CBM seminar: April, Friday 4th, 3PM

[Maria Teresa]

Dear All,

you are kindly invited at next CBM seminar:

Bacterial protein crystals as pure biomimetic nano-molecules and  
other biophysical issues

Prof. Dr. Jose L. Toca-Herrera

CIC biomaGUNE, Biosurfaces Unit

San Sebastian, Spain



April, Friday 4th, 3 pm

Conference Room T1 Building

AREA Science Park, Basovizza (Trieste)

  Moderator: Dr. Silke Krol, CBM


S-layers, one of the most common cell envelope components of  
prokaryotic organisms, represent the simplest biological membrane  
developed during evolution. Once these glyco (proteins) are in  
solution they have the ability to self-assemble into 2-D crystalline  
structures at the air-water interface, on lipid films, on liposomes,  
and on solid supports. These protein layer crystals, which have a  
relevant role protecting cells from external stimuli, are becoming of  
growing importance in nanotechnology due to the possibility of  
engineering functional bacterial fusion proteins, as well as of  
immobilizing nanoparticles and in situ nucleation of ordered two- 
dimensional arrays of (cadmium sulphide) nanocrystals, in the pores  
of the 2-D protein crystal. Recently polyelectrolyte flat surfaces  
and hollow polyelectrolyte capsules have been covered with bacterial  
wild-type and fusion proteins. Soft-lithography has also been used to  
recrystallized wild-type SbpA and two different bacterial fusion  
proteins (with GFP and streptavidine as functional biomolecules), all  
proteins preserving their functionality. Prof. Toca-Herrera's group  
has manipulated the protein-sample interaction by changing in a  
controlled manner the number of methylene units of the OH and CH3  
terminated branches of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). He will show  
that difference in chain length leads to a phase transition from a  
protein bilayer to a protein monolayer, induces preferential side  
adsorption of a protein, and increases the crystal lattice parameters  
(a process that is not observed in bacteria).

Some background on the presenter:
José Luis Toca-Herrera got his degree in (Fundamental) Physics at the  
University of Valencia in 1993. Between 1996-1999 he worked on his  
PhD Thesis at the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and interfaces,  
getting a PhD in Physical Chemistry at Potsdam University in 2000  
(Potsdam). He has worked as postdoctoral researcher at the Technical  
University of Berlin in the group of Gerhard Findenneg, at the  
University of Cambridge in the group of Alan Fersht, and in the  
Center for Nanobiotechnology (Vienna) in the group of Uwe B. Sleytr.  
In June 2004 he went back to Spain as a Research Professor at the  
department of Chemical Engineering of the Rovira i Virgili University  
(Tarragona). Since January 2007 he leads a research group at the  
CICbiomaGUNE focused on biomimetics and biophysics. He has been  
visiting professor at the Centre Nanobiotechnology (Vienna), the  
University of Leipzig and the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and  
Interfaces (Golm) and at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer  
research (Mainz).


For information: CBM - tel. 040 375 7711 - info at cbm.fvg.it


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