Kai Chan

'Structural and biochemical regulation of a chloroplast-to-nucleus signalling enzyme.'

Kai Chan runs the Plant Organelle and Cellular Signalling group in the Research School of Biology following a stint at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology in Belgium as a Marie Curie and FWO Fellow. 

Nick East

'Cyclohexadienyl dehydratase; the evolution of a metastable oligomeric state.'

Nick East is one of the very promising students coming through at ANU. Nick is currently doing honours in the Jackson Lab at Research School of Chemistry at ANU. 

Drinks, nibbles and zoom access will be provided. Please share this e-mail with your colleagues and encourage them to join the CPG and attend these regular talks.

A zoom link to join the meeting remotely will be sent in a reminder e-mail later this week. Canberra Protein Group is an affiliate of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (ASBMB) who run many fantastic conferences, awards, and other events every year: Special Interest Groups - ASBMB

You can check out the Canberra Protein Group Website:Canberra Protein Group – an ASBMB Special Interest Group (wordpress.com)

And Twitter Account: CanberraProteinGroup (@CanberraPG) / Twitter

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Some notices of upcoming events and visits that may be of interest to Protein Group members:

1. Potential Future LIEF Grant Application for Mass Photometer from Refeyn

Reps from Refeyn are visiting Australia in May and will be at ANU on May 12^th to demo their TwoMP Instrument (https://www.refeyn.com/twomp-mass-photometer). This mass photometer enables measurement of molecular mass (at the single molecule level) across a wide mass range, from 30 kDa up to 5 MDa, and provides insights into the composition and function of complex samples and molecular mechanisms. This unique technology can be used to detect and characterise proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and / or sugars, providing information on structure (oligomeric state, modification), homogeneity, and function (quantifying interactions) – all in a matter of minutes, and using tiny amounts of sample.

Getting one of these instrument would be a significant $ investment, but could be an option for future Major Equipment Grants or LIEF grants if there is enough interest from the CPG community. If you are interested in participating in the demonstration/presentation of this instrument or learning more about mass photometry, please email Joe Kaczmarski (joe.kaczmarski@anu.edu.au).

2. Conferences

I would also like to bring your attention to two conferences that may be of interest. 

 ECPM2022 – We have been invited by our fellow east coast protein groups to join in at the Opal Cove Resort in Coffs Harbour from the 6th-8th July 2022. I can personally attest to this being an excellent conference! https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=46912 

 The Crystal-lite ECR meeting in Melbourne 19-20 May: https://scanz.iucr.org/upcoming-events/welcome-to-the-crystal-lite-meeting – free for all SCANZ members. Everyone from undergrad to <5 years from PhD conferral are able to be selected to talk, and all are welcome to attend! 

3. Membership confirmation required 

  It’s going to be a great year (and beyond), so let's get the collaborative protein community up and going again after COVID-19! To do this we need to confirm your continued interest in CPG meetings and your email address, this will take less than 2 minutes of your time.  

  Note: CPG emails are opt-in, so we need you to confirm your membership and email so that you will continue to get notifications for the CPG and its meetings.  

  To confirm your details please use the google survey link below: 

https://forms.gle/7LZQ3sDZyHdTrXqC6 

4. To All Group Leaders, Supervisors and Teaching academics

Please consider inviting your students (undergraduate students welcome!), this is a good opportunity to highlight with them the benefit of engaging in the broader research community.