Start
Apr 15, 2009 - 16:00
End
Apr 15, 2009 - 17:00
Venue
Creativity Hall Room No 118
Event Type
Speaker
Dr. Himanshu Khandelia Univ. Southern Denmark Odense
Title
Lipid Gymnastics and Regulation of Ion Pumps
Abstract: Oxidized phospholipids (OXPLs) have recently been implicated in the biogenesis of several diseases including cancer and heart ailments. The biophysical characteristics of OXPLs were investigated using Molecular Dynamics Simulations. The short polar oxidized acyl chains of OXPLs could reverse orientation in lipid bilayers thus presenting reactive functional groups to the lipid interface. Such chain reversal is likely to exert a profound influence on the structure and dynamics of biological membranes and on membrane-associated biological processes. The results from the simulations and implications will be discussed. The Na+-K+ ATPase couples ATP hydrolysis to the export of three Na+ ions and the import of two K+ ions into the cell. It has been proposed that the C-terminus controls the pump’s Na+-binding affinity but the molecular details of the pump’s voltage sensitivity and regulation remain unknown. Combining data from Molecular Dynamics simulations Electrophysiology and Crystallography we propose a novel molecular mechanism of voltage sensitivity and regulation of the pump by the C-terminus.Biography: 2001 Integrated M. Tech. Biochemical Engineering and Technology IIT Delhi 2006 PhD Chemical Engineering Univ. Minnesota 2006-- Post Doctoral Fellow/Research Assistant Professor Center for Membrane Physics MEMPHYS University of Southern Denmark Odense Denmark Won several awards and honors during his student days.