Description du projet
Un nouveau modèle pour comprendre les protéines
Les protéines sont de grandes machines moléculaires qui jouent plusieurs rôles essentiels dans les cellules et, par conséquent, dans la structure, la fonction et la régulation du corps. Le projet EMPHABIOSYS, financé par l’UE, améliorera notre compréhension des protéines en s’appuyant sur un modèle faisant le lien entre les phases polymères conventionnelles et celles adoptées par les biomolécules. Il appliquera une méthode hautement interdisciplinaire englobant biologie, chimie, informatique, physique et mathématiques. Plus spécifiquement, le projet cherchera à identifier la sélection de la structure de l’état natif et la propension des protéines à former des amyloïdes liées à des maladies débilitantes ainsi qu’à étudier la dynamique du pliage et du mauvais pliage des protéines. Il étudiera également les interactions entre l’ADN et les protéines.
Objectif
The aim of the project is to understand proteins, the molecular machines of life, using a highly interdisciplinary approach encompassing biology, chemistry, computer science, physics, and mathematics. Our work will be directly relevant to tackle the societally important problem of human health, it will be useful for making nifty machines in the lab and eventually could form the basis for the creation of artificial life itself. The starting ingredient of the EMPHABIOSYS project is a model for proteins recently developed by the applicant and her supervisors that serves to bridge conventional polymer phases and those adopted by biomolecules. We will proceed with a hierarchical inclusion of increasing levels of details that is fully controlled and will provide invaluable insights on the underlying mechanisms and direct comparison to experiments. We will incorporate directional interactions mimicking hydrogen bonds; we will include sequence specificity to understand the selection of the native state structure and the propensity of proteins to form amyloid implicated in debilitating diseases; we will then proceed to an understanding of the dynamics of protein folding and misfolding; and ultimately to the study of protein-DNA interactions. The first two steps will be carried out at University of Oregon under the guidance of international leaders and will enable me to master experimental approaches along with mathematical rigor and physical intuition. The final step will be carried out during the third year of the project at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and will benefit from the network of collaborations established with the Universities of Vienna, San Sebastian and Oslo. The award of the fellowship will be crucial for me to establish my scientific career, to communicate the joy of doing science, to inspire and mentor the next generation of young women (and men) to become scientific leaders, and to make our world a better place in the spirit of Marie Curie.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
30123 Venezia
Italie