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Scientific Program

Scientific Program – 2023 Carolina Biophysics Symposium 

 

Thursday, November 9, 2023 (Cellular Biophysics / Intracellular and Extracellular Matrix) 

8:00 – 8:50 AM:  Registration 

8:50 AM:  Welcoming remarks 

9:00 – 10:30 AM: Cellular Biophysics (session chair: Rebecca Berlow ) 

  • 9:00 – 9:30: Kevin Slep (UNC) 
    • “Spectraplakins: Co-regulating the F-actin and microtubule networks”
  • 9:30 – 10:00: Rich Superfine (UNC) 
    • “Forces in Phagocytosis”
  • 10:00 – 10:30:  Joe Rodriguez (NIEHS) 
    • “The enhancer of a hypervariably expressed gene exhibits dynamic transcriptional states”

10:30 – 10:50 AM: Coffee / Snack Break 

  • 10:50 – 11:20: Lisa Racki (Scripps) 
    • “Polyphosphate condensates: riders and drivers of bacterial chromatin dynamics”
  • 11:20 – 11:35:   Chelsea Yang (UNC)
    • “Using advanced microscopy techniques to study the effects of liquid-liquid phase separated condensates on the nuclear environment”
  • 11:35 – 12:05:  Caroline Laplante (NC State) 
    • “Tension at the furrow: The forces that divide a mother cell”

12:05 PM – 1:15 PM: Lunch 

1:15 – 2:15 PM: Poster Session 

2:15  – 3:30 PM: Intracellular and Extracellular Matrix (session chair: Martin Guthold) 

  • 2:15 – 2:45: David Sherwood (Duke) 
    • “A fluorescent basement membrane toolkit in C. elegans reveals dynamic matrix properties”
  • 2:45 – 3:00: Mohammad Ashhar Iqbal Khan (UNC) 
    • “Molecular Basis and Cellular Functions of Vinculin-Actin Directional Catch Bonding”
  • 3:00 – 3:30: Jim Sellers (NIH) 
    • “Stepping out with myosin 5”

3:30 – 4:00: Coffee / Snack Break 

  • 4:00 – 4:30: Jack Linehan (UNC) 
    • “Unique kinetics in developmentally programmed actomyosin rings of the C. elegans oogenic germline suggest distinct closure mechanisms”
  • 4:30 – 5:00: Mary Elting (NC State) 
    • “From closed mitosis to ultrafast contraction: how cytoskeletal forces reshape membrane-based structures”
  • 5:00 – 5:30: Martin Guthold (Wake Forest) 
    • “Mechanical properties of dry and wet electrospun human fibrinogen fibers and mats”

  

Friday, November 10, 2023 (Proteins at the Membrane / Protein Nucleic Acid Interactions) 

9:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Proteins at the Membrane (session chair: Pei Zhou) 

  • 9:00 – 9:30:  Huanghe Yang (Duke) 
    • “Structure and function of membrane ion and lipid transport”
  • 9:30 – 9:45:  Vincent Silverman (UNC)
    • “Pore hydration in the function of de novo designed proton channels” 
  • 9:45 – 10:15:  Seok-Yong Lee (Duke) 
    • “Structural Basis of Heat Sensing by TRPV1”

10:15 – 10:35  Coffee / Snack Break 

  • 10:35 – 11:05: Karen Fleming (JHU) 
    • “Visualizing unfolded membrane proteins and their interactions with chaperones”
  • 11:05 – 11:35: Jeanne Stachowiak (Texas) 
    • “Intrinsic disorder as an organizing principle for membrane biology”
  • 11:35 – 12:05: Rick Baker (UNC) 
    • “Structural studies of peripheral membrane proteins using lipid nanodiscs”

12:05 – 1:00 PM: Lunch 

1:00 – 1:45 PM: Poster Session 

1:45 – 2:45 PM: Protein – Nucleic Acid Interactions (session chair: Sharonda LeBlanc) 

  • 1:45 – 2:15:  Traci Hall (NIEHS) 
    • “Intra- and inter-molecular intrinsically-disordered regions govern C. elegans germline RNA-binding proteins”
  • 2:15 – 2:45: Sharonda LeBlanc (NC State) 
    • “Time-resolved molecular mechanisms of essential biological pathways”
  • 2:45 – 3:15:  Kirill Afonin (UNC Charlotte) 
    • “Locking and unlocking biological functions of extracellular proteins with immunoquiescent nucleic acid nanoparticles”

3:15 – 3:35 PM: Coffee / Snack Break 

  • 3:35 – 4:05: Hong Wang (NC State) 
    • “High-Speed AFM imaging of dynamic protein conformational changes during DNA binding”
  • 4:05 – 4:20: Zoe Wright (NIEHS/NIH)
    • “Can’t take my eyes off U: Understanding what drives nsp15’s preferences in dsRNA substrates”
  • 4:20 – 4:50: Robert McGinty (UNC) 
    • “Molecular mechanisms of chromatin recognition”