Biophysical Society Newsletter - April 2015

10

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2015

APRIL

Subgroups

IDP The 9 th annual symposium of the intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) subgroup was held on Saturday, February 7, 2015, in Baltimore, Mary- land, under the aegis of the 59 th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society. This year’s subgroup symposium represented a turning point for the IDP field. The meeting highlighted the rapid progress being made on the technological front and in efforts to uncover the functional conse- quences of conformational heterogeneity. Ashok Deniz , The Scripps Research Institute, opened the meeting with a keynote address that showcased insights regarding mechanisms of coupled folding and binding and IDP dynam- ics that he has gleaned using state-of-the-art single molecule fluorescence methods. Dariush Hinderberger , Martin Luther University in Halle- Wittenberg, used osteopontin as an example to highlight the insights afforded by combining EPR spectroscopy with polymer physics theories. John Bushweller , University of Virginia, walked the audience through hidden complexities that characterize the array of interactions that underlie the biophysical properties of the leukemogenic protein product of the fusion gene MLL-AF9. Edward Lemke , EMBL, Heidelberg, talked about insights generated from his single molecule stud- ies of Nup153—an important component of the nuclear pore complex—its interactions with nuclear importins, and the broader implications for dynamics within complexes formed by IDPs. This year’s symposium also included talks fea- turing investigations that transitioned from the test tube to cellular phenotypes. Talks presented by Timothy Lohman and Petra Levin , both from Washington University, highlighted the role of disordered regions within distinct bacterial pro- teins that facilitate cooperative interactions and assemblies of to play fundamental roles in the life cycles of rod-shaped bacteria. Clifford Brangwyn- ne , Princeton University, and Tanja Mittag , St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, provided en- gaging accounts of spontaneous phase transitions controlled by distinct low complexity sequences that give rise to non-membrane bound organ- elles within cells. The symposium also featured

Exocytosis/Endoscytosis The Exocytosis and Endocytosis Subgroup held its 13th annual symposium at the 2015 Biophysi- cal Society meeting in Baltimore, and a highlight of the program was the Sir Bernard Katz Award Lecture, which was presented by Ronald W. Holz of the University of Michigan. The Sir Bernard Katz Award for Excellence in Research on Exocy- tosis and Endocytosis is named after one of the founding fathers of biophysics and neuroscience, and the Award went to Holz in recognition of his distinguished career in this field. After the sym- posium, subgroup members met at a reception and dinner to congratulate the Awardee, celebrate another successful subgroup symposium, and talk science, of course. Student talks selected from submitted poster abstracts for the general meeting are another popular feature of our subgroup symposium, and in 2015, the three student speakers were Melanie Schupp , University of Copenhagen; Julia Trahe , University of Muenster; and Tejeshwar Rao , Wayne State University. Congratulations to all three for their excellent presentations. The executive committee of Exocytosis and Endo- cytosis encourages all interested biophysicists to join our subgroup. Membership costs little (free for students!), and it helps to ensure the contin- ued success of our yearly symposium. If you at- tended our subgroup symposium but are not yet a member, please consider joining. The member- ship application is available at http://www.biophysics.org/subgroups. We hope to see you at the 2016 Exocytosis and Endocytosis Subgroup Symposium at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in Los Angeles! — Gary Matthews , Subgroup Past-Chair

Celebrating at the Exocytosis and Endocytosis Subgroup dinner. Standing: 2015 Katz Award winner Ronald W. Holz (left) and symposium speakers Shigeki Watanabe and Jeremy Dittman. Seated: symposium speaker Elisa- beth Glowatzki (left), sub- group founding chair Robert H. Chow, and BPS Councilor Ruth Heidelberger.