Carlos Bustamante
· Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural BiologyUniversity of California, Berkeley · Biological Sciences
Active 1978–2026
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About
Carlos Bustamante is a Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair and is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research focuses on biochemistry and biophysics, with particular emphasis on molecular and cellular biology. He is associated with the Bustamante Lab located at 608A Stanley Hall, Berkeley, CA. His contact information includes email at carlosb@berkeley.edu, phone at (510) 666-2759, and mailing address at 176 Stanley Hall, University of California, Berkeley. Further details about his research can be found on his faculty webpage.
Research topics
- Physics
- Nanotechnology
- Computer Science
- Biology
- Materials science
- Engineering
- Chemistry
- Optics
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics
Selected publications
Optical tweezers in single-molecule biophysics
Nature Reviews Methods Primers · 2021 · 584 citations
1st authorCorrespondingSingle-Molecule Studies of Protein Folding with Optical Tweezers
Annual Review of Biochemistry · 2020 · 204 citations
1st authorCorrespondingManipulation of individual molecules with optical tweezers provides a powerful means of interrogating the structure and folding of proteins. Mechanical force is not only a relevant quantity in cellular protein folding and function, but also a convenient parameter for biophysical folding studies. Optical tweezers offer precise control in the force range relevant for protein folding and unfolding, from which single-molecule kinetic and thermodynamic information about these processes can be extract…
Nature Communications · 2024-05-23 · 24 citations
articleOpen accessThe conformational dynamics of nucleosome arrays generate a diverse spectrum of microscopic states, posing challenges to their structural determination. Leveraging cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET), we determine the three-dimensional (3D) structures of individual mononucleosomes and arrays comprising di-, tri-, and tetranucleosomes. By slowing the rate of condensation through a reduction in ionic strength, we probe the intra-array structural transitions that precede inter-array interaction…
ACS Central Science · 2023-12-22 · 11 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingcan diffuse along the nucleosome positioning sequence. Tetrasome mobility might be critical to the proper assembly of nucleosomes and can be relevant during nucleosomal transcription, as tetrasomes survive RNA polymerase passage. These findings are relevant to understanding nucleosome intrinsic dynamics and their modification by DNA-processing enzymes.
Science Advances · 2025-05-01 · 6 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingUnderstanding the intricate folding process of proteins and characterizing the intermediates they populate en route to their native state remain challenging despite the remarkable accuracy achieved through in silico approaches for predicting native protein structures. Here, we replaced the conventional flexible double-stranded DNA handle force transducers with solid DNA-origami bundles to conduct single-molecule folding force-spectroscopy studies on calerythrin, a compact multidomain calcium-bin…
Recent grants
Mechanisms of Viral DNA Packaging
NIH · $579k · 2018–2019
NIH · $4.7M · 2017
Physical Chemistry of Nucleic Acids
NIH · $8.1M · 1983–2028
Frequent coauthors
- 116 shared
Bibiana Onoa
QB3
- 114 shared
Ignacio Tinoco
University of California, Berkeley
- 96 shared
Steven B. Smith
- 93 shared
César Díaz-Celis
University of California, Berkeley
- 93 shared
Eva Nogales
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- 83 shared
Ciro Cecconi
- 78 shared
Susan Marqusee
QB3
- 78 shared
Shannon Yan
Education
- 1996
Ph.D., Human Biology
University of California, Berkeley
- 1993
M.S., Human Biology
University of California, Berkeley
- 1991
B.S., Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Awards & honors
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair
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