Tongye Shen, Ph.D.

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Research Statement

Our focus is to understand the stability and the dynamics of mechanical structures of biological interests: from the level of single biomolecules to sub-cellular assembly for both equilibrium and far-from-equilibrium systems. Currently, by using advanced modeling methods and large scaling computer simulations, we study challenging problems such as biofuel & biomass conversion, non-equilibrium dynamics of cellular structures, statistics of biopolymer configurations in extreme environments, signaling by post-translational modifications.

Selected Publications

Shen, T. & Gnanakaran, S. The stability of cellulose: A statistical perspective from a coarse-grained model of hydrogen bond networks, Biophys. J. 96, 3032-3040 (2009).
 
Shen, T. & Hamelberg, D. A statistical analysis of the accuracy of re-weighting based simulations, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 034103:1-9 (2008).

Shen, T., Zong, C., Portman, J. J. & Wolynes, P.G. Variationally determined free energy profiles for structural models of proteins: Characteristic temperatures for folding and trapping, J. Phys. Chem. B 112, 6074-6082 (2008).

Lu, T., Shen, T., Bennett, M., Wolynes, P.G., & Hasty, J. Phenotypic variability of growing cellular populations, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 18982-18987 (2007).

Hamelberg, D., Shen, T., & McCammon, J.A. A proposed signaling motif for nuclear import in mRNA processing via the formation of arginine claw, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 14947-14951 (2007).

Zong, C., Wilson, C. J., Shen, T.,Wittung-Stafshede, P., Mayo, S. L., & Wolynes, P.G. Establishing the entatic state in folding metallated Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 3159-3164 (2007).

Contact Information

Tongye Shen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics
F433 Walters Life Sciences
1414 Cumberland Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37996

Phone: (865) 974-4088
Email: TShen@utk.edu