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Force Talk: Professor Sander Tans - Protein processing at the single-molecule level

Online

12FebBackground of DNA strand with logos of King's College London and the Leverhulme Trust and text Force Talks Mechanics of Life Leverhulme DSP seminar seriesPart of Force Talks

 

Join Professor Sander Tans of AMOLF for a research seminar as part of the Force Talk series exploring mechanobiology entitled "Protein processing at the single-molecule level".

Abstract

I will cover two topics if time allows. In the first, I will show how we combine optical tweezers and sequencing approaches to show that two ribosomes jointly produce protein dimers. Specifically, co-translational ribosome pairing allows their nascent chains to ‘chaperone each other’, thus limiting misfolding. Ribosome proximity in early translation stages is critical: when interactions between nascent chains are inhibited or delayed, they become trapped in stable misfolded states that are no longer assembly-competent. In the second, we show for the first time how Cdc48 moves along the ubiquitin chain towards linked proteins. By following single molecules in time, we find that the polypeptide branch points of ubiquitin chains are repeatedly inserted and rejected from the Cdc48 pore in ATP-driven manner, in bursts lasting up to seconds. These results establish the dynamics of ubiquitin chain handling by Cdc48, reveal key hallmarks of kinetic proofreading, and suggest that Cdc48 translocation plays a role in ubiquitin chain selection.

Headshot of Lisa Manning

Speaker

Sander Tans obtained his PhD degree from Delft University of Technology in 1998. After a brief position at IBM, he continued as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. Since 2002 he is based at the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, where he heads the biophysics research group. In 2009 he was appointed professor in molecular and cellular biophysics at Delft University of Technology, within the department of Bionanoscience and the Kavli institute of Nanoscience. Since 2020 he heads the Autonomous Matter Department at the AMOLF institute.

His research is currently focused on single molecule and single cell biophysics, after working in the nanotechnology and solid-state physics fields during his PhD. He has pioneered the use of carbon nanotubes as electronic devices, establishing the first carbon nanotube wire and transistor. Using novel single-molecule biophysics approaches, he discovered how various chaperones fold protein chains, and suppress the protein aggregation that underlies numerous ageing related pathologies. This work is currently extended to visualize chaperone-ribosome interactions and (ubiquitin mediated) protein degradation. He developed various approaches to reveal various cellular growth phenomena, ranging from stochasticity in metabolic networks to spatial competition between bacterial strains, and is increasingly focused on cellular dynamics within organoid systems. His work has appeared in a range of journals including Nature and Science.

Mechanics of Life Leverhulme DSP Force Talks Series

Force Talks is a seminar series hosted by the Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme at King's College London. We are honoured to welcome world leaders in mechanobiology.

The series aims to showcase the rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field of mechanobiology and mechanical forces. We welcome those from academia and industry to attend and take part in the discussions.

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The programme is funded by the Leverhulme Trust doctoral scholarship grant "Understanding the mechanics of life".

Learn more about the Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme

How to join:

This event will take place online via Microsoft Teams. Register for this event to receive the meeting link and be notified of updates.

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At this event

Sergi  Garcia-Manyes

Professor of Biophysics


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