Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules - Thematic workshop organised by LINX

Workshop on Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules

4-6 June 2018, Lund, Sweden

Organized by the Lund Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS)

Traditionally, the use of synchrotrons and neutron sources in life sciences and related areas has primarily focused on questions and problems linked to structural properties of individual biological components and mixtures. Much less work has been done in characterizing and understanding dynamic properties of these systems, despite the fact that understanding the dynamics of biological macromolecules such as globular proteins or monoclonal antibodies is vital for a number of reasons. Protein conformational dynamics is essential for their biological function, and in order to properly function, a protein must adopt specific active conformations. Internal dynamics, diffusion of individual proteins in crowded solutions and the macroscopic flow properties are also key issues related to drug design, drug delivery formulations and our understanding of the cellular machinery. This not only poses enormous theoretical challenges, but their experimental characterization on the relevant time and length scales also requires novel approaches.

The workshop on Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules addresses this important area of science, and aims at bringing together leading scientists from different fields such as soft matter physics, biology and pharmaceutical sciences, with expertise in experiments, theory and computer simulations. We will discuss recent progress in our ability to characterize and understand internal conformational dynamics of proteins such as large-scale domain motions for globular proteins as well as more complex shapes such as antibodies and intrinsically disordered proteins, short and long time diffusion and internal motion of proteins in crowded environments, and the use of this knowledge for drug discovery applications. While the use of neutrons and x-rays and the development of novel methodology is in the focus of the workshop, it will also feature other, complementary experimental techniques.

This workshop is part of the thematic activity on dynamics of the recently founded Lund Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS) of Lund University. The mission of LINXS is to promote science and education focusing on the use of neutrons and X-rays, to attract world-leading scientists for short- and long-term focused research visits, and to create international networks in this area.

Registration for the workshop, abstract submission for oral and poster presentations as well as a preliminary programme will shortly be available at http://www.linxs.lu.se/.