Physical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Megan Thielges, Indiana University

"Conformations and Dynamics of Protein Molecular Recognition"

About the Seminar:

Characterization of protein molecular recognition is challenged by both the spatial heterogeneity of proteins and the rapid interconversion of potentially important conformational states. Our group combines the inherent temporal resolution of linear and two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy with the spatial resolution afforded by site-selective incorporation of vibrational reporter groups that provide frequency-resolved absorptions to characterize changes in local environments in proteins. I will share several vignettes about our application of this approach toward understanding the molecular recognition of protein systems: Src homology 3 domain recognition of proline-rich motifs, cytochrome P450cam regioselectivity, and plastocyanin recognition by cytochrome f. Our studies resolve rapid dynamics at specific locations in the proteins and implicate their importance to the proteins’ function.

About the Speaker:

Megan Thielges received her B.S. at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) in 2003. She completed graduate training in biophysics funded by a NSF Graduate Fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA) where she earned a Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Floyd E. Romesberg in 2009. She went on to a NSRA-funded postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Michael D. Fayer at Stanford University. In the summer of 2012 she joined the faculty at IU where she is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. The Thielges group focuses on understanding the role of protein conformations and dynamics in their function by applying linear and multidimensional infrared spectroscopy in combination with protein labeling.