Integrated Structural Biology

Research being conducted by the Focus Group Integrative Structural Biology was centered on the development and application of computational methods to describe the behavior of biological molecules at high resolution. We were interested in enabling the use of computer simulations to provide accurate descriptions of the behavior of proteins and nucleic acids in such a way as to predict the effect of mutations or those resulting from the interactions with other molecules.

We utilized molecular dynamics simulations that are based on physical derived models of proteins, nucleic acid and other biological molecules to accomplish our research targets. The group integrates the data resulting from structural biology techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR spectroscopy), small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and cryo-electron microscopy, making use of techniques derived from information theory and statistics. In this way, we aimed at improving the quality of physical models employed in computer simulations to provide robust and quantitative descriptions of biological systems that can be used to rationally design new experiments.

Publications by the Focus Group

2016

  • Bonetti, Daniela; Camilloni, Carlo; Visconti, Lorenzo; Longhi, Sonia; Brunori, Maurizio; Vendruscolo, Michele; Gianni, Stefano: Identification and Structural Characterization of an Intermediate in the Folding of the Measles Virus X Domain. Journal of Biological Chemistry 291 (20), 2016, 10886-10892 more…
  • Bonomi, Massimiliano; Camilloni, Carlo; Cavalli, Andrea; Vendruscolo, Michele: Metainference: A Bayesian inference method for heterogeneous systems. Science Advances 2 (1), 2016, e1501177 more…
  • Bonomi, Massimiliano; Camilloni, Carlo; Vendruscolo, Michele: Metadynamic metainference: Enhanced sampling of the metainference ensemble using metadynamics. Scientific Reports 6 (1), 2016 more…
  • Cabrita, Lisa D; Cassaignau, Anaïs M E; Launay, Hélène M M; Waudby, Christopher A; Wlodarski, Tomasz; Camilloni, Carlo; Karyadi, Maria-Evangelia; Robertson, Amy L; Wang, Xiaolin; Wentink, Anne S; Goodsell, Luke S; Woolhead, Cheryl A; Vendruscolo, Michele; Dobson, Christopher M; Christodoulou, John: A structural ensemble of a ribosome-nascent chain complex during cotranslational protein folding. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 23 (4), 2016, 278-285 more…
  • Camilloni, Carlo; Sala, Benedetta Maria; Sormanni, Pietro; Porcari, Riccardo; Corazza, Alessandra; De Rosa, Matteo; Zanini, Stefano; Barbiroli, Alberto; Esposito, Gennaro; Bolognesi, Martino; Bellotti, Vittorio; Vendruscolo, Michele; Ricagno, Stefano: Rational design of mutations that change the aggregation rate of a protein while maintaining its native structure and stability. Scientific Reports 6 (1), 2016 more…
  • Deckert, Annika; Waudby, Christopher A.; Wlodarski, Tomasz; Wentink, Anne S.; Wang, Xiaolin; Kirkpatrick, John P.; Paton, Jack F. S.; Camilloni, Carlo; Kukic, Predrag; Dobson, Christopher M.; Vendruscolo, Michele; Cabrita, Lisa D.; Christodoulou, John: Structural characterization of the interaction of a-synuclein nascent chains with the ribosomal surface and trigger factor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (18), 2016, 5012-5017 more…
  • Meloni, Roberto; Camilloni, Carlo; Tiana, Guido: Properties of low-dimensional collective variables in the molecular dynamics of biopolymers. Physical Review E 94 (5), 2016 more…