Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Master’s project: Single-molecule fluorescence studies of a membranebound transport machine Solute carrier (SLC) membrane transport proteins control a broad range of vital physiological functions, such as the uptake of nutrients and the transport of ions. SLCs interact with several important drugs, and a quarter of the more than 400 SLC genes are associated with human diseases. Yet, compared to other gene families of similar stature, SLCs are relatively understudied. In particular, for many transporters, the molecular mechanisms underlying substrate transport remain elusive. We have used state-of-the-art single-molecule FRET imaging approaches to visualize the structural dynamics of protein machines in realtime1. Our laboratory is currently applying these approaches to understand the transport dynamics of a transport protein that is of fundamental importance for human health and disease. The main focus of this project is to investigate the conformational/structural dynamics of the transporter during substrate transport. In practice, the project involves: • Carrying out single-molecule FRET experiments to monitor, in real-time, the transport dynamics of individual transporters. • Collecting and analyzing single-molecule trajectories under various experimental conditions • Investigating how binding of the substrate is coupled to its transport and the structural dynamics of the transporter Interested candidates are kindly asked to send their CV to: Assistant Professor Sebastian Deindl ([email protected]), Department of Cell & Molecular Biology 1 Hwang, Deindl, et al., Nature 2014; Deindl et al., Cell 2013