Alicia K. Byrd

High Impact

Assistant Professor

UAMS

Last publication 2025 Last refreshed 2026-05-16

faculty

akbyrd@uams.edu

27 h-index 57 pubs 1,899 cited

Research Areas

Links

ORCID Research Group UAMS TRI Profile

OverviewAI-generated summary

Alicia K. Byrd's research focuses on the function and regulation of helicases, particularly the Pif1 family, at the replication fork. Her work investigates how these enzymes interact with and remodel protein-nucleic acid complexes, including their role in unwinding G-quadruplex DNA and double-stranded DNA. Byrd has explored the structural and functional insights into the interactions between DNA processing proteins, such as bacteriophage T4 gp32 and Dda. Her research also extends to the role of viral proteins, like the Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein NS3, in unfolding G-quadruplex RNA structures.

Her publications examine the mechanisms by which helicases bind to and process nucleic acids, including the use of conserved structural elements like wedges. Byrd has also investigated the impact of G-quadruplex DNA on helicase activity and its influence on liquid-liquid phase separation. Her work has contributed to understanding how proteins like Sub1 and Cdc13 interact with G-quadruplex DNA and G-rich single-stranded DNA, and how Pif1 helicase mediates the remodeling of these complexes. Byrd is also involved in multi-omics data integration to understand regulatory features in diseases like triple-negative breast cancer.

Byrd is a highly cited researcher with an h-index of 27 and over 2,000 citations across 59 publications. She leads a research group and collaborates with researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, including Matthew D. Thompson and Kevin D. Raney, as well as John C. Marecki at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Metrics

h-index: 27
Publications: 57
Citations: 1,899

Selected Publications

Response to the commentary by Melidis et al. on “Untargeted CUT&Tag reads are enriched at accessible chromatin and restrict identification of potential G4-forming sequences in G4-targeted CUT&Tag experiments” (2025)

DOI OpenAlex
Untargeted CUT&Tag reads are enriched at accessible chromatin and restrict identification of potential G4-forming sequences in G4-targeted CUT&Tag experiments (2025)

7 citations DOI OpenAlex
Rare SNP in the HELB gene interferes with RPA interaction and cellular function of HELB (2025)

DOI OpenAlex
Structural and functional insights into the interaction between the bacteriophage T4 DNA processing proteins gp32 and Dda (2024)

10 citations DOI OpenAlex
Untargeted CUT&Tag and BG4 CUT&Tag are both enriched at G-quadruplexes and accessible chromatin (2024)

3 citations DOI OpenAlex
Eukaryotic Pif1 helicase unwinds G-quadruplex and dsDNA using a conserved wedge (2024)

8 citations DOI OpenAlex
Two residues in the DNA binding site of Pif1 helicase are essential for nuclear functions but dispensable for mitochondrial respiratory growth (2024)

1 citation DOI OpenAlex
Rare SNP in the HELB gene interferes with RPA interaction and cellular function of HELB (2024)

DOI OpenAlex
Pif1 Helicase Mediates Remodeling of Protein-Nucleic Acid Complexes by Promoting Dissociation of Sub1 from G-Quadruplex DNA and Cdc13 from G-Rich Single-Stranded DNA (2023)

7 citations DOI OpenAlex
Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein NS3 unfolds viral G-quadruplex RNA structures (2022)

10 citations DOI OpenAlex
Role and Regulation of Pif1 Family Helicases at the Replication Fork (2022)

13 citations DOI OpenAlex
Monitoring helicase-catalyzed unwinding of multiple duplexes simultaneously (2022)

DOI OpenAlex
A structural feature of Dda helicase which enhances displacement of streptavidin and trp repressor from <scp>DNA</scp> (2021)

7 citations DOI OpenAlex
G-quadruplex DNA inhibits unwinding activity but promotes liquid–liquid phase separation by the DEAD-box helicase Ded1p (2021)

10 citations DOI OpenAlex
Multi-omics data integration reveals correlated regulatory features of triple negative breast cancer (2021)

16 citations DOI OpenAlex