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Short Biography
Prof Sara Linse was appointed professor at Physical Chemistry at Lund University in 2004, and is since 2009 professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at Lund University. She obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry at Lund University in 1993, and was a visiting professor at University College Dublin in 2006-2007.
In her research, she tries to understand the mechanisms of complex phenomena such as protein or peptide self-assembly and protein-ligand interactions, and how these molecular phenomena are governed by generic physico-chemical principles, with the main research directions being 1) Mechanisms of amyloid formation and the role of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including inhibitors, 2) Calcium-signalling proteins, 3) Biological risks of nanoparticles, and 4) Protein folding and stability including methods development for protein stabilization.
She has also authored several children’s books, and serves as the chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
AMBER postdoctoral fellowship project (fifth call)
Factors governing biomolecular condensate size
This project aims to develop new methods to monitor liquid-liquid phase separation in complex environments. The challenge will be to find methods to study really small condensates, and to determine whether these are liquid or solid or transition over time. The methods need to be able to quantify diffusion rates inside condensates, as well as distinguishing associative from segregative phase separation and the molecular factors controlling these phenomena. One challenge will be to distinguish metastable states from true equilibria. Another question concerns why condensates in cells seem to halt and not grow (Ostwald ripening and coalescence should be expected for liquid phases). What molecular factors limit the size of such condensate? Methods may include advanced optical and cryo-electron microscopy, scattering- and diffusion-based methods.
Location: Lund, Sweden
Organisation: Lund University, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry