These are molecules under study by members of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Chemistry-Biology Interface Program. Many of the molecules we study are featured at the Molecular Playground (see also Molecular Playground in Proteopedia). Follow the links below to read nontechnical descriptions, in Proteopedia, of these molecules.

UMass CBI Members, add your molecules to the list (which is alphabetical by CBI research mentor); follow the instructions below the list.

It's great to build on a previous entry, but you must leave the earlier one intact and make a copy that you improve and mark as new. Later we will retain the new one with a merged author list.

Fall 2011: New entries are due 12/16/11. Please append the designation (new Fall 2011) to your new entries.


MoleculesMolecules

Bhatia Lab

Molecular Playground/Alginate-Fall2011, Joe White, David Griffin
Molecular Playground/Alginate-Fall2010, Joe White, David Griffin
Molecular Playground/Poly(ethylene glycol), Erika M. Saffer


Chambers Lab

Molecular Playground/Glutamate Receptor, Amanda Hussey, Steve McCarron, Rosie Combs-Bachmann, Mariel Feliciano

Chien Lab

Molecular Playground/Hexameric ClpX, Joanne Lau
Best CBI Molecule 2011

Forbes Lab


Molecular Playground/CheR, Miaomin Zhang
Molecular Playground/RBP, Jan Panteli
Molecular Playground/TRAIL, Charley Swofford


Garman Lab

Molecular Playground/Human Protective Protein Cathepsin A, Yadilette Rivera-Colon
Molecular Playground/Human PPCA, Nilima Kolli

Gierasch Lab

Molecular Playground/CRABP I, Kristine Faye Pobre, Mylene Ferrolino,Mangai Periasamy
Best Overall CBI Molecule 2010

Hardy Lab

Molecular Playground/Caspase-7 Dynamics
Molecular Playground/Caspase-9 Regulation, Kristen Huber
Molecular Playground/Caspase-6 (new), Elih Velazquez
Molecular Playground/Influenza A M2 transmembrane domain, Samantha Nicholls
Molecular Playground/Dengue Virus Protease, Muslum Yildiz

Hebert Lab

Molecular Playground/Saposin C, Abla Tannous
Molecular_Playground/ERMan1, Johan Sunryd


Heuck Lab

Molecular_Playground/Pcr H, Fabian Romano

Kaltashov Lab

Molecular Playground/Velaglucerase, Adriana Kita

Knapp lab

Molecular Playground/Prolyl Hydroxylase Domain (PHD) Enzyme, Cristina Martin
Best CBI Molecule Proteopedia Page 2010
Molecular Playground/FIH, Cornelius Taabazuing, Breanne Holmes, John Hangasky

Martin Lab

Molecular Playground/T7 RNAP Conformations, Luis E. Ramirez-Tapia
Best CBI Molecule 2011
Molecular Playground/T7 RNA Polymerase (7 mer int), Ankit Vahia
NEW Fall 2011! Molecular Playground/Human mtRNA pol, Ketan Mathavan

Roberts Lab

Molecular Playground/Taxol, Rohan Patil, Sarah Wilson
Molecular Playground/Insulin, Whitney Stoppel

Rotello Lab

Molecular Playground/Reverse Transcriptase, Daniel Moyano-Marino
Molecular Playground/Pancreatic Lipase, Rui Tang
Molecular playground/Chymotrypsin, Brad
Molecular Playground/Targeting Peptide, David Solfiell

Schnarr Lab

Molecular Playground/6-Deoxyerythronolide B Synthase, Tsung-Yi Lin, Jon Amoroso
Molecular Playground/ACP apo, Gitanjeli Prasad

Thayumanavan Lab

Molecular Playground/Lysozyme , Daniella Gonzalez
Molecular Playground/Beta-galactosidase, Judy Ventura
Molecular Playground/Carbonic Anhydrase, Krishna Reddy Raghupathi
Molecular Playground/Avidin, Rami Rajasekar Reddy
Molecular Playground/Biotin binding avidin, Diego Amado
Molecular Playground/MMP12, Jiaming Zhuang
Molecular Playground/Gluconase, Jing Guo
Molecular Playground/Glutathione Reductase, Reuben Chacko

Thayumanavan & Vachet Labs

Molecular Playground/Trypsin, Gladys Murage

Thompson & Weis Labs

Molecular Playground/Bacterial Chemotaxis Receptors, Lynmarie K. Thompson, Shiela M. Jones
Molecular Playground/cytoplasmic domain of a serine chemotaxis receptor, Meili Yang

Vachet Lab

Molecular playground/beta 2 microglobulin, Nick Borotto
Best CBI Molecule Jmol scenes 2010
Molecular Playground/Myoglobin, Yuping Zhou
Molecular Playground/ Copper-Zinc Superoxide Dismutase, Shaynah Browne


Other Molecules of interest

Molecular Playground/PcrA Helicase, Luis E Ramirez-Tapia, Martin Lab


Other Laboratories

Molecular Playground/YKL-40, Ralph A. Francescone III, Shao Lab
Molecular Playground/β-lactoglobulin, Daniel Seeman, Dubin Lab
Molecular Playground/ADAM13, Genevieve Abbruzzese, Alfandari Lab

InstructionsInstructions

Congratulations to the prize-winning CBI molecules noted above! These also provide great examples to follow. Another prize for best CBI Molecule page and/or scene will be awarded in summer 2012!

Fall 2011: Complete steps 1-4 by 12/1/11, in preparation for the CBI Molecule Workshop.

