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SUMMARY:Droplet-Based Microfluidics: a Tool for Evolutionary Biology
DTSTART:20130521T101500
DTEND:20130521T111500
DTSTAMP:20260501T085535Z
UID:f2c123d4b4095a83aac061504aa615e5b28a2144358b401f6f7ad94e
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Matteo Bellucci\, Ph.D.\nBio: Matteo Bellucci performed his pr
 e-doctoral training (2006) at the Laboratory of Structural Biology\, Dep. 
 Agro-Environmental Science and Technology\, University of Bologna (Italy).
  Here\, he characterized the metal-binding activity of a nickel-dependent 
 transcriptional regulator from Helicobacter pylori. His PhD work (2007-201
 0) was than dedicated to elucidate a network of protein-protein interactio
 ns in the context of urease enzime from the same bacterium\, using microca
 lorimetry (ITC\, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry)\, NMR spectroscopy and 
 X-ray crystallography. On September 2010\, he moved to Barcelona (Spain) a
 t the “Gene Function and Evolution Group” at CRG\, where he coupled ex
 perimental work with computational methods to develop catRAPID\, an algori
 thm to predict RNA-protein associations\, specifically those involving lon
 g noncoding transcripts. In 2012\, he joined the Protein Maturation\, Cell
  Fate and Therapeutics group at the CNRS\, Gif-sur-Yvette (France). Here\,
  he elucidated the ribosome-binding mode of co-translational modifying enz
 ymes\, by coupling cross-linking\, mass spectrometry and site-directed mut
 agenesis. In February 2013\, he joined Laboratory of Biochemistry at ESPCI
  ParisTech led by Prof. A. Griffiths. He is currently involved in directed
  evolution based research\, by using droplet microfluidics to screen HIV e
 nvelope protein variants featuring enhanced stability and increased neutra
 lizing susceptibility.\nDroplet-based microfluidic systems use monodispers
 e aqueous droplets dispersed in a continuous oil phase as independent bio-
 compatible microreactors for ultrahigh-throughput chemical or biological a
 ssays. These droplets have pL to nL volumes\, one thousand to one million 
 times smaller than microtitre plate wells\, and can be made and manipulate
 d at kHz frequencies: a range of on-chip droplet manipulations such as mix
 ing\, splitting\, fusing\, injecting\, incubating and sorting have been de
 veloped to allow further automation. This miniaturized technology has deve
 loped into a powerful tool for a number of applications including synthesi
 s of small molecules or particles\, screening of small molecule libraries\
 , targeted sequencing\, digital PCR and directed evolution of enzymes.\nIn
  particular\, directed evolution is a Darwinian approach in which iterativ
 e rounds of mutations and selection in the laboratory are used to rapidly 
 evolve novel proteins with tailor-made activities adapted to the desired t
 herapeutic or industrial application. This strategy mimics the process of 
 evolution that takes place in nature by mutagenesis\, recombination and su
 rvival of the fittest\, through a selection for the desired properties of 
 the protein variants encoded by the mutated genes. The combination of dire
 cted evolution and ultrahigh-throughput droplet-based microfluidic systems
  proved particularly effective to select/screen proteins with enhanced fea
 tures (e.g. catalytic efficiency\, thermostability\, etc.) whilst maintain
 ing proper folding and functionality.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://map.epfl.ch/?room=sv1717a
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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