Computational characterization of membrane proteins at the atomic level

Wang, Yuhang

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/99496 Copy

Description

Title

Computational characterization of membrane proteins at the atomic level

Author(s)

Wang, Yuhang

Issue Date

2017-11-30

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Tajkhorshid, Emad

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Tajkhorshid, Emad

Committee Member(s)

• Gennis, Robert B.
• Grosman, Claudio
• Ferguson, Andrew L.

Department of Study

School of Molecular & Cell Bio

Discipline

Biophysics & Computnl Biology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

membrane proteins, molecular dynamics, atomic level

Abstract

Membrane proteins are proteins either embedded or located at the peripheral of the biological membrane. The functions of membrane proteins include importing/exporting ions/small molecules into/output of the cell, cellular signaling, cell-cell interactions, etc. Molecular dynamics is a powerful computational tool that can provide an atomic level description of the dynamic interactions between molecules. During my Ph.D., I have studied several membrane proteins, including a membrane transporter (BetP), three ligand-gated ion channels (AMPA receptor, Glycine receptor, and GLIC), and a membrane signaling protein (human T-cell receptor). In these projects, I have uncovered key aspects of the functional mechanism of these proteins, such as active substrate transport, ion permeation, and antigen recognition. In addition, I have developed a new computational methodology for modeling the membrane protein-detergent micelles. I strongly believe that an atomic-level understanding of membrane proteins is essential to meet the challenges in biomedicine.

Graduation Semester

2017-12

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99496

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Yuhang Wang

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