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| University of Connecticut, B.S.E, 1998 |
| University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. 2003 |
| University of California, Berkeley, 2003-2006 |
| Brandeis University, Assistant Professor, 2007- |
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| Michael Hagan |
| Assistant Professor |
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| Research Interests: |
Our group uses theory and computation to
learn the fundamental physical principles that govern
assembly and dynamic pattern formation in biology and a
nanoscale materials science. Specific molecular interactions
have evolved over millions of years to drive the formation of
highly ordered large-scale structures in biology, but are
there general features of these interactions that ensure
robust assembly?
Because viruses and many cellular
structures form by assembly, learning to control assembly
could lead to novel disease treatments, better drug delivery
vehicles, and more advanced nano structured materials.
Studying assembly is challenging, however, because structures
can be orders of magnitude larger than individual components.
Experiments that simultaneously monitor individual components
and overall assembly are beginning to span these scales. We
are working to develop a hierarchy of complementary
simulation and theoretical techniques that complement these
experiments. Current research can be split into two broad
areas based on level of resolution
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| Coarse-grained models for biological assembly |
| We are particularly interested in
non-equilibrium processes for which kinetics, rather than
thermodynamics, plays the dominant role in controlling
organization. This criteria may be general feature of
complex organization processes, including those found in
biology. For example, studies of a model that mimics viral
capsid assembly found that the efficiency of assembly is
sharply nonmonotonic with increasing strength of assembly
driving forces, even though the properly formed capsid
becomes more thermodynamically stable.
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| Atomic-resolution simulations of biomolecular motions |
| Many biological processes require activated transitions
and thus occur on time scales that are long compared to those
accessible with atomistic simulations. A number of
techniques, such as transition path sampling developed by the
Chandler group at UC Berkeley, enable simulation of
transitions that are rare but rapid. Many biomolecular
events, however, such as the association of two viral capsid
proteins, are highly diffusive and thus challenging to
simulate with traditional rare event techniques. We are
working to develop more efficient methods with which to
sample diffusive dynamical transitions. Although part of the
motivation for developing these methods is to simulate
assembly reactions, we are also working with Dorothee
Kern’s group, in the Biochemistry Department at
Brandeis, to study enzymatic conformational transitions.
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| Sample of Recent Publications |
- Jack, R.L., M.F. Hagan, and D. Chandler, "Fluctuation-dissipation ratios in the dynamics of self-assembly." Physical Review E, 2007. 76: in press.
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Hagan, M. F.; Chandler, D. "Dynamic Pathways for Viral Capsid Assembly", Biophysical Journal, 2006. 91(1): p. 42-54. PDF
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Hagan, M. F.; Chakraborty, A. K. "Hybridization Dynamics of Surface Immobilized
DNA", J. Chem. Phys. (2004), 120, 4958.
PDF
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Hagan, M. F.; Dinner, A. R.; Chander, D.; Chakraborty, A. K. "Atomistic
Understanding of Kinetic Pathways for Single Base-Pair Binding and Unbinding
in DNA", PNAS (USA) (2003), 100, 13922.
PDF
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Hagan, M. F.; Majumdar, A.; Chakraborty, A. K. "Nanomechanical Forces
Generated by Surface Grafted DNA", J. Phys. Chem. B (2002), 106, 10163.
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Wu, G.; Haifeng, J.; Hansen, K.; Thundat, T.; Datar, R.; Cote, R.; Hagan,
M. F.; Chakraborty, A. K.; Majumdar, A. "Origin of Nanomechanical Cantilever
Motion Generated from Biomolecular Interactions",PNAS (USA) (2001), 98, 1560.
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