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SUMMARY:Bridging length and time scales in filamentous protein self-assemb
 ly
DTSTART:20161012T140000
DTSTAMP:20260924T095033Z
UID:75639cd520fdc7aea5d4363ec31bbe766e75e180c4aa7e2f8650dd22
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Thomas Michaels (Harvard University)  \n \nAbstract:\n \nF
 ilamentous protein self-assembly is a process in which dispersed proteins 
 assemble spontaneously to form ordered elongated structures. This phenomen
 on is an essential characteristic of life\, but is also at the heart of pa
 thologies of many types\, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseas
 es. Moreover\, filamentous growth is increasingly used in numerous nanotec
 hnological applications. To exploit filamentous self-assembly for nanotech
 nology or curtail it for medical purposes it is necessary to quantify the 
 fundamental principles that control the way dispersed molecules assemble i
 nto these ordered structures. The fundamental challenge in establishing su
 ch an understanding in a rigorous manner is the disparate nature of the sp
 atial and temporal scales involved\, which range from the molecular to the
  organism scale. In this talk\, I demonstrate how this challenge can be pa
 rtially addressed by bringing the power of physical methods to protein fil
 ament self-assembly to connect microscopic mechanisms with macroscopic obs
 ervations of such phenomena. In a first part of the talk\, I discuss a uni
 fied theory of the kinetics of filamentous protein assembly and show how t
 hese results reveal simple rate laws that provide the basis for interpreti
 ng experimental data in terms of specific mechanisms controlling the proli
 feration of fibrils. I also describe methods for understanding the factors
  that control the size of linear aggregating proteins\, a crucial paramete
 r that correlates with their neurotoxicity\, and discuss how this framewor
 k allows us to study the modes of action through which molecular chaperone
 s can suppress amyloid fibril formation. In a second part of the talk\, I 
 investigate filamentous growth reactions under confinement where statistic
 al mechanical fluctuations play a significant role and illustrate how this
  strategy can be used to establish further mechanistic insights into prote
 in filament formation. Finally\, I explore the possibilities and performan
 ce limits of force generation and energy release by nanoscale self-assembl
 ing supra-molecular polymers.\n \n 
LOCATION:BSP 727 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BSP%20727
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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