James Gumbart
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Current location:Assistant Professor School of Physics Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA gumbart_at_physics_dot_gatech_edu New website |
Education:
- Director's Postdoctoral Fellow, Argonne National Lab, January 2011 - January 2013
- Ph.D. in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, April 2009
- M.S. in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, October 2005
- B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, Western Illinois University, May 2003
Research Interests:
I am currently investigating the transport properties of the membrane channel SecY. SecY is part of a three-protein complex that serves to allow proteins to cross membranes or insert into them. This task is so important that a form of the Sec system exists in each domain of life! More information about this dynamic and multi-functional protein can be found at our Protein Translocation website. |
Another interesting problem is how Gram-negative bacteria (those possessing two membranes surrounding them) import large nutrients across the outer membrane. Since they cannot generate energy at the outer membrane, they possess an inner membrane protein, TonB, that couples across the periplasm to an outer membrane transporter in order to import large molecules, such as vitamin B12. The mechanisms of this interaction and how it causes transport are still open questions in the field of microbiology. |
Photosynthesis is an elemental process of nature and occurs not just in plants, but also in some bacteria as well. In these bacteria, membrane-bound pseudo-organelles known as chromatophores contain the proteins necessary to turn sunlight into chemical energy. These chromatophores come in different shapes depending on the organism but no one knows how they self-assemble into spheres or sheets, one question we now hope to answer. |
Publications:
Lectures and Poster Presentations (conferences and workshops):
(Talk) The Role of the Protein-conducting Channel in the Membrane Insertion of Transmembrane Segments. James Gumbart, Christophe Chipot, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2010. San Francisco, CA. |
(Talk) Regulation of the Protein-conducting Channel by a Bound Ribosome. James Gumbart, Leonardo G. Trabuco, Elizabeth Villa, Eduard Schreiner, Christopher B. Harrison, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2009. Boston, MA. |
(Poster) Coupling of Ca2+ and Substrate Binding in the Outer Membrane Transporter BtuB. James Gumbart, Michael C. Wiener, and Emad Tajkhorshid. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2009. Boston, MA. |
(Talk) Membrane Protein Insertion in the Translocon. James Gumbart and Klaus Schulten. CECAM Workshop on Membrane Protein Assembly: Theory and Experiment, 2008. Lausanne, Switzerland. |
(Poster) The Roles of the Pore Ring and the Plug in the SecY Protein-conducting Channel. James Gumbart and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2008. Long Beach, CA. |
(Poster) Computational Studies of Substrate-dependent Behavior of the E. coli Cobalamin Transporter BtuB. James Gumbart, Christian Banchs, Michael C. Wiener, and Emad Tajkhorshid. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2008. Long Beach, CA. |
(Talk) Mechanics of force propagation in TonB-dependent outer membrane transporters. James Gumbart, Michael Wiener, and Emad Tajkhorshid. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2007. Baltimore, MD. |
(Poster) Opening of the Lateral Gate of the Translocon SecY. James Gumbart and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2007. Baltimore, MD. |
(Poster) Dynamics of the Translocon SecY Investigated Through MD. James Gumbart and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Society Meeting, 2006. Salt Lake City, UT. |
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(Poster) Optimal perturbations of a finite-width mixing layer near the trailing edge. James Gumbart and James Rabchuk. American Physical Society Meeting, 2002. Indianapolis, IN. |
Teaching:
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. UIUC, Champaign, IL, July 2009. |
Physics 550, Molecular Biophysics. Spring, 2006, 2008, 2009. |
Physics 598NSM, Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics, Fall 2007. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. NIH, Bethesda, MD, Nov. 2007. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nov. 2006. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. Frankfurt, Germany, Mar. 2006. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nov. 2005. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. Lake Tahoe, California, May 2005. |
Computational
Biophysics Workshop. Boston, Massachusetts, Dec. 2004. |
Physics 112 (now 212). Fall, 2003. |