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Venue     

Bio21 Molecular Science & Biotechnology Institute
30 Flemington Road, University of Melbourne, Parkville

Date       

Friday, February 6, 2009

Deadlines

Earlybird registration and oral abstract submission has now closed.

Deadline for abstracts for poster presentations - Friday December 12, 2008

OVERVIEW
The Biomolecular Dynamics and Interactions Symposium is a one day meeting that focuses on the hot topics of 'protein dynamics' and 'biomolecular interactions'.  The symposium will be conducted in the modern environment of the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute (Bio21 Institute) at the University of Melbourne.  There are a number of international speakers, namely Till Boecking (Harvard University), Borries Demeler (University of Texas). Dorothee Kern (Brandeis University), Betsy Komives (UCSD), Ron Kopito (Stanford University), and Murray Stewart (LMB, Cambridge), as well as prominent local speakers (refer to program).  There will also be opportunities for delegates with exciting new data to submit an abstract for consideration for an oral and/or poster presentation. For students, there are cash prize(s) for the best poster(s). Our proud sponsors (see below) will have trade displays set-up in the atrium and several opportunities during scheduled breaks to mingle with delegates.  Accordingly, the committee cordially invites you to participate in this exciting one day symposium, which is an official satellite meeting for the 34th Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function , Feb 8-12, 2009.

BDI2009 Committee Members

Jacqui Matthews (co-chair)
Matthew Perugini (co-chair)
Renwick Dobson
Danny Hatters
Ray Norton

Major Sponsors

 

Poster Prize Sponsor

Lunch Sponsor

Mixer Sponsor

Trade Display Sponsors

Program

Speaker Profiles

Borries Demeler
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA)
Dr Demeler's main research interest involves the development of the UltraScan data analysis software package (http://www.ultrascan.uthscsa.edu). This software is used for modeling of hydrodynamic and thermodynamic properties of biological and synthetic macromolecules, and assists in the characterization of interactions in macromolecular assemblies. Areas of research involve advanced numerical analysis, optimization, high-performance network computing and cluster computing. Other areas of interest involve the development of software for the interpretation of multi-wavelength sedimentation velocity experiments in collaboration with Dr. Helmut Coelfen (MPI, Germany), and on spectral decomposition of analytical ultracentrifugation experiments. We are also investigating rigid body modeling approaches for predicting hydrodynamic properties of macromolecules and for the interpretation of small angle X-ray scattering data.

Betsy Komives
Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Tumor Growth, Invasion & Metastasis Program, University of California, San Diego
The focus of the Komives lab is on understanding the parameters that govern protein-protein interactions mediated by non-globular proteins.  Three systems are currently under study.  The thrombin:thrombodulin interaction, which regulates blood clotting, has been under study for some 15 years.  Komives was the first to solve structures of the EGF-like domains of thrombomodulin that bind to thrombin and to show using amide H/D exchange that subtle conformational changes occur at the active site of thrombin when thrombomodulin binds at anion-binding exosite 1.  A more recent project is an effort to understand the role of the LDL-receptor related protein (LRP1) in Alzheimer’s disease.  LRP1 modulates the clearance of many proteins including protease-protease inhibitor complexes, apoE and the amyloid precursor protein from the intercellular spaces in the mammalian brain.  It binds some 40 known ligands, all of which are present in the proteinaceous plaques in the brains of patients suffering from AD.  The intracellular domain is also linked to AD in that mutations in two conserved NPXY motifs alter the amount of A that is produced.  By applying both biophysical and cell biological experiments, the Komives lab is mapping out the protein-protein interactions and their functional consequences in this extremely complicated protein.  The third and most recent project in the lab is to understand how the inhibitor of kappa-B (IkB), which is an intracellular ankyrin repeat protein, inhibits the nuclear factor of kappa B (NF-kB) transcription factors.  Solution biophysical experiments including NMR and amide H/D exchange have revealed weakly folded regions in IkB that are responsible for the rapid degradation of the free IkB and that fold upon binding to NF-kB.  This last project is a larger effort involving five investigators who are applying theory, NMR spectroscopy, biophysics, structural biology and cell biology to understand the functional consequences of the interaction.

