chemistry microbiology chemical engineering molecular ... · biochemistry & molecular biology ....

Participating Faculty & Students From: Chemistry

Microbiology Chemical Engineering

Molecular & Cellular Biology Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Polymer Science & Engineering Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Neuroscience & Behavior Program

• Promote training and research in areas that cross the interface between chemistry and biology. • Train chemists to speak the language of biology. • Train biologists to speak the language of chemistry.

MISSION

UMass CBI Alumni have gone to positions in Industry Universities 3M Harvard University Abbott Laboratories MIT Albany Molecular Tufts University Biogen Idec UCLA Exxon Mobil University of Pennsylvania Protein Attachment Technologies University of Virginia National Labs/Government Agencies Research Hospitals Department of Energy Baystate Medical Center Food and Drug Administration Mass General Hospital Lawrence Livermore National Labs St. Jude Children's Research Hospital National Institutes of Standards and Technology National Institutes of Health

CURRICULUM Goal: CBI training with fewest possible additional requirements Monthly CBI Chalk Talk

Lunch, pizza, informal presentation by 1-2 CBI labs, avg ≈ 80 attendees. Chemistry/Biology courses

One from each list. Rotations

Flexible to mesh with each program’s requirements. Drug Design

Weekly speakers from pharmaceutical industry. Ethics Workshop

May workshop, case study/discussion format. Student Seminar

Student-run, short talks on research & techniques. Journal Club

Student-run, presentations on seminars from affiliated departments.

WHO ARE WE? 31 CBI Faculty from five departments: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Chemistry Chemical Engineering Polymer Science & Engineering Veterinary & Animal Sciences 60+ CBI Student Program Members are drawn from the departmental graduate programs and the graduate program in Molecular & Cellular Biology

Structural Biology & Mechanisms of

Proteins & Nucleic Acids

Molecular Machines

and Pathways in the Cell

Novel Molecules for

Biomedicine and Biotechnology

RESEARCH

In the CBI Program we study …

How proteins fold correctly or misfold in diseases

Lila Gierasch How do chains of amino acids fold into the unique structures of active proteins --- in the test tube and inside the cell?

Igor Kaltashov How does ligand binding alter protein stability and folding pathways?

Richard Vachet What are the molecular features of the early stages of protein amyloidosis?


How proteins deal with stress

Peter Chien How do proteases tailor the proteome of the cell?

Elizabeth Vierling How do molecular chaperone machines protect cells?

95 Å

Danny Schnell How do proteins know where to go inside the cell?

How proteins are sorted and targeted by cells

Dan Hebert How are misfolded proteins identified and degraded by the cell?


Active conformation of p53 binds DNA and enhances

transcription of target genes

Joe Jerry Tumor suppression by p53


How proteins, DNA and RNA work in molecular machines.

Craig Martin Transcription - dissecting structure/function in a complex molecular process

RNA polymerase initiates at a unique site


How proteins translocate and repair DNA.

M. Muthukumar How does DNA/RNA translocate through protein channels?

ssDNA translocating through α-hemolysin channel

Min Chen How to control the translocation of DNA/RNA through protein channels?

Forces acting on the dsDNA translocating through cytolysin A channel

Mike Maroney How are metallocenters assembled? How are metals used to catalyze biological reactions?


How nature uses metals to do chemistry.

Mike Knapp How do metalloenzymes oxidize proteins and metabolites? Can we control this chemistry?

Bob Weis How do ligand-protein and protein-protein interactions integrate and amplify the signals?

Lynmarie Thompson How are ligand-induced conformational changes propagated across the membrane to activate an enzyme?

.


How membrane proteins transmit information into cells.

Bacterial chemotaxis receptor

.


Quantitative measurement of membrane transport.

Matt Holden

How proteins mediate interactions between cells...

Type III Translocation

… for infections:

Alejandro Heuck How do bacteria form pores in eukaryotic membranes?


… to form memories: Jim Chambers

Can we make molecules that probe and control cells in vivo to understand neural pathways?

Maria Santore How can we manipulate cellular behavior via adsorbed protein conformations?

Greg Tew How can we design amphiphilic surfactants to selectively disrupt bacterial membranes?


How to use surface chemistry to control cells.


How to harness cells and molecules for medicine.

Susan Roberts How can we optimize the plant cell culture production process for paclitaxel synthesis?

Vince Rotello Can we recognize biomacromolecules for biological and therapeutic applications?


How to harness cells and molecules for medicine.

S. Thayumanavan

Nate Schnarr How can we engineer multienzyme complexes to produce novel molecules for pharmaceutical applications?

Michelle Farkas How can we use chemical biology methods to understand cancer progression?

How can we deliver chemotherapeutic molecules specifically to tumor cells?


How to engineer environments to understand cancer progression.

Neil Forbes How can chemical engineering principles be used to study tumor formation and treatment?

Shelly Peyton How are different cell types able to process information from biochemical and biophysical cues from the extracellular matrix (ECM) and make decisions about migration and phenotype?


How to create materials that kill some cells and help others

Jessica Schiffman Can we synthesize biopolymer materials that kill microbial cells while encouraging mammalian cell proliferation?


Jeanne Hardy How can we engineer allosteric sites to control apoptotic proteins?

Scott Garman How can we use structural biology of glycoproteins to design better treatments for human diseases?

How to exploit protein-ligand interactions for medicine

Biophysical chemistry Bioanalytical chemistry

Bioorganic chemistry Bioinorganic chemistry

Biochemistry

We synthesize organic and inorganic model compounds that mimic enzyme active sites, that we can harness to probe or control biological systems.

We use x-ray crystallography, NMR, EPR, mass spectrometry, fluorescence, and calorimetry to investigate protein structures and mechanisms, to measure thermodynamics and kinetics of protein folding and catalysis.

We use molecular biology, genetics, and a wide array of biochemical techniques to express and alter proteins, determine their role and binding partners in the cell, to assemble molecular machines.

In the CBI Program we use …

A variety of chemical tools to address biological questions.

CBI Curriculum CBI courses

• Monthly Chalk Talks • Drug Design • Ethics Workshop • Student Seminar • Journal Club

Cross-training • Chemical science elective • Biological science elective

Special CBI Seminars

CBI Retreat

CBI Traineeships

CBI Travel Grants

For more information: www.umass.edu/cbi [email protected]

In the CBI Program we have …

Lederle Graduate Research Center

chemistry microbiology chemical engineering molecular ... · biochemistry & molecular biology ....

Documents