Invitation to attend BMMP Online Seminar Series (31st October 2025 10AM)

[Ragothaman Yennamalli]

Dear All,

Biomolecular and Materials Modelling Platform (Online) of India (bm-mp.in) is delighted to invite you to an exciting seminar in 2025.

Please find the flyer and the abstract attached in the pdf. The seminar will be delivered by an expert in protein folding: Dr. Shunsuke Tagami from RIKEN IMS, Yokohama, Japan

Details of the Seminar:
Title: Protein Fold Evolution in the Ancient Central Dogma Machinery

Abstract: Even the simplest prokaryotes currently existing on Earth possess hundreds of different proteins, including large protein complexes such as RNA polymerase. It remains a major mystery how so many protein structures emerged and became complex during the early evolutionary process of life. We have successfully simplified the core fold of RNA polymerase (DPBB) and reconstructed the DPBB fold as a homodimer of a short peptide (43 amino acids) (Yagi S et al., JACS, 2021). Subsequently, we discovered that this peptide could also fold into a new fold (named DZBB) under certain conditions (Yagi S et al., Nat Commun 2024). Surprisingly, DZBB showed partial structural similarity to RIFT and OB folds conserved in ribosomal proteins. By introducing further mutations to DZBB, we could experimentally transform it into RIFT or OB folds. In other words, by discovering the missing-link fold, we were able to elucidate the evolutionary relationships of various ancient folds. As a result, it was suggested that about 30% of the proteins involved in the central dogma evolved from a common simple peptide.

Date: 31st October 2025, Friday 
Time: 10:00-11:00 AM (India Standard Time)
Format: ZOOM: https://shorturl.at/c4QYf (Meeting ID: 618 7015 9969 Passcode: 421552)

We look forward to your participation in what promises to be an enlightening and engaging session. Please share them among your students and encourage them to participate.

Thanks and Regards,
BMMP-India Governance Team

Governance Team and Affiliations:
1. Durba Sengupta, Scientist, National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR), India.
2. Neha Sureshchandra Gandhi, Adjunct professor, Queensland University of Technology

3. Ragothaman Yennamalli, Senior Assistant Professor, School of Chemical & Biotechnology, SASTRA University.
4. Aditya Kumar Padhi, Assistant Professor, School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT (BHU), Varanasi.
4. Rajnish, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, IIT (BHU), Varanasi.
6. Prakash Muthuramalingamu, Research Professor & Head, Department of Chemistry, SRMIST, Kattankulathur, Chennai.

****************************************
Ragothaman M Yennamalli, Ph.D.

Senior Assistant Professor,

Department of Bioinformatics,

School of Chemical and Biotechnology,

SASTRA University,

Thanjavur, India

https://yennamalli-lab.in/

Chair, Publications Committee, ISCB

Executive Committee Member, APBioNet

Associate Editor, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Associate Editor, Bioinformatics and Biology Insights

Special Issue Editor, Biophysical Journal

Editorial Board, BMC Bioinformatics

Editorial Board, Scientific Reports

Early Career Researcher Review Board, Protein Science

"When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." -George Washington Carver
***************************************