“Understanding ETS transcription factors: from ordered domains to disordered sequences,” by Dr. Desmond Lau, McIntosh Lab.
Monday, June 12th, 2017, 3:00 pm, LSC #3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
BMBDG Seminar: PhD Exit Seminar – Desmond Lau
BMBDG Seminar – Peter Tieleman
“Lateral lipid organization in Model membranes,” by Peter Tieleman, Professor, Biochemistry, University of Calgary.
Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at 3:00 pm. LSC #3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall.
BMBDG Seminar – Kristin Baetz
“Expanding the biological roles of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae KAT NuA4 through systems biology,” by Kristin Baetz, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology and Director of Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, University of Ottawa.
Monday, June 5th, 2017 at 3:00 pm, LSC #3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall.
Desmond Lau – Doctoral Exam
“Understanding ETS transcription factors: from ordered domains to disordered sequences,” by Desmond Lau, PhD Candidate, McIntosh Lab.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 12:30 pm Room 207, Anthropology and Sociology Building, 6303 North West Marine Drive.
BMBDG Seminar – Selena Sagan
“Host and Viral Determinants of Viral RNA Accumulation: from Hepatitis C Virus to Zika Virus”, Selena Sagan, Assistant Professor, McGill University.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) represent a significant threat to global health. As positive-sense RNA viruses, their viral genome itself must serve as a template for viral translation, replication, and packaging. However, how these viruses coordinate and regulate uses state-of-the-art approaches to study RNA-RNA and protein-RNA interactions important to the life cycle of these viruses. We aim to understand: Which regions of the genome mediate these events? How are these events regulated? What host/viral factors are involved? How can we interrogate these protein-RNA and RNA-RNA interactions on a genome-wide scale? How can we interfere with these processes? What can this teach us about cellular RNA regulation? This research will further our understanding of viral RNA accumulation, host-virus interactions, novel mechanisms of RNA regulation, and may provide new avenues for antiviral intervention for these important human pathogens
Hosted by Dr. Eric Jan
Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 10:00 am, LSC#3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall.
Seminar Series – Robert Walters
“Control of gene expression by novel RNA modifications and cytoplasmic sequestration,” by Robert Walters, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado.
Hosted by Dr. Leonard Foster
Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 10:00 am, LSC #3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, UBC
Seminar Series – Sheila Teves
“Transcriptional memory through the cell cycle.” by Sheila Teves, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkley.
Epigenetic maintenance of cell-type specific transcription programs is a key component of cell identity. However, this maintenance is challenged during mitosis in at least three ways. First, the transcription machinery is inactivated, leading to global transcription inhibition. Second, chromatin compacts into highly condensed mitotic chromosomes resulting in decreased DNA accessibility. Third, transcription factors (TFs) are believed to be excluded from mitotic chromosomes. Following mitosis, how do daughter cells faithfully re-establish the cell-type specific transcription program? Recent discoveries that a select set of TFs remain bound on mitotic chromosomes suggest a potential mechanism for maintaining transcriptional programs through the cell cycle termed mitotic bookmarking. I will discuss the roles of sequence-specific TFs and the general Pol II machinery in facilitating transcriptional memory in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Hosted by Dr. Leonard Foster
Monday, May 8, 2017 at 10:00 am, LSC#3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, UBC.
Seminar Series – Nami Tajima
“Molecular mechanisms of NMDA receptor function and regulation,” by Nami Tajima, Post Doctoral Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY.
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) belong to a class of ionotropic glutamate receptors that are crucially involved in brain development and function, and NMDAR dysfunction is implicated in various neurological diseases. Although NMDAR structures representing inhibited states are available, there is no clear understanding of how conformational alteration in the extracellular domains regulate NMDAR activity. In my talk I will describe the first structural evidence for conformational alteration of the NMDARs and how the NMDARs are activated and inhibited. To understand the regulation mechanisms above, I conducted structural and functional studies. First I present the first structural evidence for conformational alteration in the NMDAR ATD wherein the bilobed structure of the ATD opens and closes. On the basis of structure-based mutagenesis coupled to electrophysiology, I show that stabilization of open and closed cleft conformations leads to activation and allosteric inhibition, respectively. In order to understand the conformational change in the context of full length, we obtained the intact NMDAR structure in an active conformation by cryo-electron microscopy in the absence of inhibitors. These studies allow us to uncover the conformational change in multiple domains and molecular mechanisms.
Hosted by Dr. Leonard Foster
Thursday, May 18 at 10:00 am. LSC#3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
Seminar Series – Alexander I. Taylor
“Beyond DNA & RNA Synthetic Genetic Polymers,” by Alexander I Taylor, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge University, UK.
Two of the hallmarks of life, heredity and evolution, can be recapitulated in the test tube using a series of synthetic alternatives to DNA composed of non-natural building blocks, ‘xeno nucleic acids’ (XNA). We have recently established a range of XNA synthetic genetic systems and are beginning to explore the potential of artificial chemical scaffolds to evolve functional phenotypes, ligands (XNA ‘aptamers’) and enzymes (‘XNAzymes’), as well as their application as novel materials for nucleic acid nanotechnology. Our results demonstrate that fundamental biological phenomena – molecular recognition, catalysis and self-assembly of 3D structures – can be performed by a variety of alternatives to nature’s biomolecules, suggesting the possibility of life based on other chemistries (‘xenobiology’) and underscoring the potential for XNAs with structures and physicochemical properties divergent from DNA and RNA to provide a wide range of novel tools and technologies for research, biotechnology and medicine.
Hosted by Dr. Leonard Foster
Monday, May 15, 2017 at 10:00 am, LSC #3, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
Seminar Series – Sarah Cohen
“Organelle Dynamics and Fatty Acid Trafficking” by Sarah Cohen, PhD, Visiting Fellow, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.
Monday, May 1, 2017, LSC#3, 10:00 am, hosted by Dr. Leonard Foster.