Mechanical characterization of Protein Interactions

During thhis project I will investigate the interactions responsible for maintaining functional protein networks in the basement membrane, a specialized tissue surrounding epithelial cells. By utilizing the recently developed centrifuge force microscope of the hosting research group I will investigate the strength and lifetime of the forces between head domains of the important protein in the basement membrane, collagen type IV. Such forces have not been measured so far and doing so could give insight into how these cellular support and filtration barriers achieve their biological function under pressure. The centrifuge force microscope is a single molecule manipulation tool that offers the advantage of investigating multiple individual interactions parallel, meaning instead of measuring only a handful of interactions per day compared to traditional manipulation tools thousands of interactions can be measured per day.

Faculty Supervisor:

Nancy Forde

Student:

Partner:

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: