School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Date: 9 April 2024 (Tuesday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road

Speaker: Dr. Maxim Molodtsov, Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
Talk Title: Molecular mechanics of the DNA and cytoskeleton rearrangements during cell cycle

Biography

Maxim graduated from the Physics Department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia with degree in biophysics and then continued his studies at the Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Department of the University of Colorado Boulder in US. After PhD he spent some time away from science, but later started postdoctoral position in the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria. Since 2019, Maxim is a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute - a biomedical research centre in London, UK, and simultaneously a lecturer at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London (UCL).

Abstract
Three-dimensional organization and physical rearrangements of DNA and chromosomes are essential for correct gene regulation, repair, recombination, and cell division. However, molecular mechanisms underlying mechanics of these processes remain poorly understood. My group uses combination of single-molecule microscopy, force-spectroscopy, cell biology and computational modelling to investigate how individual motor and non-motor molecules inside cells integrate their mechanical forces to provide accurate and reliable organization of the DNA and mitotic spindle. In this talk, I will share two recent stories from our group. In the first, we determined how SMC protein complex cohesin, which is involved in organization of DNA in interphase, generates mechanical forces and moves on DNA; and in the other we discovered new design principle of how cytoskeleton microtubules are rearranged in mitosis to ensure accurate DNA segregation.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Crystal Chan at 3917 6830.