On July 3^rd, 2023, Prof. Carlos Bustamante, member of the National Academy of Sciences and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, attended the 193^th Master Distinguished Lecture and delivered a lecture titled Co-translational Protein Folding, One Molecule at A Time.

Prof. Chunhai FAN, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (SCCE) and executive dean of National Facility for Translational Medicine, along with Prof, Jielin SUN, vice dean of National Facility for Translational Medicine, and Prof. Zhifeng SHAO, were invited to participate in the event. Over a hundred faculty members and students from various departments attended the lecture at the fifth-floor auditorium of the National Facility for Translational Medicine.

Prof. Bustamante's presentation centered on the exploration of biophysical mechanisms based on single-molecule force spectroscopy. He first introduced the investigation into the mechanism of real-time co-translational protein folding. Comparing ribosome-bound proteins stalled at different translation stages with newly synthesized peptide chains in real-time, he confirmed that the folding of co-translational proteins is a non-equilibrium process. Subsequently, he elaborated on the use of optical tweezers to release ribosomes captured by the SecM protein. Additionally, his group developed a dynamic model elucidating how proteins regulate their own synthesis by utilizing the forces generated during the folding process.

During the Q&A session, Prof. Bustamante engaged in one-on-one discussions with graduate students from diverse academic backgrounds. He enthusiastically answered their questions and delved into topics such as how to determine research directions, enhance research skills, and handle setbacks. He encouraged the students to pursue what they love and develop an appreciation for the beauty of science. The attedning students responded warmly, expressing that through close interaction with the master, they had broadened their horizons and ?? their thinking.

Video URL: https://v.sjtu.edu.cn/reports/report1-2221.html

Author: Chenyun SUN, Wenhe MA

Translator: Chenyun SUN

Reviser: Xiaoke HU

Photography: Haozhi WANG