Chemistry Graduate Seminar presented by Professor Lynmarie K. Thompson, University of Massachusetts-Amherst;Hosted by: Julissa González

Dr. Lynmarie Thompson is a Biophysical Chemistry professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Director of the Chemistry-Biology Interface Program (CBI). Her work combines biophysical experiments including emerging solid-state NMR methods with biochemical approaches to probe the structure and mechanism of membrane proteins. Please let me know if you would like to speak with her.

thompson@chem.umass.edu

She will be hosted by Julissa Gonzalez from Jorge Colón’s laboratory.

Title: Mechanisms of transmembrane signaling by chemotaxis receptors: Structure and Dynamics by NMR & HDX-MS

Abstract: Bacterial chemotaxis receptors collect information about the environment and use it to direct swimming towards nutrients and away from toxins. These receptors operate in the cell in a complex with the CheA kinase and the CheW coupling protein, which together form remarkable signaling arrays that extend 200 nm in the membrane. We are combining biochemical methods for the assembly of functional, native-like arrays with NMR and mass spectrometry to investigate how the receptor structure and dynamics change during signaling. Our results provide insights into the mechanism of transmembrane signaling and approaches for investigating mechanisms of other proteins within the large multi-protein complexes that are formed in cells.