PROTEINS RELATED TO PATHOGENESIS OF DISEASES, VIRAL PROTEINS, CELL DIVISION, SIGNALLING AND CHROMATIN PROCESSES

The outstanding research questions of our BAG focus on proteins and their complexes involved in a variety of processes, ranging from cell homeostasis (from gene regulation to folding quality control, from energy metabolism to signal transduction) to communication and surface recognition (including trans-interactions between cell adhesion molecules, components of the extracellular matrix weaving, as well as antigen-antibody interactions for vaccine development and optimization). Key to several projects is the characterization of the mechanisms associated to enzyme function in various organisms, including bacteria, viruses, plants, animals and humans for downstream drug discovery campaigns. Emphasis is also given to research focusing on engineering protein and enzymes for future industrial applications, as well as to understand the impact of pathogenic mutations on protein structures, providing a genotype-to-molecular phenotype rationale to disease development.

本课题组（BAG）的核心研究课题聚焦于参与多种生命过程的蛋白质及其复合物，此类生命过程涵盖从细胞稳态（cell homeostasis）到细胞通讯与表面识别的多个维度：其中细胞稳态维度包含基因调控、蛋白质折叠质量控制、能量代谢与信号转导；细胞通讯与表面识别维度则涵盖细胞黏附分子间的反式相互作用（trans-interactions）、参与细胞外基质（extracellular matrix）编织的组分，以及用于疫苗开发与优化的抗原-抗体相互作用。本课题组多项研究的核心在于解析细菌、病毒、植物、动物及人类等不同生物体内酶功能相关的分子机制，为下游药物发现研究提供支撑。此外，课题组还重点开展面向未来工业应用的蛋白质与酶工程化改造研究，并探究致病性突变对蛋白质结构的影响，进而为疾病发生发展提供基因型至分子表型的理论依据。