세미나

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.

Protons In and Out of Proteins: the Role of Protein Fluctuation

2012-03-02l 조회수 853
소속 :
연사 : Prof. Young Min Rhee (Postech, Department of Chemistry)
일시 : 2012-05-10 17:00 ~
장소 : 500동 목암홀
일 시 : 2012년 5월 10일 오후 5시
장 소 : 500동 목암홀

-Abstract-
There are many protein systems that interact with photons. In this presentation, we will discuss how protein fluctuations participate in the dynamics of bioluminescent and photosynthetic proteins. First, our recent theoretical and computational endeavors for modeling the involved chromophores will be presented, together with simple views on their utilities in studying relevant dynamics. On this basis, the dynamics of bioluminescent firefly protein-chromophore complex will be shown with an emphasis on the role of the protein on modulating the luminescence energy. We will compare the significances of the mediating role of water molecules around the luminophore and the tuning role of the protein side chain motions, and show that the protein fluctuation has an immense cooperative influence on the luminescence energy. Next, we will show that there is an interesting contrast in the case of a photosynthetic protein, with markedly different effects on chromophore coupling from the environmental fluctuation. Indeed, in the studied photosynthetic complex, the protein rigidity plays a key role in keeping the entire system coherently coupled over the exciton transfer time scale. The presentation will be concluded by considering their biological meaning and the future prospects in studying related phenomena.