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SUMMARY:Experiments on cytoskeletal and “Recombinase” motors - Dr Giov
 anni Cappello\, Institut Curie\, France
DTSTART:20090116T141500Z
DTEND:20090116T151500Z
UID:TALK16196@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jurij Kotar
DESCRIPTION:Cells\, both for eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems\, are ther
 modynamically unstable. This instability is essentially allowed by two ele
 ments: on one hand a membrane isolates the cells from the external world\,
  on the other hand many active proteins transform the energy inside the ce
 ll. Molecular motors represent a major family of these proteins: the enzym
 es catalyze ATP hydrolysis\, transforming ATP into the more stable ADP. Du
 ring the hydrolysis reaction the chemical energy stored in ATP is transfor
 med in mechanical power. Hundreds molecular motors are involved in cell mo
 tility  (migration\, muscle contraction\, hearing.)\, intracellular transp
 ort\, organelle dynamics\, mitosis\, and DNA replication and transcription
 .\nWe focus on two “motors”: using a new generation of magnetic tweeze
 rs we investigate the dynamics of the Recombinase hRad51. This enzyme prom
 otes the homologous recombination (HR)\, i.e. the strand exchange between 
 two DNA molecules of identical sequence. HR is the base of two vital mecha
 nisms: the DNA repair\, which preserves the genetic integrity\, and the DN
 A shuffle\, which introduces genetic diversity and evolution.  During this
  seminar\, we also discuss our first attempts to bring the single molecule
  approach inside the cell.\n\n
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory
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