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Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy of Protein Folding

来源:
报告题目   Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy of Protein Folding
报告人   余昊 博士
报告人单位   美国科罗拉多大学Boulder分校JILA研究所
报告时间   2016-04-14
报告地点   合肥微尺度物质科学国家实验室九楼会议室(9004)
主办单位   合肥微尺度物质科学国家实验室、中国科学技术大学物理学院
报告介绍
报告摘要:
Elucidating the mechanism by which a protein folds—the protein folding problem—has blossomed into a large, interdisciplinary field. Single-molecule methods provide a powerful tool for probing complex folding pathways as in protein folding and misfolding. In this talk I will share two of my stories on using single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) to study protein folding. I will first discuss our work on the structural dynamics of the prion protein PrP, which misfolds through an unknown mechanism into an infectious form that causes "mad cow" disease. We use optical tweezers to observe the structural dynamics of individual PrP molecules in real time as they either fold natively or misfold and aggregate into larger structures, focusing on the microscopic mechanisms that determine the structural outcome (native or misfolded). Then I will introduce our effort in developing AFM-based force spectroscopy with ~1-µs resolution. With that, individual membrane proteins within their native lipid bilayers were mechanically unfolded. A dramatically more complex folding pathway, including numerously previously invisible states and equilibrium dynamics, was revealed via improved resolution: an important result likely to impact many, if not all, SMFS studies. Throughout the talk, I will focus on quantitative descriptions of folding as a physical process, showing how single-molecule probes can be used to address unsolved problems in biology.

报告人简介:
  余昊博士于2007年毕业于中国科大物理系,随后前往加拿大Alberta大学物理系继续博士学习,2013年博士毕业后来到美国科罗拉多大学Boulder分校的 JILA研究所工作至今。近十年以来一直从事生物物理相关的研究工作,在PNAS,Science等杂志发表过多篇论文。目前从事利用原子力显微镜研究膜蛋白折叠与组装的研究。他将和大家分享关于蛋白质折叠的研究工作。

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