Macromolecular Structure and Function C Study Section – MSFC

Topics

• Protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions in larger assemblies including those responsible for various DNA or RNA transactions in replication, transcription, repair, and translation and mechanisms of allostery.
• Structure Function studies of molecules involved in cell-cell interactions including those driving processes of adhesion, migration, signal transduction and mechano-transduction.
• Molecular motors and systems driven by energy-dependent conformational changes including ATPases.
• Structure-function characteristics of cytoskeletal protein elements including actin, myosins, microtubules, and intermediate filaments.
• Molecular biophysical studies of muscle structure and function.
• Structural and biophysical studies of viral assemblies.
• Biophysical studies of liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecular species and formation of membraneless organelles.
• Methods of single-molecule imaging and mechanical manipulation of signaling, motor, and nucleoprotein complexes.
• Cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, NMR, electron diffraction and other biophysical studies of macromolecular assemblies.  Computational methods for processing of data and for construction, refinement and visualization of structural models derived from these empirical sources.

Shared Interests and Overlaps

There are shared interests for applications involving macromolecular biophysics and structural biology with Macromolecular Structure and Function A (MSFA), Macromolecular Structure and Function B (MSFB), and Biochemistry and Biophysics of Membranes (BBM) study sections. Applications focused on larger membrane-free protein and ribonuclear protein assemblies serving as molecular machines, ATP-dependent molecular motors including muscle proteins, components of intracellular signaling cascades, and intercellular interaction and signaling mediators are reviewed in MSFC.  Applications involving extensive development and deployment of single-molecule methods or cryo-EM/ET are reviewed in MSFC.

There are shared interests in molecular motors and proteins of the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix with Cell Structure, Function -1 and -2 (CSF-1, CSF-2).Applications that emphasize structure-function relationships and biophysical properties of these molecules are reviewed in MSFC.  Applications that emphasize roles of organization, assembly, and regulation in mechanisms of cell biology are reviewed in CSF-1 or CSF-2.

There are shared interests in DNA, RNA and protein-nucleic acid complexes driving cellular processes including replication, repair, transcription, translation and protein synthesis, and genome organization with Molecular Genetics (MG).  Applications that primarily focus on structure-function and biophysical properties are reviewed in MSFC.  Applications that focus on understanding fundamental principles of cell and molecular biology associated with these are reviewed in MG.

There are shared interests in molecular mechanisms of prokaryotic cellular processes with Prokaryotic Cell and Molecular Biology (PCMB). Applications involving principally structure-function studies of prokaryotic proteins, nucleic acid species, and protein-nucleic acid complexes are reviewed in MSFC.  Applications that emphasize bacterial processes but also include moderate deployment of structural methods are reviewed in PCMB.

There are shared interests with the Molecular and Structural Immunology (MSI) in mathematical modeling, computational biology, and structure analyses. Applications that focus generally on macromolecule structure/function, bioinformatics, and computer modeling may be reviewed in MSFA, MSFB, or MSFC. Applications with a focus on the immunological outcome of such studies may be reviewed in MSI.