Macromolecular Structure and Mechanism

本培训项目为研究生提供大分子化学、机理和结构的原理和实践方面的高级教育。该计划的所有方面——正式的课程设置、实验室轮转、非正式的专业领域兴趣研讨会，以及在发现边缘的实验室进行的深入研究——都旨在解决这个问题：生物大分子是如何工作的？蛋白质、膜、核酸和这些大分子的高阶复合体是如何利用物理化学和结构原理在构成生物功能的各种各样的环境中起作用的？该培训计划为布兰代斯大学四个生命科学研究生博士项目中的两个项目的研究生提供支持：生物化学和生物物理学与结构生物学。前者是一个更结构化的项目，主要吸引具有较强化学和生物化学学术背景的学生，而后者是一个更灵活的项目，专为具有较强定量背景但可能较弱的先前生物化学培训经验的学生设计。我们的目的是把这两组学生带到同一个终点，并为他们从事基础研究做好准备。目前有28名在读博士（2008年9月将增加到33名）；该培训计划包括20名参与教师（在四个部门）在以下领域工作：通过x射线晶体学和核磁共振大分子结构测定，机制酶学，膜运输和离子通道机制，单分子分析，高分辨率质谱和蛋白质组学，计算生物物理学。相关性：该项目价值的基本原理是相信人类疾病最终必须从生物大分子的化学和物理角度来理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Summary This Training Program provides graduate students with advanced education in the principles and practice of macromolecular chemistry, mechanism, and structure. All aspects of the program - formal course curriculum, laboratory rotations, informal specialized area-interest seminars, and intensive research in laboratories operating on the edge of discovery - are aimed at the question: how do biological macromolecules work? How do proteins, membranes, nucleic acids, and high-order complexes of these huge molecules use physical-chemical and structural principles to act in the enormous variety of contexts that underlie biological function? The Training Program provides support for selected graduate students in two of the four life-science graduate Ph.D. programs at Brandeis: Biochemistry, and Biophysics & Structural Biology. The former of these is a more structured program that attracts students mainly with strong academic backgrounds in chemistry and biochemistry backgrounds, while the latter is a more flexible program designed for students who have strong quantitative backgrounds but who may have weaker prior training experience in biological chemistry. Our intention is to bring these two groups of students to the same end-point and to prepare them for careers in basic research. Currently, 28 students (which will rise to 33 students in September 08) are enrolled in these two Ph.D. programs; the Training Program includes 20 participating faculty (in four departments) working in the following areas: macromolecular structure determination by x-ray crystallography and NMR, mechanistic enzymology, membrane transport and ion channel mechanisms, single-molecule analysis, high-resolution mass spectroscopy and proteomics, computational biophysics. RELEVANCE: A general rationale for the value of this program is the conviction that human disease must ultimately be understood in terms of the chemistry and physics of biological macromolecules.