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BioSoft Colloquium:
Feeling the force: molecular mechano-sensors in biological systems
Frauke Gräter
Professor of Molecular Biomechanics,
Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at Heidelberg University and Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies
- begin
- 01 Apr 2021 11:00
- venue
- Remote access
Join us at: www.fz-juelich.de/ibi/TPLMSem
Abstract:
Biological systems sense and respond to mechanical forces. The hallmark of a mechano-sensing molecule is a functional switch when subjected to a mechanical force. I will present results on how we have identified, using Molecular Dynamics simulations in conjunction with single molecule force spectroscopy, protein molecules as new candidates for such mechanical switches.
Copyright: Prof. Frauke Gräter, Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at Heidelberg University and Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies
We more recently also discovered a very different way of ‘feeling the force’ which we propose to be at play in collagen, the most abundant protein of our body: Protein covalent bonds rupture under high forces, resulting in radicals and oxidative stress molecules. I will present simulations and electron-paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments that show how collagen has been designed by evolution not only to carry but also to sense high mechanical loads through mechanically generated radicals.
Contact
Dr. Dmitry Fedosov
