Local changes, global effects: Unpacking action at a distance using computers, X-rays and classic biochemistry

When I entered Assistant Professor Vatsan Raman’s office to talk about his group’s latest research study, I didn’t expect that our conversation about proteins would turn toward Rube Goldberg machines. Biochemists like Raman study how nature functions at molecular and sub-molecular scales and in doing so observe a myriad of biological phenomena. One such phenomenon, …

Researchers’ findings indicate plasticity in allosteric signaling

Biochemistry Assistant Professor Vatsan Raman and IPiB graduate student Megan Leander have published findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on how proteins work. The findings are key to allostery, a property of proteins which is central to biology. Allosteric proteins play critical roles in cellular function, including signal transduction, metabolism, …