Biomolecular Sciences Seminar Series

Dr. David M. Leitner

Title: Energy Flow in Proteins

Abstract: Proteins are molecular machines of the cell. Energy flow during chemical reactions in proteins mediates the evolution and rate of the reaction and contributes to regulating the temperature of the cell. I will discuss the nature of energy flow in proteins during reactions from a perspective that accounts for protein geometry and structural dynamics and will compare with results of recent time-resolved spectroscopic measurements, which are providing detailed information about this process. Finally, I will discuss thermal transport properties of proteins, which yield insight into experimental results that appear to indicate local heating arising from some chemical reactions in the cell.

Host: Dr. Konrad Meister