Date/Time
Date(s) - 26/11/2008
3:20 pm - 4:20 pm

Title: Nuclear Transport – Physics at the Center of the Living Cell

Speaker: Dr. Michael Elbaum – Weizmann Institute

Institute: Weizmann Institute

Location: ABB 102

Description:

The living cell offers a world of molecular machines that challenge basic physical intuitions. The cell functions far from thermodynamic equilibrium and with a daunting number of components. Their coordination is no less important than their function in isolation. The machines of transport and spatial organization are especially notable in distinguishing the living cell from the assembly of its components. Perhaps the most prominent example is the nucleus. It contains the genetic code, as DNA, while the products of the genes, the proteins, are synthesized of amino acids in the cytoplasm. The nuclear envelope and the nuclear pores that perforate it thus separate the macromolecular content of the cell between its two major compartments. The pores and a system of protein receptors function together as a pump that concentrates its various cargoes on one or the other side in a process likened to import or export. Studying this pump as a thermodynamic machine, we find that it operates on surprisingly simple physical principles. The emerging paradigm has important implications for communication and signaling in the cell. It also suggests a technological framework for demixing of solutions.