Michael F. Thorpe
Foundation Professor
D. Phil, Oxford, 1968
Home Department Physics
ASU Affiliations Center for Biological Physics
Areas of Study Biological Physics and Condensed Matter Theory
Link Personal Homepage
Class Pages CHM


Background In 2003, Michael Thorpe joined Arizona State University as Foundation Professor. He previously had faculty appointments at Yale University and Michigan State University where he was University Distinguished Professor. His research interests are in the theory of disordered systems, with a special emphasis on properties that are determined by geometry and topology. He has a research background in condensed matter theory, and in recent years has developed the mathematical theory of flexibility and mobility for use in glassy networks, and also in crystalline materials with disorder, such as zeolites and manganites. His most recent work has been in biological physics. The flexible regions in proteins and protein complexes are determined from the x-ray crystallographic structure. These are used to determine dynamical pathways between different protein conformations using geometric simulation techniques. Proteins are stable enough to maintain a three-dimensional structure, but flexible enough for biological function. The aim of this research work is to find underlying principles and unifying concepts, to better understand the evolution and function of proteins and protein complexes. He was the Founding Director of the Center for Biological Physics at Arizona State University.

A piece of a computer generated continuous random network. This glass has floppy modes associated with regions that are underconstrained.

Showing a rigid region decomposition of the protein HIVP. The blue region is the rigid core and the multicolored regions have varying degrees of flexibility.
Mike2.JPG
Michael F. Thorpe
PO Box 871504
Tempe, AZ 85287-1504

phone: (480) 965-3085
fax: (480) 965-7954
email: mft@asu.edu
[Publication] Sartbaeva, A., Wells, S.A., Treacy, M.M.J. & Thorpe, M.F. (2006). The flexibility window in zeolites . Nature Materials, 5 962-965.
[Publication] Gohlke, H., & Thorpe, M.F. (2006). A Natural Coarse Graining for Simulating Large Biomolecular Motion. Biophysics Journal, 9, 2115-2120.
[Publication] Sartbaeva, A., Wells, S.A., Thorpe, M.F., Bozin, E.S., & Billinge, S.J.L. (2006). Geometric Modeling of Perovskite Frameworks with Jahn-Teller Distortions: Application to Cubic Manganites. Phys. Rev. Lett., 97, 065501.
[Publication] Wells, S., Menor, S., Hespenheide, B., & Thorpe, M.F. (2005). Constrained Geometric Simulation of Diffusive Motion in Proteins. Physical Biology, 2, S127-S136.