Jen Hsin

Home Department: Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Office: 3117 Beckman Institute

Office Telephone: (217) 244-1851

Email: jhsin@ks.uiuc.edu


Education:

BA with honors, Physics, University of Chicago, 2005.

BS, Mathematics, University of Chicago, 2005.

Ph.D candidate, Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005 ~ present.


Here is my CV (pdf).

Current Research Interests:

systems biology, chromatophore, membrane curvature, mechanical proteins...
chromatophore mem_curv z1z2
photosynthetic chromatophore curvature effect of the LH1 dimer elasticity of muscle protein



Research Highlights:

Highlights of our Work
Multi-tasking Proteins (Aug 2009)
MDFF

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Proteins are the workers in cells; they carry out designated cellular functions tirelessly throughout their lifetimes. Some proteins can even hold two different jobs. One example of a dual-duty protein is the bacterial photosynthetic core complex. The photosyntehtic core complex performs the first steps of photosynthesis: absorption of sunlight and processing of light energy. Besides providing solar power, the core complex acts as an architect of the cell by shaping membranes in the interior of photosynthetic bacteria. Combining computational modeling and electron microscopy data using the Molecular Dynamics Flexible Fitting method, computational biologists have recently reported studies of both functions of the core complex, namely, the light-absorbing features and the membrane-sculpting properties. More details can be found on our photosynthetic chromatophore website.
Highlights of our Work
How Proteins Build Their Cellular Houses (Aug 2008)
MDFF

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Chromatophores are the photosynthetic machineries of bacteria. Each chromatophore contains, embedded in a membrane, all the photosynthetic proteins needed to absorb sunlight and turn it into chemical fuel. Chromatophores come in different shapes: while some chromatophores are spherical, others are flat or tubular. It has puzzled scientists how all these different geometries arise, and a hypothesis has developed that it is the photosynthetic proteins that render the shape of chromatophore membrane. In a study reported recently, computational biologists using NAMD took an atomistic look at how the chromatophore proteins bend the membrane. Simulations showed that the most numerous photosynthetic proteins dome the membrane, building arched membrane patches that can then be assembled into a spherical chromatophore. These simulations demonstrated that photosynthetic proteins construct their individual membrane environment, and when many of such proteins come together in the bacterial membrane, they can build functional cellular units with unique geometries. For more details, please see our chromatophore website.
Highlights of our Work
Muscle Protein Plays Accordion (Sep 2007)
Titin Z1Z2-Telethonin Complex

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Muscle fibers, in contracting and extending, generate tremendous force that needs to be buffered to protect muscle from damage. This role falls to the protein titin, with about 27,000 amino acids the longest protein in human cells. Titin functions as a molecular rubber band, but unlike uniform rubber bands, titin is made from over 300 different protein domains strung into a chain. While experiments have found that the individual domains of titin feature remarkable resilience against mechanical stretching, little is known about the elasticity of the overall titin chain. Crystallographers teamed up with computational biologists to investigate this elasticity, focusing on two adjacent titin domains. Molecular dynamics simulations using NAMD suggest, as reported recently, that the overall elasticity of the titin chain stems in part from a zigzag, i.e., accordion-like, motion: as titin is contracted and extended, energy is stored and released in the angular tilt of adjacent domains. More on this investigation can be found here.


Publications:

    ==2009==

  1. Eric Lee*, Jen Hsin*, Eleonore von Castelmur, Olga Mayans and Klaus Schulten. Tertiary and secondary structure elasticity of a Six-Ig titin chain. Biophysical Journal, accepted (2009).

  2. Jen Hsin, Christophe Chipot, and Klaus Schulten. A glycophorin A-like framework for the dimerization of light-harvesting core complexes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, Article ASAP (2009). (DOI: 10.1021/ja905903n; Journal link)

  3. Eric H. Lee, Jen Hsin, Gemma Comellas, Marcos Sotomayor, and Klaus Schulten. Discovery through the computational microscope. Structure, 17:1295-1306 (2009).

  4. Jen Hsin, James Gumbart, Leonardo G. Trabuco, Elizabeth Villa, Pu Qian, C. Neil Hunter, and Klaus Schulten. Protein-induced membrane curvature investigated through molecular dynamics flexible fitting. Biophysical Journal, 97:321-329 (2009).

  5. Melih K. Sener*, Jen Hsin*, Leonardo G. Trabuco, Elizabeth Villa, Pu Qian, C. Neil Hunter, and Klaus Schulten. Structural model and excitonic properties of the dimeric RC-LH1-PufX complex from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Chemical Physics, 357:188-197 (2009).

