Dept. of Physic Special Seminar announcement

2020.Jan.10

Dept. of Physic
Special Seminar announcement

1. Speaker: Dr. 손민주 (Seoul National University)

2. Date: 2020. Jan. 20 (Mon.), 2 p.m.

3. Place: Science Building #3 Room 302
(Seminar room)

4. Topic: Nanoscale observations of
molecular interactions under tension

Biological phenomena can be broken down
to coordinated interactions of molecules. By directly observing such
interactions at the single-molecule level, nanoscale techniques allow a
quantitative monitoring and description of both equilibrium and non-equilibrium
systems. In particular, recent advances in single-molecule force spectroscopy
enabled scientists to include mechanical force as another thermodynamic
variable that can be precisely controlled. In this talk, I will introduce novel
analytical methods I developed for new types of single-molecule measurements.
These techniques combine nanofabrication, microfluidics, fluorescence
microscopy, and magnetic tweezers to interrogate nucleic acids, proteins, and
their complexes. Applications of these methods often revealed the unexpected
nature of a molecular interaction. For example, SNARE complexes that govern the
exocytosis of synaptic vesicles were found to operate under a narrow range of
mechanical tension, likely tuned to the repulsive force between the fusing
phospholipid membranes. Expanding the toolkit for mechanobiology, I propose to
investigate the response of cells toward mechanical stimuli through a
multiscale approach at the levels of signaling molecules, cytoskeleton, and
cellular network.