Calendar
Calendar
Seminar Series: Spring 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
4:00 PM, Druckenmiller Room 20
Reception, Room 26 Druckenmiller 3:30-4.
Dr. Robert D. Goldman, Stephen Walter Ranson Professor and chair of cell and molecular biology at The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
"Intermediate Filaments: Essential Elements of Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Structure and Function"
Abstract: Intermediate Filaments (IF) are major constituents of both the nucleoskeletal and cytoskeletal systems of vertebrate cells. It has been estimated that there are over 70 human genes encoding IF proteins and these are expressed in a developmentally regulated fashion. Cytoskeletal IF are known to play important roles in a large number of physiological activities ranging from cell shape determination and maintenance to motility and signal transduction. Nucleoskeletal IF proteins , the nuclear lamins are involved in nuclear size and shape determination, nuclear assembly and disassembly, chromatin organization, DNA replication and transcription. Recently , a large number of different human diseases have been linked to mutations in the genes that encode IF proteins. This is especially true in the case of nuclear lamin-linked diseases, the laminopathies, which cause many disorders including lipodystrophies, muscular dystrophies, cardiomyopathies, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, arthritis and Progeria, a premature aging disease in children.
This presentation is supported by a generous gift from Stephen D. Smith '95 to the Biochemistry Program
Wednesday, April 6th at 4pm in Druckenmiller 20.
Dan Armstrong (Iowa State University. RLC)
"High Efficiency Microbial Analysis, Viability Determination and Antibiotic Screening: The Marriage of Separation Science and Microbiology"
Abstract: It has been recognized for decades that charged colloids and particulate matter will transport in direct current electric fields. However, routine, high efficiency separation and analysis of colloidal or larger particles by electrophoresis has not been as successful as it has for small molecules and macromolecules. Selective, high efficiency separations of intact microbes (e.g., bacteria, viruses, etc.) may, in some cases, allow them to be identified and quantified in much the same way that molecules are done today. Two different capillary electrokinetic approaches can be utilized. The first approach used a dissolved polymer based CE separation that may be affected by the size and shape considerations. Another approach uses capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF).
Remarkably high apparent efficiencies in capillary electrophoresis (CE) can be achieved in the separation of microorganisms and other cells. No deliberate stacking is used in these applications. Seemingly, the investigated living organisms behave differently than molecules under an applied electric field. As will be shown, we can separate, Identify, quantitate and determine the viability of microbial samples in a single run. Using a 488 nm argon-ion laser coupled to a charge-coupled device camera (CCD), it was possible to monitor the migration behavior of stained microorganisms of a length of a 10 cm capillary. In some cases, 60 - 70% of the monitored detection window could be filled with analyte without significant loss in peak efficiency. The effect of pH, polymer concentration, buffer concentration, etc. on the reproducibility of the separation was investigated.
Reference: M. A. Rodriguez and D. W. Armstrong, �gSeparation and analysis of colloidal/nano-particles including microorganisms by capillary electrophoresis: a fundamental review�h, J. Chromatography B, 800 (2004) 7-25.
4/13/05
Gretchen Hicks
of the Maine State Crime Lab
3/30/05
John Papanikolas
(U. North Carolina RLC)
2/23/05
David W Pratt, U Pittsburgh RLC
Molecular Secrets from High Resolution Spectroscopy in the Gas Phase
Recent developments in technology have made it possible to record the rotationally resolved electronic spectra of many large molecules for the first time, revealing heretofore unknown "secrets" their tructures and dynamic behaviors in their ground and electronically excited states. This talk will describe several new applications of this technique to isolated molecules, their van der Waals and hydrogen bonded complexes, and species of biological interest, including a mimic of the A-T base pair in DNA. I also will describe the first measurement of an induced dipole moment in an indole molecule to which water is attached.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Mark Peczuh, University of Connecticut
Recognition of Ring Expanded Carbohydrates by Concanavalin A
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Dr. Robert de Levie
Visiting Coles Scholar & Adjunct Professor Bowdoin College
"Fun and Games with Chemical Numbers"
A smorgasbord of numerical topics will be served, in portions light and small enough to prevent indigestion. Among the fare to be sampled: some JChemEd software; a holistic look at error propagation; phantom relations; algorithmic accuracy; and numerical and experimental precision.
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Howard R. Mayne
Professor of Chemistry
University of New Hampshire
Atmospheric Chemistry in New England:
AIRMAP and the View from New Hampshire