Biophysics Lecture

Studies of protein folding have advanced to the point where empirical force fields can fold small proteins on the computer, and many results compare favorably with experiments.  There is still work to be done: more accurate mechanistic descriptions, larger proteins, slower folders.  In the meantime, experiments are looking at the quantitative effects of the biological environment on protein folding.  The interior of the cell modulates the stability and folding kinetics of proteins - and that's even before we consider chaperoning and co-translational folding.  I will demonstrate such effects experimentally.  It remains to be seen whether living organisms use such modulation adaptively.