All are cordially invited to a special scientific lecture by Prof. Sri Rama Koti Ainavarapu on 5th June 2024 at 11:00 AM in the seminar hall, main building. Prof. Sri Rama Koti is working as an Associate professor in the  Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. He obtained his PhD from TIFR, Mumbai in 2002. He has carried out his Postdoc fellowship from Columbia University, NY, USA. His lab focuses on single-molecule protein folding primarily in context of mechanical stability. He is also working on liquid-liquid phase separation of macromolecules.

Title: Protein Stability, Elasticity and Function: Using Single-Molecule and Ensemble Experimental Approaches

Date and Time: 5th June 2024 at 11 AM

Venue: Seminar Hall, Main Building, CSIR-IMTech

Abstract of the talk:

Proteins are central to living systems and are workhorses of all cellular processes. Our lab has been studying Ubiquitin-like proteins using traditional ensemble spectroscopy-based methods as well as single-molecule methods such as force-based experimental methods. Apart from understanding the structure-stability relation of proteins to understand their biological function, we are uniquely equipped with measuring their mechanical properties such as mechanical stability, stretching forces required to unfold proteins. Mechanical characterization of proteins has implications in understanding the mechanical tissues such as muscle function, intracellular processes such as protein degradation and recycling, and even in understanding the remarkable strength of spider webs and mechanochemistry.  

In this talk, I will introduce single-molecule force spectroscopy and how we use it to address key biological problems, including our latest work on liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins. We have recently shown that folded proteins such as Ubiquitin-like proteins undergo phase separation in the presence of molecular crowders and protein sequence homology play a key role in it. I will present our recent results in this project.