The Department of Biochemistry's weekly BCH 252 seminar series is presented this week by

Alemayehu (Alex) Gorfe, Professor of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Seminar Title: “Membrane interactions and inhibition of the KRAS oncogene”

Abstract: Compared to protein-based membrane targeting motifs, much less is known about the structural and biophysical basis of membrane targeting by the intrinsically disordered lipid-based membrane targeting motifs of small GTPases. In this presentation, I will discuss new insights from molecular simulations and experiments into how the flexible lipid anchor of KRAS recognizes membrane lipids in a conformational ensemble-dependent manner, and its role in the dynamics of the full-length protein on membrane surfaces. I will then briefly discuss our efforts toward the development of small-molecule non-covalent allosteric KRAS inhibitors.

Seminar Host: Dr. Chia-en Chang; chia-en.chang@ucr.edu