervisor Mass Spectrometric Characterisation of Protein Assemblies from Snake Venom Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Emily Rose Bubner
    2019 Co-Supervisor Identification of Human Biomarkers for Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease ad other Dementia Related Illnesses Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Kym McNicholas
    2017 Principal Supervisor Biophysical Characterisation of unusual DNA Structures Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Alexander Jacob Begbie
    2015 Principal Supervisor Analysis of In-Vitro Aggregation of Therapeutic Proteins Using immobility Mass Spectrometry Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Paritosh Kumar Tripathi

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2018 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Structural Investigation of Snake Venom Proteins by Mass Spectrometry Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Chia-De Ruth Wang
    2017 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Mass Spectrometric Methods for the Analysis of Chemically Modified Proteins Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Katherine Stevens
    2016 - 2018 Co-Supervisor A Mechanistic Study of the Stability of Triple-Stranded DNA Structures Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mrs Belinda Jayne Boehm
    2016 - 2021 Principal Supervisor MASS SPECTROMETRY-BASED STRUCTURAL INSIGHTS INTO PROTEIN ASSEMBLIES Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Henry Michael Sanders
    2015 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Small molecular inhibitors of Amyloid beta and alpha Synuclein amyloidogenic aggregation, toxicity and in silico design of amyloid-binding ligands Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Sukanya Das
    2014 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Design and Synthesis of Protein Chemical Crosslinkers: A Modular Approach Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Kayla Monique Downey
    2012 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Biological and Structure Characterisation of Eukaryotic Prefoldin Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Denise Tran
    2011 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Application of Synchrotron-Based Spectroscopic Techniques XAS and XFM towards Probing the Cellular Metallome Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jason Lee Wedding
    2010 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Structural and mechanistic studies of post-translationally modified peptides and proteins Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Thi Thanh Nha Tran
    2009 - 2013 Co-Supervisor Characterisation of Protein Structure and Interactions: Novel Applications to the Study of Bioactive Peptides Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Antonio Calabrese
    2009 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Linked beta-cyclodextrin trimers: From molecular recognition to polymer network hydrogels Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Trang Thi Hanh Nguyen
    2009 - 2014 Co-Supervisor A study on the interactions of synthetic IGF-II analogues with the type 1 IGF and insulin receptors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Jade Misty Cottam
  • Position: Associate Professor
  • Phone: 83135497
  • Email: tara.pukala@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 8313 4380
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Badger, floor 2
  • Room: 2 22
  • Org Unit: Chemistry
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