Biochemistry Seminar: Professor F Ulrich Hartl – Department of Cellular Biochemistry, Max Planck – Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany

The past two decades have witnessed a paradigm shift in our understanding of cellular protein folding.

While the three-dimensional structures of functional proteins are determined by their amino acid sequences, we now know that in the crowded environment of cells newly-synthesized polypeptides depend on molecular chaperone proteins to reach their folded states efficiently and at a biologically relevant time scale.

Assistance of protein folding is provided by different types of chaperone which act to prevent misfolding and aggregation, often in an ATP-dependent mechanism. Once folded, many proteins continue to require chaperone surveillance to retain their functional states, especially under conditions of cell stress. Failure of the chaperone machinery to maintain proteostasis, i.e. the conformational integrity and balance of the cellular proteome, facilitates the manifestation of diseases in which proteins misfold and form toxic aggregates. These disorders include Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease.

I will provide an overview of chaperone functions in protein folding and then discuss recent efforts to visualize chaperone functions in situ in the intact cellular environment.

Streaming details:

Zoom link: https://otago.zoom.us/j/97756704741
Password: bioc

Save this event

• Google Calendar
• Yahoo Calendar
• iCalendar