MSL Seminar Series: September – Invited Speaker Dr. Mike Harms

Talk title: The evolution of multi-conformation proteins

Speaker: Dr. Mike Harms
Member, Institute of Molecular Biology; Associate professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Oregon 

Host: Dr. Nobuhiko Tokuriki

This seminar will be presented in a hybrid format. Audience members are welcome to attend either in person or via the zoom link. Those connecting via zoom will be able to ask questions during the Q&A portion using the chat function.

Zoom registration link: https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/SdClJQrDQPmvLU8ENaVPTw

Abstract:
My lab is fascinated with protein evolution. How does a random process assemble complex protein functions? How do the biophysics of proteins shape that process? We ask these questions using a combination of experimental and computational approaches. In my talk, I will discuss ongoing work in our lab to understand how a protein functional site evolved de novo in an innate immune protein. We found this occurred through a truncation, followed by mutations that reshaped the protein’s conformational energy landscape. I will also discuss some recent theoretical and experimental work to understand how conformational energy landscapes lead to epistasis between mutations. This helps us understand biophysical constraints on protein evolutionary trajectories and provides a route to build predictive models of mutational effects for protein engineering.