Jung-Jae Lee PhD Abstract Imaging techniques are a vital part of clinical diagnostics and biomedical research. Optical molecular imaging makes use of relatively harmless, low-energy light, and technically straightforward instrumentation. Bioluminescence imaging systems, particularly the use of firefly luciferin, are attractive because they have inherently high signal contrast due to...

Silvia Cavagnero, PhD Abstract Despite many recent technical advances in structural biology, the analysis of biomolecules in solution (as opposed to the crystalline, power or vitrified-ice state) at atomic resolution remains challenging. While liquid-state NMR spectroscopy is in principle able to meet this challenge, the wide applicability of this technique...

Scott Horowitz PhD Abstract The complexity of protein folding and unfolding in the cell is staggering, and is affected by many factors. A major factor is the role of RNA as both a chaperone and aggregation-inducer. In this seminar, I will discuss our investigations into which RNAs are important, what...

Joseph Piccirilli PhD Abstract Defining RNA 3D structures can facilitate understanding of how an RNA molecule performs its functions and may provide insight for developing targeted therapeutics. A relatively modest fraction of deposited structures in the PDB database represents RNA and RNA-protein structures, underscoring the difficulties associated with the RNA...

Arun Anatharam PhD Abstract Adrenal chromaffin cells serve a key physiological role as effectors of the sympathetic stress response in the periphery. In situ, chromaffin cell secretion is stimulated primarily by two neurotransmitters: acetylcholine and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP). This causes cells to release important stress hormones, including...