Research Profile
The research of the NMR Group is aimed at obtaining four-dimensional spatiotemporal information about molecules of biological interest and medical relevance.Towards this goal we employ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as our main experimental technique. Different NMR modalities allow us to study the structure, dynamics, folding, kinetics, and stability of proteins at the molecular level, and provide us with fundamental insight into biochemical processes, molecular biology, enzymology and molecular pathology.
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
The NMR group currently studies the inherently dynamic structures of several natively disordered human proteins. Some of these naturally occurring proteins tend to spontaneously self-associate as oligomers, and ultimately are deposited into insoluble fibers. We are particularly interested in the relationship between the early steps of transient structure formation and their relationship to fibril formation and growth. This work is of great importance, as protein aggregation behaviour is intimately connected to human pathology. Proteins that are currently being studied in our lab include alpha-synuclein (Parkinson's disease), amyloid-beta and tau (Alzheimer's disease) and neuroligin (autism spectrum disorder).