Title: Towards elucidating protein structure and dynamics using ion mobility spectrometry / mass spectrometry methods: From small proteins to variants of viral spike protein complexes.
Bio: Christian Bleiholder is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Florida State University with a D.Sc. in Chemistry (2007, University of Heidelberg & German Cancer Research Center). Using theoretical methods, he investigated non-covalent self-assembly of Group VI elements with Rolf Gleiter and peptide fragmentation in mass spectrometry-based proteomics methods with Sándor Suhai. During his post-doctoral research with Michael T. Bowers (University of California, Santa Barbara), he applied ion mobility / mass spectrometry methods to study formation and inhibition of amyloid fibrils implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease. Current research focuses on development and applications of tandem-trapped ion mobility spectrometry and computational ion mobility methods for elucidation of protein structure and dynamics. His awards include a fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation (2008-2010), a Postdoctoral Research Award from the American Chemical Society (2011), and a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (2017).
Abstract: The structural and functional diversity of proteins required for cellular function is accomplished through the formation of proteoforms, different molecular forms of a protein which arise from mechanisms such as alternative splicing. Despite significant advances in biophysical techniques, however, it remains challenging to identify how changes in protein primary structure alter protein function through modulation of their higher-order structures and dynamics. We discuss our progress towards elucidating how changes of the amino acid sequence and post-translational modification of proteins modulate their structural heterogeneity and dynamics using the experimental and computational ion mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry methods developed in our laboratory. We present a number of case studies that range from small benchmark proteins, such as ubiquitin and ribonuclease A/B, to increasingly more complex systems including the avidin tetramer, monoclonal antibodies, and variants of the full-length trimeric spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.
Host: Prof. Ying Ge