Influence of a structure and lipid composition of a biological membrane on activation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR)
Research project objectives
The funding granted by the National Science Centre will be used to finance a three-month internship at the Department of Physics of the University of Helsinki. The internship will be conducted under the supervision of professor Ilpo Vattulainen who is a renowned expert in the field of computational chemistry. The area of research in professor Vattulainen’s team covers lipid membranes as well as a wide range of other biomolecular systems comprised of proteins, DNA, and sugars, and the interactions of these systems with biomolecular entities such as antibiotics and other drugs, antibodies, and alcohols (see: https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/biophysics/about). The main objective of the project is to learn new state-of-the-art computational methodologies and gain experience using pioneer strategies developed by Professor Vattulainen’s team in order to conduct detailed studies of selected G protein-coupled receptors and/or other membrane proteins and their interactions with small-molecule ligands with pharmacological potential. This will be achieved through active participation in the project that aims to explore the allosteric binding of lipids with neuroreceptors that is currently conducted by the Team. As a result, the project constitutes a great opportunity to widen the toolset and to explore new topics and scientific challenges. Additionally, it is an opportunity to establish new scientific collaboration with the world-class scientific community.
PI and the main investigator: Agata Sowińska