From owner-biophysics@net.bio.net Thu Sep 23 21:31:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: DMCGAVIN@biophysics.faseb.org Newsgroups: bionet.prof-society.biophysics Subject: Subgroup Activities Date: 23 Sep 1999 15:31:18 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 44 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: kking@biophysics.faseb.org Distribution: world Message-ID: <7se9nm$idr@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Bioenergetics We are happy to report that attendance at the annual programs presented by the Bioenergetics Subgroup has been steadily increasing in past years. In part, the increase in attendance is a consequence of the timely and provocative topics chosen for the symposia. The subgroups have the unique organizational opportunity to assemble programs of depth and diversity within the larger annual meeting of the Biophysical Society. While the Bioenergetics Subgroup is comprised of approximately 110 registered members, our annual Subgroup symposia attract approximately 300-500 participants to both the morning and the afternoon sessions. The Bioenergetics Subgroup Symposia have become increasingly attractive to participants with a wide range of scientific interests. The unique scheduling of the Subgroup meetings a day prior to the formal Biophysical Society program offers meeting attendees the opportunity to participate fully in the organized program. The day-long format for the Bioenergetics Subgroup 2000 program was chosen from program topics that were originally raised at the Bioenergetics Subgroup Business Meeting in Baltimore. The choice was made to assemble the morning, afternoon and roundtable sessions under the unifying scope of membrane protein structural analyses. This format was realized as a consequence of fruitful communication within the Subgroup constituency, with added input and direction from experts in the field including. William Cramer and Shelagh Ferguson-Miller. The program for 2000 reflects our interest to (re)explore the classical aspects of bioenergetics (oxidative phosphorylation, electron transport, and vectorial metabolite transport) from a structural vantage point. While the primary focus of this program is on mitochondrial proteins and processes, this full-day session is anticipated to be of interest to the broader scientific community. In the past years, the three-dimensional structures of more than 25 membrane proteins have been solved. The vast majority of these proteins are from energy-transducing membranes. While it is important to review the structures of these solved proteins within the context of their substrate or electron-transporting function, it is even more important to consider these proteins as forming the foundation for the hundreds of proteins whose structures are not yet solved. Therefore, we assembled the symposia to represent a progression from the known structures of the electron transport protein(s) bc1 and b6f to the inferred structures of the mitochondrial transporters and finally to the discussion of principles of protein structure and modeling in the roundtable session. It is our hope that this day-long prog! ! ram, which is both timely and f The program Structural Analysis Of Membrane Proteins: Realizing The Mitochondriaós Potential reunites the fundamental and classical principles of modern Bioenergetics with the atomic structures of the proteins that mediate the processes. This full-day program will be offered by the Bioenergetics Subgroup on Saturday, February 12, 2000, in the New Orleans Convention Center at the Societyós Annual Meeting. The program for the 2000 meeting marks the first time that two areas of research have been integrated with the objective of provoking comparisons between membrane proteins whose structures have been determined and transmembrane proteins whose structures are being eagerly pursued. The morning session is dedicated to the process of electron transport (E. Berry and C. Yu, Co-chairs) and is focused upon cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes, multi-subunit membrane proteins whose three-dimensional structures have been solved by crystallization and X-ray diffraction. This session will address the questions of mechanisms of electron transport highlighting the kinetics (C. Yu), substrate binding sites (E. Berry and S. Iwata) and structures of bc1 (C. Hunte) and b6f (C. Breyton and W.A. Cramer) complexes. The afternoon session will explore metabolite transport through structural and functional studies of mitochondrial transporters (R. Kaplan, Chair), a family of membrane proteins that represent model systems for passive transport, yet have resisted crystallization. This session will address the historic aspects of mitochondrial transport (M. Klingenberg), and questions pertaining to mechanisms of transmembrane metabolite transport through the identification of novel carriers (J.E. Walker), the structure and functional studies of the citrate (R. Kaplan) and phosphate (H. Wohlrab) carriers, and a structural analysis of the proteins that comprise the mitochondrial contact sites. The problems»practical, hypothetical, and philosophical»raised in the morning and afternoon sessions will be given a voice in the roundtable session scheduled at the end of the day. The roundtable discussion (Sir John Walker, Chair) is an essential feature of this program and will be composed of platform speakers from the two sessions. The goal of the roundtable is to discuss 1) the major concepts of protein structure and folding using the solved structures as a conceptual scaffold and 2) the practical application of these global lessons that have been gleaned about protein structure towards protein purification, crystallization, and structural modeling. We anticipate that the information in this day-long meeting will provoke discussion and ultimately facilitate future studies whose goals are to solve the three- dimensional structure of membrane proteins. The Bioenergetics Subgroup Symposium is supported by a generous contribution from Anatrace, Inc. »M.W. McEnery, Subgroup Chair ========== Biological Fluorescence - 2000 Meeting Program Arrangements are well underway for the Biological Fluorescence Subgroup February 2000 Meeting in New Orleans, which will feature new and exciting research presentations, our subgroup awards, and roundtable discussion. Roger Tsien, of the University of California, San Diego, and Antonie Visser, of Wageningen University, The Netherlands, have agreed to present talks on their research interests, tentatively entitled, Genetically Encoded Physiological Indicators and Fluorescence and Molecular Dynamics of Flavoproteins, respectively. Of course, the last two speakers of the