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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Summary Sentence: Chiaolong Hsiao, PhD, and Sandeep Kumar, PhD, presenting
Full Summary: The Graduate and Post-Doc (GaP) Seminar Series is a weekly event of research presentations by two graduate students or post-docs conducting bio-related research. The series is organized and sponsored by the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB) with additional support from the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. It is held every Wednesday at 12:00pm in IBB 1128 and refreshments are provided. If your research group or department would like to present at future seminars, please contact Manu Platt, PhD.
GaP Seminar Series
Chiaolong Hsiao, PhD
Sandeep Kumar, PhDPresenting:
Chiaolong Hsiao, PhD - Advisor, Loren Williams, PhD
"Molecular Paleontology: A Working Biochemical Model of the Ancestral Ribosome"
In this talk, I will present our recent research on ancient biochemistry. Our focus is the ribosome, which is an macromolecular machine that has been functioning for around 3.5 billion years. We are reconstructing (in silico) and resurrecting (in vitro and in vivo) the ancestral ribosome. Our current model of the ancestral ribosome incorporates ~20% of the extant 23S rRNA and fragments of five ribosomal proteins. We test hypotheses that ancestral rRNA can: (i) assume canonical 23S rRNA-like secondary structure, (ii) assume canonical tertiary structure, (iii) form native complexes with ribosomal protein fragments, and (iv) show peptidyl transferase activity.
Footprinting experiments, Gel shift, spectroscopic, and yeast three-hybrid assays support formation of predicted secondary and tertiary structure, and show specific interactions between ancestral rRNA and ribosomal protein fragments. This robustness suggests that the catalytic core of the ribosome is an ancient construct that has survived billions of years of evolution without major changes in structure. Finally, we will show this ancestral rRNA is capable of catalyzing peptide bond formation.
Sandeep Kumar, PhD - Advisor, Hanjoong Jo, PhD
"Role of Flow-sensitive MicroRNA--miR-712 in Atherosclerosis"
We identified miR-712 as a critical flow-sensitive miRNA in the endothelium. Mechanistically, miR-712 downregulated tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP3) that resulted in activation of downstream metalloproteinases thereby stimulating pro-atherogenic responses (endothelial tubule formation and sprouting) in a flow-dependent manner. Treatment with anti-miR-712 reduced plaque formation in two different murine models of atherosclerosis.
