SPring-8, the large synchrotron radiation facility

Date&Time: 14:00 - 15:30, 3 Feb, 2004

Speaker: Dr. Motomu Tanaka
Affiliation:
Emmy Noether Project Leader of Biophysics
Dept. Phys., Tech. Univ. Munich, Garching, Germany

Abstract
　　Surfaces of plasma membranes are rendered with glycocalix, which are oligo- and polysaccharide chains adjacent to glycolipids, peptidoglycans, and glycoproteins. They are serving as stabilizers to retain plasma membrane structures as well as "repellers" to keep a certain distance between neighboring cells. They take stable conformation via relatively weak (generic) forces, such as electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and long-range van der Waals interaction. Here, I introduce several physical methods to study the impact of molecular structures in their generic interactions in various length scales (phase transition, 2D/3D structures, viscoelasticity) at the interface. In addition, I will highlight our recent challenge toward the control of bio-specific functions through controlled self-assemblies of functional carbohydrate clusters.

This talk is given in English.