session will be the winners of the Biological Fluorescence Subgroupós prestigious and coveted Jablonski and Young Fluorescence Investigator Awards. Awards - Spectronic Unicam will again cosponsor the Jablonski Award, presented annually to an established investigator for outstanding fundamental accomplishments in the principles and applications of fluorescence spectroscopy. The awardee receives a $2,500 cash prize. In addition, the awardeeós name will join former recipients Professors Gregorio Weber (1997), Michael Kasha (1998), and Lenny Brand (1999) on the beautiful wood carved Jablonski plaque (http://www.phys.uni.torun.pl/~lum98/ award.html). SPEX/JY/Horiba has generously agreed to continue its support of the Young Fluorescence Investigator Award. This award is based on novel applications of fluorescence spectroscopy to current work in biology and biophysics by a pre-tenure faculty member, and is accompanied by a cash prize of $1,000. Call for nominations will be announced formally in the fall. The deadline for receipt of nominations for these awards is Friday, December 10, 1999. For more information about the nomination procedure, please check our subgroup web page or email me directly (see following page). Roundtable - Our subgroup roundtable topic is focused on Protein/Nucleic Acid Interactions, and promises to be a lively and interesting discussion. Panel participants include: Mary Hawkins, NCI/NIH, Pteridine Nucleoside Analogues*Properties and Applications; Robert Clegg, University of Illinois, Probing the Structures and Functions of Nucleic Acids with Photons David Millar, Scripps Research Institute, Dissecting the Mechanism of DNA Polymerase Proofreading Using Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy Subgroup Web Page - Other news is that the Biological Fluorescence Subgroup web page will be updated (http://www.biophysics.org/biophys/society/subgrps/subgrps.htm). Check out the subgroupós web page for information about the subgroup awards, upcoming fluorescence meetings, including the complete Biophysical Society subgroup 2000 program, subgroup members, and useful links for the fluorescence community. If you have any information that you would like to post, please let me know. Finally, for your information, at a meeting of subgroup chairs held at the last Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, it was decided to feature a booth at the Annual Meeting to promote the various subgroups by displaying their mission statements, officers, list of awards, etc., and material encouraging membership (still only $10 for the Biological Fluorescence subgroup - so donót forget to renew your membership!). This booth will be located adjoining the BJ/Society booth, in the exhibit hall. Be sure to come by and bring your fluorescence friends. All suggestions, news of upcoming meetings, and general information valuable to the fluorescence community are welcome. *Lesley Davenport, Chair LDvnport@brooklyn.cuny.edu ============ Membrane Biophysics - K.S. Cole Award Nominations The Membrane subgroup welcomes nominations for the K.S. Cole Award. The deadline for nominations is September 1, 1999. If you have a suggestion for a future symposium topic or K.S. Cole awardee, please present it to a member of the Advisory Committee: David Dawson, University of Michigan; Sarah Garber, Allegheny University for the Health Sciences; Linda J. Kenney, Oregon Health Sciences University; Joe Hume, University Nevada-Reno; Carol Vandenberg, University of California,Santa Barbara; Doug Eaton, Emory University »David Dawson, 1999/2000 Chair ============= Membrane Structure and Assembly - Member Alert The Membrane Structure and Assembly Subgroup sent an e-mail to subgroup members (past and present) in late July to remind them to include Subgroup dues with their Society dues payments. If you have not yet renewed your membership in the Subgroup or are a past member who has lost his/her way, please renew ASAP. The goal is to increase our member base to include all Society members whose intellectual interests are served by the Subgroup. The Subgroupós purpose is to foster and advance knowledge about the physical properties of lipids and of lipid-protein complexes in biomembranes. As such, its mission should be to provide an intellectual home base for its members in a Biophysical Society that is rapidly growing and expanding its realm of interests. If the Subgroup is at least one of your intellectual homes in the Society, please reaffirm your commitment to this mission both by renewing your membership and by becoming actively involved in your subgroupós activities. The subg! ! roup depends on its members to 2000 Symposium - Again this year, the Subgroup will sponsor an exciting Symposium at the Society meeting entitled Phospholipases and Sphingomyelinases: Enzymology at a Surface with Mike Gelb, John Bell, Rod Biltonen, Mary Roberts, and Felix Goni presenting talks. Following the Symposium, we will have our usual boring business meeting and a new exciting Members Only Mixer. The subgroup will provide refreshments and snacks in the hope of giving us all a chance to renew acquaintances and start discussions that will lead to a more productive meeting. I welcome your input on how to make our mixer a success. Call for Nominations - Finally, members should submit nominations for chair and chair-elect of the subgroup as soon as possible to me (uncbrl@med.unc.edu). Please check with the person whom you plan to nominate before making a nomination. I encourage you to volunteer even! Please participate in this important aspect of the life of your subgroup. The MSAS is its members. Join us and get involved! »Barry Lentz,1999 MSAS Chair ============ Motility The Motility Subgroup will meet in New Orleans on Saturday, February 12 during the Societyós Annual Meeting. An exciting program is being planned entitled Molecular Motors and Their Supporting Cast: Past and Future. Speakers will include: Marie-France Carlier, CNRS, France (Title to be announced); Christine Cremo, Washington State University, Regulation of smooth muscle and nonmuscle myosin II; Lynn Coluccio Boston Biomedical Research Institute, Mechanism of the small mammalian molecular motors, myosins I; Miklos Kellermayer, Pecs University Medical School, The muscular brake: mechanisms of regulating sarcomeric extensibility by titin; Toshio Yanagida, Osaka University Medical School, Myosin neck region does not act as a lever arm but controls velocity and directionality of motion; Steve Block, Stanford University, Nanomechanical studies of single kinesin motors: old and new perspectives Evening speaker - Hugh Huxley, Brandeis University, Trying to understand how muscles contract »Henk Granzier, Program Chair .