Mu Gao
Contact Information
Office: Beckman Institute, 3109.Telephone: 217-244-3667
E-mail: mugao@ks.uiuc.edu
Education
Ph.D. University of Illionis at Urbana-Champaign, 2003
M.S. Peking(Beijing) University, 1998
B.S. Zhejiang University, 1995
Research Interests
- Mechanical force is ubiquitous in biological molecular processes,
such as in stretching cytoskeleton inside cells, in assembling fibrils
connecting cells, and in regulating ligand-receptor association at the
cell surface. How do proteins participating such processes respond to
mechanical forces? My research is to study the mechanical
properties of these so called mechanical proteins using steered molecular
dynamics (SMD) simulations. For details,
click here to
see the webpage summarizing my research on the muscle protein titin
and the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin.
Click here to see my recent work on an anthrax toxin-receptor complex.
Publications
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Publications Database Molecular mechanisms of cellular mechanics. Mu Gao, Marcos Sotomayor, Elizabeth Villa, Eric Lee, and Klaus Schulten. Physical Chemistry - Chemical Physics, 8:3692-3706, 2006.
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Publications Database Onset of anthrax toxin pore formation. Mu Gao and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Journal, 90:3267-3279, 2006.
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Publications Database Mechanical strength of the titin Z1Z2/telethonin complex. Eric H. Lee, Mu Gao, Nikos Pinotsis, Matthias Wilmanns, and Klaus Schulten. Structure, 14:497-509, 2006.
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Publications Database Integrin activation in vivo and in silico. Mu Gao and Klaus Schulten. Structure, 12:2096-2098, 2004.
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Publications Database Structural insights into how the MIDAS ion stabilizes integrin binding to an RGD peptide under force. David Craig, Mu Gao, Klaus Schulten, and Viola Vogel. Structure, 12:2049-2058, 2004.
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Publications Database Tuning the mechanical stability of fibronectin type III modules through sequence variation. David Craig, Mu Gao, Klaus Schulten, and Viola Vogel. Structure, 12:21-30, 2004.
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Structure and functional significance of mechanically unfolded fibronectin
type III1 intermediates.
Mu Gao, David Craig, Olivier Lequin, Iain D. Campbell, Viola Vogel, and Klaus Schulten.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 100:14784-14789, 2003. -
Large scale simulation of protein mechanics and function.
Emad Tajkhorshid, Aleksij Aksimentiev, Ilya Balabin, Mu Gao, Barry Isralewitz,
James C. Phillips, Fangqiang Zhu, and Klaus Schulten. In Frederic M. Richards,
David S. Eisenberg, and John Kuriyan, editors, Advances in Protein Chemistry,
volume 66, pages 195-247. Elsevier Academic Press, New York, 2003.
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Unfolding of titin domains studied by molecular dynamics simulations.
Mu Gao, Hui Lu, and Klaus Schulten. Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility, 23:513-521, 2002. -
Steered molecular dynamics studies of titin I1 domain unfolding.
Mu Gao, Matthias Wilmanns, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Journal, 83:3097-3112, 2002. -
Identifying unfolding intermediates of FN-III-10 by steered molecular dynamics.
Mu Gao, David Craig, Viola Vogel, and Klaus Schulten. Journal of Molecular Biology, 323:939-950, 2002. -
Simulated refolding of stretched titin immunoglobulin domains.
Mu Gao, Hui Lu, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Journal, 81:2268-2277, 2001. -
Steered molecular dynamics and mechanical functions of proteins.
Barry Isralewitz, Mu Gao, and Klaus Schulten. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 11:224-230, 2001.