ILSC Monthly Seminar: January 2012

Spectroscopic Probes of Muscle Protein Structural Dynamics

Speaker: David D. Thomas; Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Time/Place: Thursday, Jan. 19th at 3:00 pm, 130 SMed

Abstract: Through site-directed spectroscopy, we detect protein interactions, structural changes, and motions that are crucial to muscle contraction (myosin, actin, Ca release channels, troponin), relaxation (calcium pump, phospholamban), regulation (calmodulin, FKBP, PKA), and cytoskeletal resilience (dystrophin, utrophin).

Dr. Thomas will highlight new technology for time-resolved fluorescence and EPR, which create breakthroughs in structural resolution and high-throughput screening. These approaches are being applied to fundamental problems in muscle biophysics, and to the development of improved drug and gene therapies for heart failure and muscular dystrophy.

2013

January: Michael Taylor
February: Marna Yandeau-Nelson
March: Paul Lockman
April: Martin Gruebele

2012

January: David D. Thomas
 February: Elizabeth Austin-Minor
March: Juliette Lecomte
April: David Millar
 May: Lukas Tamm
September: David Millar
September: Dongping Zhong
October: Jonathan V. Rocheleau
November: Yevgenya Grinblat
December: Michael Graner

2011

January: Clay Carter
February (a): Anne Kenworthy
February (b): Jennifer Liang
March: Joe Johnson
April: Marco Ciufolini
May: Gary Pielak
October: Matthew Andrews
December: Andrew Skildum

2010

November: Rui Wang
October: Marshall Hampton