Tom Irving
Biophysics Collaborative Access Team (BioCAT), CSRRI, Dept. BCPS,
Illinois Institute of Technology, 3101 S. Dearborn, Chicago IL 60616
Abstract:
The “muscle
problem” has been a driving force in x-ray technology for over 50 years.
Fiber diffraction of muscle was the first biological application of
synchrotron radiation in the late 1960’s. In this talk, I will highlight how
very high performance small-angle instruments on undulator-based beamlines
at the ESRF (ID2) and at the APS (BioCAT beamline 18ID) have made possible
novel approaches to studying muscle structure and function. One approach
uses the muscle itself as an interferometer to obtain detailed information
on the myosin motor step size in working muscle (Nature 428: 578-582, 2004).
The other experiments I will describe tracked changes in thick filament
structure and actin-myosin interactions in living, flying Drosophila in a
visual flight simulator (Nature, 433:330-333).
2008 Run
Nov 19th - Dec 22nd