Dorothee Kern
Professor of Biochemistry, Brandeis University & Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Dorothee Kern completed her undergraduate, Masters and PhD studies in Biochemistry at the Martin Luther University of Halle in Germany. She then moved to UC Berkeley in 1995 as a post-doctoral fellow in David Wemmer’s laboratory in the Department of Chemistry. In 1999, Dorothee took up an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biochemistry at Brandeis University, where she is now a Professor, and in 2005, was appointed as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Throughout her career, Dorothee has been presented with several honours and awards, including the Martin Luther Award for Excellence in Biochemical Graduate Research in 1995, Postdoctoral Fellowship from the German National Academic Foundation and BASF 1995-1997, Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 2002 and Dayhoff Award from the Biophysical Society in 2004. For a detailed description of Dorothee’s current research interests, please refer to the following websites: Brandeis University: www.bio.brandeis.edu/faculty01/kern.html and Howard Hughes Medical Institute: www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/kern_bio.html

Ron Kopito
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University
Ron R. Kopito received his A.B. from Bowdoin College in 1976 and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982.  He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute at MIT from 1982-1987.  Since 1987 he has been on the faculty of Stanford University where is currently a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. His is a recipient of many awards, including appointments as a Lucille P. Markey Scholar (1985-1991), a Presidential Young Investigator (1989-1994), and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. He has served or is serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Cell Sciences, the Journal of Membrane Biology and Autophagy.  Research in Professor Kopito’s lab is focused on understanding the cellular ‘quality control’ mechanisms that monitor protein folding and assembly in mammalian cells, and the role of these processes in the prevention of human disease.

Murray Stewart
Group Leader, Division of Structural Studies, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
Murray Stewart is a group leader in the division of structural studies at the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge. His group concentrates on understanding cellular functions in terms of the molecules involved and the interactions between them. They use a combination of structural, cellular and protein engineering methods to determine the structure of key proteins, how they interact, and how these interactions generate function. Overall, they aim to integrate the structural and biochemical data in order to understand the machinery and mechanism of key cellular functions at the molecular level. Murray and his group are concentrating on investigating in detail four specific questions: (i) the molecular mechanism of nucleocytoplasmic transport; (ii) the role of nuclear trafficking components in mitosis; (iii) how components of the nuclear trafficking machinery orchestrate gene expression and mitosis; and (iv) the molecular mechanism of locomotion of amoeboid cells.

Registration

Registration Fees

Optional Extras

Online registration has now closed. If you would like to attend the symposium you may register onsite.  

Abstracts

Abstract format

•    A4 page layout (21.0 cm × 29.7 cm)
•    2 cm margins (left, right, top and bottom)
•    12 pt Times New Roman font
•    Title on top line of page in bold font (Title Case)
•    Authors on 2nd line (underline presenting author’s name)
•    Affiliation of all authors on 3rd line (in italics)
•    Abstract starting on 5th line (i.e. line space between affiliation(s) and abstract text)
•    1 x A4 page (maximum)
•    References (if applicable) in 10 pt font underneath the abstract text at bottom of page

Submission of Oral / Poster Abstracts

We welcome abstracts for exciting oral presentations in any area related to biomolecular interactions and dynamics, regardless of whether they appear to fit into the provisional program. Abstracts for consideration for an oral presentation are to be e-mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   by Friday November 21, 2008. Please cc to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Also indicate in your e-mail whether your abstract is only for consideration for an oral presentation OR either an oral or poster presentation.

Submission of Poster Abstracts

Abstracts for poster presentations are to be e-mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by Friday December 12, 2008. Please cc to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Accommodation

Closest accommodation available is at:

Rydges North Melbourne
Flemington Road Service Lane
North Melbourne, VIC 3051
Australia
+61 3 9329 1788

To book accommodation at the special rate of $149 per night secured for conference delegates, please contact Alexandra Jonas on the above number and state that you are booking accommodation with the Biomolecular Symposium.

Alternatively, you can book direct with Rydges North Melbourne by using this specified online booking page designed for BDI delegates.

Venue Map, Parking & Public Transport

Venue Map
The Bio21 Molecular Science & Biotechnology Institute is located at 30 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3010. Please refer to grid reference J3 on the map

Parking
Daily parking is available near the Royal Children’s Hospital (west of the Bio21 Institute) also along Royal Parade, The Avenue and College Crescent at the north end of the University of Melbourne Parkville campus (refer to ticket machines for daily parking rates). Parking is also available in the University Square Carpark (refer to grid reference O13 on the map above) for approximately $10 per day (subject to change without notification).

Public Transport
Also note that Route No. 81 (Essendon Depot) and Route No. 59 (Airport West) trams run directly past the Bio21 Institute on Flemington Road. For detailed routes and timetables for Melbourne trams, please refer to the Yarra Trams website