The Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Biology (TCB), Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) will periodically hold a seminar in March 2019. The details are as follows:
Content: 2 reports will be presented in the seminar:
- Isothermal titration calorimetric method in protein-ligand binding study, to be presented by Dr. Trung Hai Nguyen.
- Transport of ion Ca2+ through the trans membrane amyloid α-helix bundles, to be presented by Dr. Son Tung Ngo.
Time: from 14:00 to 16:00 on March 8, 2019;
Venue: Meeting Room C, Ton Duc Thang University; 19 Nguyen Huu Tho, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, TP. Ho Chi Minh.
Language of presentation: English and Vietnamese.
Participants: Scientists, researchers and interested students in this field.
Register with the Organizing Committee before March 7, 2019 via phone: (028)37755037 or email: ngominhhoang@tdtu.edu.vn.
Information about the speakers:
Dr. Son Tung Ngo, Head of TCB Laboratory, Assistant Professor at TDTU. He is the author of more than 27 ISI articles (h-index = 11), with a number of outstanding publications in leading journals such as: Coordination Chemistry Reviews (Impact factor: 14.5), Journal of Physical Chemistry B (Impact factor: 3.2), and the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (Impact factor: 4.2).
Dr. Trung Hai Nguyen, Member of TCB Laboratory. He is the author of more than 20 ISI articles (h-index = 8), including major publications in journals: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Impact factor 9.5), Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation (Impact factor 5.4), and Chemistry – A European Journal (Impact factor 5.1).
Information on the two reports for the seminar:
a) Bayes analysis for ITC data to determine thermodynamic quantities for protein-ligand bonding
Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is an important experimental method in biological physics to measure thermodynamic quantities related to the non-covalent binding process between proteins and ligands as well as between proteins. This is the only method that is able to identify free energy and enthalpy in the same experiment; and thereby allowing us to separate free energy into two separate contributions from enthalpy and from entropy. The traditional method of data analysis based on nonlinear regression yields error estimates smaller than that in reality because it ignores many important sources of experimental errors.
The report introduces a new method of data analysis based on Bayesian Statistics, whereby all types of errors can be taken into account in a posterior probability distribution function. Sampling from the posterior distribution function allows us to accurately estimate the errors of thermodynamic quantities caused by random variations of independently repeated experiments.
b) The latest research results on the transmembrane amyloid α-helix bundles which are capable of transporting Ion Ca2+.
Alzheimer's disease, a common form of neurodegenerative disease, is considered an incurable disease. This affects millions of people worldwide, causing the death of more than 2 million people every year. At the same time, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on medical services and patient care. Many studies have revealed that Aβ can form ion-like structures, which may be related to the disruption of Ion Ca2+ in nerve cells leading to the death of cells. However, detailed information about these transmembrane structures (small mass systems) is still very limited despite many attempts made by scientists over the past 28 years. The main reason is because these structures exist in transient intermediate states. At the same time, they are very flexible.
The report shows the transmembrane structure (of precursor Amyloid of small volume) and the physical mechanism of Ion Ca2+ transported through the channel. The results may be a crucial point in the search for curing Alzheimer.
