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Biophysics Colloquium - Multiscale modeling of G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 4:00pm

Clark Hall, 700
Central Campus

Biophysics colloquium with Alan Grossfield from University of Rochester Medical Center.
Abstract: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are integral membrane proteins critical to a variety of signaling tasks. Roughly one fourth of all drugs target GPCRs, underscoring their biomedical importance. Rhodopsin, the dim-light receptor in the mammalian vision system, has been studied extensively by both experimental and computational means. However, much remains to be learned about the mechanism of rhodopsin. For this reason, my group used molecular modeling techniques to understand the relationship between structure, dynamics, and environment in controlling rhodopsin function. We utilized microsecond-scale all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of rhodopsin and opsin to explore the role played by the ligand, in hopes of better understanding the mechanism of allostery. Additionally, we used coarse-grained molecular dynamics, a faster but less detailed approach, to explore the interactions between rhodopsin and the surrounding lipid matrix, an unusual composition rich in polyunsaturated lipid chains and cholesterol. The results confirm our belief believe that there is no such thing as the "best" modeling method, but rather different techniques are optimal under various circumstances, depending on the scientific question.

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Event Type

Seminar

Departments

LASSP

Tags

lassp

Website

http://www.biophysics.cornell.edu/sem...

Contact E-Mail

je277@cornell.edu

Contact Name

Jim Entwood

Contact Phone

5-8101

Speaker

Alan Grossfield

Speaker Affiliation

University of Rochester Medical Center

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