Professor Barbara Seaton
Physiology and Biophysics
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston, MA

Monday, September 15, 2014
3:00 pm (CT)
3269 Beckman Institute

Abstract

Pulmonary surfactant, which coats alveoli in the lungs, serves dual functions. It allows respiration to occur and also provides an effective environment for front-line host defense against inhaled pathogens. Surfactant protein A (SP-A) participates in both functions by binding to and influencing the supra-structure of surfactant phospholipids and facilitating the immune response against bacteria and other microbial invaders. In these studies, we combine x-ray crystallography and mutagenesis with all-atom molecular dynamics to explore the molecular basis of these functions in SP-A