    6. ==2008==

  6. Jen Hsin, Anton Arkhipov, Ying Yin, John E. Stone, and Klaus Schulten. Using VMD - an introductory tutorial. Current Protocols - Bioinformatics, 5:Unit 5.7 (2008).

  7. Danielle E. Chandler*, Jen Hsin*, Christopher B. Harrison*, James Gumbart*, and Klaus Schulten. Intrinsic Curvature Properties of Photosynthetic Proteins in Chromatophores. Biophysical Journal, 95:2822-2836 (2008).

    8. ==2007==

  8. Eric H. Lee, Jen Hsin, Olga Mayans, and Klaus Schulten. "Secondary and tertiary structure elasticity of titin Z1Z2 and a titin chain model". Biophysical Journal, 93: 1719-1735 (2007).

    9. * Equal contribution authors


Conference proceedings:
  1. Kirby Vandivort, James C. Phillips, Elizabeth Villa, Peter L. Freddolino, James Gumbart, Leonardo G. Trabuco, Danielle E. Chandler, Jen Hsin, Christopher B. Harrison, Laxmikant Kale, and Klaus Schulten. Long time and large size molecular dynamics simulations made feasible through new TeraGrid hardware and software. Proceedings of the 2008 TeraGrid Conference, 2008. (Winner of the Best Science Track Paper at TeraGrid '08!)


Publications before joining TCBG:
  1. F.-J. Lai, Y.-C. Hsin, S.-C. Huang, C.-L. Cheng, S.-C. Hsin, M.-C. Hsieh, and S.-J. Shin. "Down-regulation of adrenal neuronal nitric oxide synthase mRNAs and proteins after deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt treatment in rats." Journal of Steroid Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, 101: 197-203 (2006).

  2. F.-J. Lai, S.-C. Huang, M.-C. Hsieh, S.-C. Hsin, C.-H. Wu, Y.-C. Hsin, and S.-J. Shin. "Upregulation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase mRNA and protein in adrenal medulla of water-deprived rats." Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, 53: 45-53 (2005).

Talks and Presentations:

  1. Biophysics and Computational Biology Symposium (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Talk: Protein-induced membrane curvature, May 2009. Urbana, IL.

  2. Light Harvesting Processes 2009. Poster: Membrane curvature effects and excitonic properties of the bent Rhodobacter sphaeroides RC-LH1-PufX dimer, March 2009. Kloster Banz, Germany.

  3. Workshop on Molecular Modelling on Supercomputers. Talk: Structural systems biology of bacterial photosynthesis, March 2009. Munich,, Germany.

  4. Juelich Winter School 2009, Multiscale Simulation Methods in Molecular Sciences. Poster: Membrane curvature effects and excitonic properties of the bent Rhodobacter sphaeroides RC-LH1-PufX dimer, March 2009. Juelich, Germany.

  5. CECAM Workshop: Membrane Protein Assembly - Theory and Experiment. Poster: Bending of the chromatophore membrane through core complex dimerization, September 2008. Lausanne, Switzerland.

  6. Biophysical Society Meeting 2008. Poster: Rhodobacter sphaeroides LH1-RC-PufX Dimer Curves Chromatophore Membranes, February 2008. Long Beach, CA.

  7. Biophysical Society Meeting 2007. Poster: Secondary and tertiary structure elasticity of titin Z1Z2 and the titin chain, March 2007. Baltimore, MD.

Teaching:

  1. Center for the Physics of Living Cells, 2009 Summer School -- VMD Mini Tutorial. July 2009.

  2. Teaching Assistant: Center for the Physics of Living Cells, 2009 Summer School. July 2009. (UIUC)

  3. Anton Arkhipov, Ying Yin, Danielle Chandler, Jen Hsin, and Kirby Vandivort. Tutorial: Shape-Based Coarse Graining, 2009.

  4. Danielle Chandler, Jen Hsin, and James C. Gumbart. Case Study: Light-Harvesting Complex II, 2008.

  5. Teaching Assistant: Computational Biophysics Workshop. November 2007. Bethesda, MD. (NIH)

  6. Teaching Assistant: Physics 211 - Classical Mechanics. Spring Semester, 2006. (UIUC)

  7. Teaching Assistant: Physics 211 - Classical Mechanics. Fall Semester, 2005. (UIUC)

News Stories:

Dubrow, A. (March 22, 2008). The Computational Microscope. Ranger's parallel computing power enables researchers to model the largest biomolecular apparatus to date. TACC - Texas Advanced Computing Center.
      * Dubrow, A. (March 22, 2008). The Computational Microscope. HPCWire.

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