Supramolecular Machinery: Insights from Elastic Network Models
Ivet Bahar, University of Pittsburgh
February 1, 2008, 11:00AM, NSH 1305
***Note unusual time and place***

Abstract:
Many proteins function as molecular machines. Understanding the principles that control the machinery of biomolecular systems can be a challenge due to the involvement of multiple subunits and cooperative interactions manifested by allosteric changes in conformations beyond the range of atomic simulations. We have developed and utilized low resolution models to explore the collective dynamics of such complex systems, and to bridge structure and function, through the paradigm structure-encodes-dynamics-encodes-function. The elastic network models and methods we introduced to this aim have found utility in many applications and have helped us gain insights into the intrinsic, structure-encoded ability of native structures to energetically favor the reconfigurations between functional substates. An overview of these recent progresses will be presented, along with the application to a few systems.