NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology

这项行动为2008财政年度的NSF生物学博士后奖学金提供资金。该奖学金支持凯文B的研究和培训计划，题为“蛋白质-DNA相互作用的物理基础：DNA张力在改变蛋白质结合中的作用”。伍德教授将在哈佛大学主持会议。蛋白质分子和DNA之间的结合相互作用形成了许多分子生物学的基础。结合的定量物理理解对于开发许多遗传过程的完整图像至关重要，包括DNA转录和遗传调控。在这个项目中，理论和实验技术的结合被用来表征蛋白质与DNA的结合，着眼于理解如何通过外力来改变结合。该项目的具体目标包括开发力调制蛋白质与DNA结合的一般物理模型，使用基于荧光的单分子结合试验测试这些模型，以及继续扩展从单分子数据中提取模型参数的相对年轻的统计方法。由于外部张力可以直接施加到单个DNA分子-无论是在理论上还是在实践中-结合界面对扰动的响应可以定量探测，从而深入了解蛋白质-DNA复合物的基本物理学。严格的建模与统计数据分析和一种新的实验方法的综合提供了一种环境，在这种环境中，模型的发展可以受到实验验证的约束，这意味着理论和经验的推力将相互加强和相互指导。除了研究之外，研究员还积极指导和培训暑期本科生和实验室的研究生轮换。这项研究是在科学会议上提出的，也是在几个缺乏研究生水平科学课程的小型本科院校的互动研讨会上提出的。将公布数据提取的理论模型和方法，并向更广泛的科学界免费公开软件源代码。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Physical Underpinnings of Protein-DNA Interactions: The Role of DNA Tension in Modifying Protein Binding" for Kevin B. Wood who will be hosted by Prof. Sunney Xie at Harvard University. Binding interactions between protein molecules and DNA form the basis for much of molecular biology. A quantitative physical understanding of binding is crucial for developing a complete picture of many genetic processes, including DNA transcription and genetic regulation. In this project, a combination of theoretical and experimental techniques are being employed to characterize the binding of proteins to DNA, with an eye towards understanding how binding can be modified by external forces. Specific goals of the project include the development of general physical models of force-modulated protein binding to DNA, the testing of these models using a fluorescence-based single molecule binding assay, and the continued expansion of the still relatively young statistical approaches for extracting model parameters from single molecule data. Because external tension can be directly applied to single DNA molecules--both in theory and practice-- the response of the binding interface to perturbation can be quantitatively probed, lending insight into the underlying physics of the protein-DNA complex. The synthesis of rigorous modeling with statistical data analysis and a novel experimental approach provides a setting in which model development can be constrained by experimental validation, meaning that the theoretical and empirical thrusts will mutually reinforce and guide one another. In addition to research, the Fellow is taking an active role in mentoring and training summer undergraduate students and graduate rotation students in the lab. The research is presented at scientific meetings and also during interactive seminars at several small undergraduate colleges which lack graduate level science programs. The theoretical models and methods of data extraction will be published, with software source code freely and openly available to the wider science community.