Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University

Exploring and engineering the biological consequences of non-native protein conformations via single-molecule deep sequencing of polypeptides

Non-native protein conformations drive misfolding diseases, complicate protein engineering, and fuel molecular evolution. These conformations have remained largely intractable to experimental investigation. How to map a given protein’s full conformational space, in vitro and in vivo? How to determine each conformer’s consequences for the protein’s function and the organism’s fate? And how to mold this conformational landscape for biomedical purposes, like new antimicrobials or anti-misfolding vaccines? I will first share a specific example of how a disulfide-trapped non-native protein conformation can lead to loss of vision due to cataracts, and how the eye has evolved to resist it. I will then describe a new technology for revealing protein conformation-phenotype relationships via “deep” disulfide scanning and highlight the importance of single-molecule protein sequencing for this capability 

Google Scholar Link

Host:  Gabor Balazsi

​This will be a hybrid seminar but we hope that you will join in person. 

In person: ​Laufer Lecture Hall 101​

Or join Zoom​:  https://stonybrook.zoom.us/j/95877801348?pwd=cnMwRGpXdWdQQWpqSjJ3bUl5OWI3dz09