Choose a molecule that is part of your research project. If someone in your group has already made a page for your research molecule, you can improve on that previous entry. You must leave the previously created page intact and make a copy that you improve and mark as new. Later we will retain the new one with a merged author list.

1. If you don't already have one, request a Proteopedia account and log in. If you are new to Proteopedia, click Help in the navigation box on the left to get started.

2. Make yourself a sandbox page in which you will develop your CBI Molecule scene and description (Enter "User:Your Name/Sandbox 1" (omit quotes) in the search box, then follow instructions to edit this page. See example User:Lynmarie K Thompson/Sandbox 1).

3. Follow the format of the sample CBI molecule page Molecular Playground/Bacterial Chemotaxis Receptors. Easiest way to do this is to copy this page (in editing mode), paste it into your sandbox page, keep the first paragraph about CBI molecules, and then edit to describe and display your molecule. Your goal is to make this an interesting, nontechnical description of the molecule. If multiple people in one group work on the same molecule, you can each make different scenes for the same CBI molecule and each describe them on the same proteopedia page. Talk with each other about your plans so you are not duplicating efforts.

4. Add a link to your sandbox page at Sandbox_CBI (CBI Molecules in Progress).

5. Create an attractive scene for your molecule: use the scene authoring tools in the edit mode to create the view you like, then copy the wiki text into your window.

6. Choose a "green scene" on your Proteopedia page to suggest for display at the Molecular Playground and specify a "banner" which will be projected with the molecule. This should be a short, one-line headline for your scene that includes the name of the molecule and what is important about the scene or the molecule. Remember to design this for the general public, including non-scientists. My example is: "Molecular Playground banner: A bacterial chemotaxis receptor protein used by bacteria to "smell" their environment."

7. When you are happy with your sandbox page, make yourself a permanent Proteopedia page, which will be editable by others. Enter "Molecular Playground/your molecule" (omit quotes) in the search box, then follow the instructions to create a new page with this title. Copy the content of your sandbox to this new page.

8. When you have finished the final version of your page and scene, edit this CBI Molecules page to add a listing and link for your molecule, following the examples above, and be sure to mark it as NEW FALL 2011. If you are improving a previously created page, leave the old one intact and make a copy that you improve and mark as new. Later we will retain the new one with a merged author list. When multiple authors contribute to a Molecular Playground page, please indicate your scene with your initials. Please link the lab names to web pages too.

Links to HELP pagesLinks to HELP pages

Videos showing how to use Proteopedia: Proteopedia:Video_Guide (Sometimes slow -- if you pause the video and wait awhile it will download and then you can play it without interruptions)

Proteopedia Scenes: Do It Yourself gives succinct step by step instructions on how to create a molecular scene.

A powerpoint-like set of slides that walks a user through the process of creating a new page and a new molecular scene/green link. Proteopedia Workshop Slides

Proteopedia:Guidelines for Ethical Writing. Please pay attention to the section about images. There are links to examples of images re-used with explicit permission.

For other help resources, click on Help in the navigation box at the upper left of every page in Proteopedia.

Proteopedia Page Contributors and Editors (what is this?)Proteopedia Page Contributors and Editors (what is this?)

Lynmarie K Thompson, Tsung-Yi Lin, Daniella C. Gonzalez-Toro, Judy Ventura, Daniel Moyano-Marino, Charles Swofford, Rohan Patil, Yadilette Rivera-Colon, Ralph A. Francescone III, Krishna Reddy Ragupathi, Rami Rajasekhar Reddy, Johan Sunryd, Whitney Stoppel, Ankit Vahia, Nilima Kolli, David Griffin, Mariel Feliciano, Diego Amado-Torres, John Hangasky, Jiaming Zhuang, Rui Tang, Gladys Wanjiku Murage, Nick Borotto, Jing Guo, Bradley Duncan, Kristine Faye Pobre, Cristina B. Martin, Mangai Periasamy, Reuben Chacko, Adriana Kita, Daniel Seeman, Kristen Huber, Samantha B. Nicholls, David Solfiell, Luis E Ramirez-Tapia, Shiela M. Jones, Yuping Zhou, Sarah Wilson, Gitanjeli Prasad, Genevieve Abbruzzese, Meili Yang, Joanne Lau, Muslum Yildiz, Joe White, Shaynah Browne, Miaomin Zhang, Erika M. Saffer, Jan Panteli, Abla Tannous, Eric Martz, Jaime Prilusky, Ketan Mathavan, Karan Hingorani, Khaja Muneeruddin, Xuni Li, Thuy V. Nguyen, Brittany deRonde, Dannielle Ryman, Heidi Hu, Kevin Buadlart Dagbay, Gustavo Elberto Epalza Sanchez, Jing Liu, Carolyn Carr, Serap Pektas, Carrie Morrison Penland, Lawrence Sheringham Borketey, Lydia Lamriben, Jake Pawlowski, Banyuhay P. Serrano, Elizabeth R. Haglin, Jing Huang, Christina Chisholm, Mine Canakci, Zhe Zhang, Carolina Morell-Perez, Lauren Jansen, Katrina Rieger, Kamal K. Joshi, Derek MacPherson, Vanessa Chaplin, Bib Yang, Chengfeng Ren, Huan He, Mahalia Serrano, Maryam Kashefy, Yunlong Zhao, Joseph Tilitsky, Priyanka Basak, Hsin-Ting Huang, Joseph Hardie, Yuzhou Tang, Robert Vass, Elizabeth Cummings, Tyler Marcinko, Coralie Backlund, Jill Graham, Keith Ballard, Ololade Fatunmbi, Mallory Gordon