물리학과 특별세미나 개최 안내

1. 연사: 손민주 박사 (서울대학교)
2. 일시: 2020. 1. 20(월), 오후 2시
3. 장소: 공학3동 302호 (세미나실)
4. 제목: Nanoscale observations of molecular interactions under tension

Biological phenomena can be broken down to coordinated interactions of molecules. By directly observing such interactions at the single-molecule level, nanoscale techniques allow a quantitative monitoring and description of both equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems. In particular, recent advances in single-molecule force spectroscopy enabled scientists to include mechanical force as another thermodynamic variable that can be precisely controlled. In this talk, I will introduce novel analytical methods I developed for new types of single-molecule measurements. These techniques combine nanofabrication, microfluidics, fluorescence microscopy, and magnetic tweezers to interrogate nucleic acids, proteins, and their complexes. Applications of these methods often revealed the unexpected nature of a molecular interaction. For example, SNARE complexes that govern the exocytosis of synaptic vesicles were found to operate under a narrow range of mechanical tension, likely tuned to the repulsive force between the fusing phospholipid membranes. Expanding the toolkit for mechanobiology, I propose to investigate the response of cells toward mechanical stimuli through a multiscale approach at the levels of signaling molecules, cytoskeleton, and cellular network.