Mechanical Rigidity of DNA and its Relation to DNA-Protein Interactions

奥斯汀博士正在研究弹性的序列依赖性 DNA的性质及其对特异性的影响 蛋白质-DNA相互作用 这些目标雄心勃勃， 物理学和生物学方法的完全结合。 直到最近，晶体学数据仅可用于 分离的蛋白质或DNA分子，即没有对接在一起 在一个生物复合体中。 因此，特定于站点的模型 蛋白质结合通常具有“锁和钥匙”的性质。 他们试图从一个简单的 刚性和非变构伴侣之间的相互作用。 这 项目将试图表明，弯曲和扭转 在复合时储存在DNA中的菌株在 结合特异性

Dr. Austin is studying the sequence dependence of the elastic properties of DNA and its implications for specificity in protein-DNA interactions. The goals are ambitious and involve the complete integration of physical and biological methodology. Until recently crystallographic data were only available for isolated protein or DNA molecules, that is, not docked together in a biological complex. As a result, models for site specific protein binding have often had a "lock and key" quality. They attempt to understand recognition in terms of a simple interaction between rigid and non--allosteric partners. This project will attempt to show that the bending and torsional strain stored in DNA upon complexation is of equal importance in binding specificity.