Date: Thursday 28th of May at 13:00 in Askja, N-132
Title: ”The myelin sheath: A living crystal? Structural studies using X-rays, neutrons and electrons”
Speaker: Petri Kursula
Abstract: Myelin is a membrane structure crucial for the normal functioning of the nervous system. Myelin carries a specific set of integral and peripheral membrane proteins, which are structurally unrelated but share the function of binding lipid bilayers tightly together and causing self-assembly of larger proteolipid structures. Most myelin proteins are linked to human demyelinating disease, through either pathogenic mutations or autoimmune reactions. Intriguingly, nearly 100 years ago, X-ray diffraction was already observed from myelinated tissue; still, we know little about the molecular mechanisms of myelin assembly and its 3D structure. Our aim is to obtain high-resolution information on the assembly and molecular structure of the myelin sheath, a multilayered proteolipid membrane. We use several structural biology and complementary techniques, including crystallography, X-ray and neutron scattering, and cryo-EM to reach this goal. I will give a general background to the project, presenting recent highlights and future directions.
Bio: Petri Kursula is a structural biologist with broad interests in protein structure, dynamics, and function. His main research focus concerns proteins that are important for forming the multilayered myelin proteolipid membrane in the nervous system. A complementary set of structural biology and biophysical methods are being used in the project, involving the use of photons, neutrons, and electrons – as well as a line of complementary techniques – to study myelin structure. He got his PhD from the University of Oulu (Finland) in 2000, and carried out three post-doctoral stays, at Biocenter Oulu, EMBL Hamburg, and the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm). In 2006, he was nominated Academy Research Fellow by the Academy of Finland, and since then, he has led his own research group at the University of Oulu, University of Hamburg/DESY synchrotron, and now at the University of Bergen (Norway). He is a full professor in Bergen since 2014 and scientific director of the BiSS core facility at the University of Bergen. In addition, he holds a professorship at the University of Oulu.
