From Atoms to Behavior: the Evolutionary “Design” of Proteins
Event details
| Date | 14.06.2019 |
| Hour | 15:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Rama Ranganathan, Center for Physics of Evolving Systems, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, IL (USA) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Proteins can fold spontaneously into well-defined three-dimensional structures and can carry out complex biochemical reactions such as binding, catalysis, and long-range information transfer. The precision required for these properties is achieved while also preserving evolvability – the capacity to adapt in response to fluctuating selection pressures in the environment. What is the basic design of proteins that supports all of these properties? Recent work suggests that rather than direct physical analysis, statistical analysis of genome sequences provides a powerful and general approach to this problem. Using different methodologies, this approach has revealed both direct structural contacts as well as collective functional modes within protein structures. These evolution-based models must be understood in the context of information and material processing pathways in organisms; that is, in the context where molecular properties can be connected to fitness. In this talk, I will present a model system capable of connecting atomic-scale features to organismal fitness, and will describe the current state of understanding the evolutionary design of proteins.
Bio:
Dr. Ranganathan grew up in San Diego, and received his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from UC San Diego, working jointly with Charles Zuker, Chuck Stevens, and Roger Tsien, and carried out brief postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School (with Rod MacKinnon) and the Salk Institute (with Joe Noel). He was at UT Southwestern Medical Center from 1997 – 2017, where he built his laboratory and founded the Green Center for Systems Biology. Since late 2017, he joined the University of Chicago, with joint appointments in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the Institute for Molecular Engineering. He is building a new Center for the Physics of Evolving Systems at UChicago.
Abstract:
Proteins can fold spontaneously into well-defined three-dimensional structures and can carry out complex biochemical reactions such as binding, catalysis, and long-range information transfer. The precision required for these properties is achieved while also preserving evolvability – the capacity to adapt in response to fluctuating selection pressures in the environment. What is the basic design of proteins that supports all of these properties? Recent work suggests that rather than direct physical analysis, statistical analysis of genome sequences provides a powerful and general approach to this problem. Using different methodologies, this approach has revealed both direct structural contacts as well as collective functional modes within protein structures. These evolution-based models must be understood in the context of information and material processing pathways in organisms; that is, in the context where molecular properties can be connected to fitness. In this talk, I will present a model system capable of connecting atomic-scale features to organismal fitness, and will describe the current state of understanding the evolutionary design of proteins.
Bio:
Dr. Ranganathan grew up in San Diego, and received his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from UC San Diego, working jointly with Charles Zuker, Chuck Stevens, and Roger Tsien, and carried out brief postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School (with Rod MacKinnon) and the Salk Institute (with Joe Noel). He was at UT Southwestern Medical Center from 1997 – 2017, where he built his laboratory and founded the Green Center for Systems Biology. Since late 2017, he joined the University of Chicago, with joint appointments in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the Institute for Molecular Engineering. He is building a new Center for the Physics of Evolving Systems at UChicago.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free