SCIENCE AT THE EDGE SEMINAR

QBI/GEDD

Friday, February 27 at 11:30am

Room 1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg.

Refreshments at 11:15

William T. Heller

Center for Structural Molecular Biology and Chemical Sciences Division,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Small-angle Scattering for Biological Systems in the ORNL Center for Structural Molecular Biology

The use of small-angle scattering (SAS) in the biological sciences is increasing, driven as much by the need to study increasingly complex systems that are often resistant to crystallization or are too large for NMR as by availability of instrumentation and advancements in the modeling of biological structures from SAS data. SAS, whether with neutrons (SANS) or X-rays (SAXS), is a structural probe spanning length scales from Angstroms to hundreds of nanometers. When applied to biological macromolecular complexes in dilute solution, it provides size and shape information. SANS also enables the use of isotopic labeling with contrast variation, making it possible to probe the internal structure of multi-subunit complexes with minimal impact on structure and function. The Center for Structural Molecular Biology (CSMB) constructed and now operates the Bio-SANS instrument at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) as an open-access user facility. The Bio-SANS is supported by facilities for the production and characterization of isotopically-labeled biological materials for neutron scattering experiments at HFIR and the Spallation Neutron Source, the most powerful facility of its kind in the world. The CSMB is also developing computational tools for the analysis and modeling of SAS data of biological macromolecular complexes. In addition to providing a brief overview of the CSMB, examples of the application of SAS to the study of biological macromolecular complexes will be presented, with a particular emphasis SANS studies.

This work was supported by the ORNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and Project KP1102010 of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U. S. Department of Energy, under contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed and operated by UT-Batelle, LLC.

Helen Geiger

Administrative Assistant

Quantitative Biology Initiative/

Gene Expression in Development & Disease

Michigan State University

502B Biochemistry Building

East Lansing, MI 48824

Phone: (517) 432-9895

Fax: (517) 353-9334

E-mail: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]

Web: http://qbmi.msu.edu

http://www.bch.msu.edu/GEDD/index.htm