Tanweer Hussain
IISc, Bengaluru
Tanweer Hussain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He began his research career at CCMB, Hyderabad, where he obtained his PhD. Thereafter, he went to MRCLaboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, for his postdoctoral training, where he used cryo-electron microscopy to determine structures of ribosomal complexes trapped in the initial steps of protein synthesis. He has received national/international awards and fellowships including the Young Scientist Award from INSA and Ranbaxy Science Foundation and EMBO postdoctoral fellowship. His research interest lies in understanding the process of protein synthesis and its regulation.
Session 2B: Symposium on “Molecular machines: A multi-disciplinary enterprise”
Understanding the principles of design of molecular machines: A structural biology perspective View Presentation / View Video
The determination of the three-dimensional structures of molecular machines, using various approaches of structural biology, has played a major role in understanding the design of individual molecular machines. The biological function and complexity dictate the evolution of the design of the molecular machines. Moreover, by capturing the molecular machine in action, i.e. by determining the three-dimensional structures of the molecular machine in multiple states in the biological process, the working of the molecular machine is elucidated using clues from other biochemical and mutational studies as well. Proteins carry out almost all the process in the cell and the proteins are made using the genetic information by a macromolecular complex called ribosome. Ribosomes are highly sophisticated, efficient and accurate molecular machines crucial for the gene expression. How structural biology approaches have helped in understanding principles of design of molecular machines with an emphasis on ribosome as an example of molecular machines will be presented.