Kavli Research & Enterprise Discussions (K.R.E.D)
Kavli Research & Enterprise Discussions (K.R.E.D)
Our Kavli Research and Enterprise Discussion (K.R.E.D.) will be presented by Professor Yamuna Krishnan and Professor Jack W. Szostak from the University of Chicago.
Date: 16 September 2024
Time: 14:00
Room: Phase 2 - Seminar Room 20-138
This is an event for University staff only.
Professor Yamuna Krishnan's Talk is entitled “Intracellular Electrophysiology”
Her abstract and biography are below.
Abstract
I have been interested in exploring how the ionic milieu within an organelle facilitates its lumenal biochemistry and thereby, organelle function. To map these lumenal chemistries, my lab developed a DNA-based, fluorescent reporter technology to quantitatively map ions such as H+, Cl- and Ca2+ within organelles. We can now interrogate organelles of cells in culture, in live organisms and in human patient cells. Our most recent reporter for absolute membrane potential ended a previous misconception by showing that many organelles do in fact, have membrane potential. Today I will discuss two new reporters for organellar Na+ and K+ : the final pieces needed to build an electrochemical model for organelle membranes. The only existing electrochemical model of a biological membrane is that of the neuronal cell membrane, first developed by Hodgkin and Huxley in 1952. To accomplish this for organelles we will need input from physicists, cell biologists and electrophysiologists.
Biography
Yamuna Krishnan is The Louis Block Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. She has pioneered the interface between DNA nanotechnology and cell biology. Her lab has developed a versatile chemical imaging technology to quantitatively image second messengers in real time, in living cells and genetic model organisms. Using this technology, her lab is discovering new organellar channels and transporters. She is a recipient of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Ono Pharma Breakthrough Science Award, the Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in the Chemical Sciences and the Sun Pharma Foundation Award for Basic Medical Research.
Professor Professor Jack W. Szostak's Talk is entitled “A primordial RNA alphabet?”
His abstract and biography are below.
Abstract
In RNA, the G:C base-pair is much stronger than the A:U base-pair. This results in a strong bias for the incorporation of G and C in nonenzymatic RNA template copying chemistry. However, work from the Sutherland group on potentially prebiotic nucleotide synthesis has suggested that the 2-thio pyrimidines were the (prebiotic) precursors of the canonical pyrimidines. We have found that the 2-thio-U:A and 2-thio-C:I base-pairs are isomorphic and isoenergetic. As a result, template copying with an alphabet of 2-thio-U, 2-thio-C, adenosine and inosine shows less bias in nucleotide incorporation, while maintaining good fidelity. The convergence of plausible synthetic pathways with optimal template copying chemistry suggests that modern RNA may have been preceded by a primordial version based on related but distinct nucleotides.
Biography
Jack W. Szostak is a University Professor and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Szostak’s early research on telomere structure and function and the role of telomere maintenance in preventing cellular senescence was recognized by the 2006 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In the 1990s Dr. Szostak and his colleagues developed in vitro selection as a tool for the isolation of functional RNA, DNA and protein molecules from large pools of random sequences. Dr. Szostak’s current research interests are in the laboratory synthesis of self-replicating systems and the origins of life.
