Lecture IYCr2014
Date:
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 (All day) 14 de Maio, 12:00 - Auditório da Biblioteca
Margarida Archer
(ITQB-UNL)
The rock road of membrane proteins: from gene to structure
Abstract
The problems and challenges on how to deal with membrane proteins from target selection to gene expression, protein purification, crystallization and structure determination will be presented using a case study. Some stories behind the scenes will also be shared. The case study will focus on a bifunctional protein comprising a cytoplasmic cytidylyltransferase domain coupled with a CDP-alcohol phosphotransferase domain at 2.65 Å resolution. Most integral membrane proteins from this large family are involved in phospholipid biosynthesis across the three domains of life. They share a conserved sequence pattern and catalyze the displacement of CMP from a CDP-alcohol by a second alcohol. Phospholipids are not only major structural components of biological membranes but they also play key roles in cell physiology, regulation, and maturation of numerous cellular processes. Disruption of phospholipid homeostasis is associated with several human diseases and plays a crucial role in pathogen invasion, infectivity, and virulence. A better understanding of their metabolic pathways and regulation should help development of chemotherapeutic drugs against cancer and various infectious diseases.
Short biography
Margarida Archer got her PhD degree in Biochemistry at ITQB/UNL, in 1999 and, since July 2003, she is Auxiliary Investigator at ITQB and Head of the Membrane Protein Crystallography Laboratory. She is Coordinator of Curricular Units within PhD Programs and Master Courses, since 2012, Coordinator of ITQB seminars (invited speakers within Associated Laboratory ITQB, IBET, IGC, CEDOC, 2010-13), and National delegate of the European Crystallographic Association, ECA, since 2009.
Her areas of expertise are Structural Biology, X-ray Crystallography, Membrane Proteins, Disease-related proteins, CDP-alcohol phosphatidyltransferases, Membrane Transporters, Sensor kinases, Sulfur metabolism and Structure-Function relationship.
Since 2001 Margarida Archer has been Principal Investigator of 6 research projects funded by FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology). She's been participant in Marie Curie Integrated Training Network (2008-2011) and in 2 bilateral agreements (with UK in 2007/8 and Ireland in 2009/10). She has supervised 10 Post-Doc students (3 ongoing), 6 PhD and 2 MSc students.
Margarida has been involved in the organization of several national and internationat meetings and courses, such as the International Masterclass “Structure and function of Membrane Proteins: a multidisciplinary approach”, ITQB (2013) and the BioCrys Courses on “Fundamentals of modern methods in Biocrystallography”, ITQB (since 2004, run every two years).
She's co-authored 35 publications in peer reviewed journals and 7 book chapters, and lectured 48 communications and 15 Invited oral presentations at international and national meetings.