Qi Zhang
RNA in Action: Bring RNA Structure to Life
Abstract:
The discovery of regulatory RNAs with diverse activities in gene expression and regulation has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of RNA functions in cellular physiology and disease. Despite this progress, a critical gap remains in elucidating the mechanisms underlying RNA activities, where these highly dynamic molecules constantly morph between alternative conformations, each triggered by specific cellular signals. These conformational transitions occur across a wide range of timescales, from picoseconds to seconds and beyond; yet, conventional static structures convey little of this dynamic nature that is crucial for orchestrating their cellular activities. To fully understand RNA biology, we need to reimagine RNA structural biology, viewing RNAs as dynamic ensembles defined by probability distributions of fluctuating conformations, each with a distinct lifetime. In this presentation, I will discuss our recent progress in advancing such an ensemble perspective toward a quantitative and predictive framework for understanding how RNAs harness conformational dynamics and kinetics to drive cellular activities.
Speaker: Qi Zhang, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Dr. Zhang is the Arrel Toews Research and Teaching Distinguished Term Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the Co-Director of the UNC RNA Discovery Center and the Director of the UNC RNA-targeted Innovation in Drug Exploration (RIDE) Program. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Prof. Hashim M. Al-Hashimi and completed postdoctoral training with Prof. Juli Feigon at UCLA as a Baltimore Family Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. His research interests focus on developing and applying biophysical, biochemical, and computational techniques to visualize the dynamic ensemble nature of nucleic acids and nucleic acid-sensing proteins, with the goals of advancing RNA-targeted drug discovery and synthetic biology.
Host: Kwaku Dayie
Seminars start at 4:00 pm, and refreshments will be served at 3:45 pm. All seminars are held in the 2136 Physical Sciences Complex (#415) unless otherwise noted.