Structural Biology
Luca Varani, Group Leader
Marco Bardelli, Daniela Iannotta, Elsa Livoti, Mattia Pedotti, Luca Simonelli
Our group uses computational, biochemical and biophysical tools to determine the structure of proteins and characterize their interactions with other molecules, with particular attention to antibody-antigen interactions in infectious diseases.
Experimental techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-Ray crystallography have been traditionally used to investigate biomolecular structures at the atomic level. On the other hand, Computational Structural Biology is a novel, exciting field with very rapid development and high expectations for the near future. We can use computers to predict individual structures (modelling) and intermolecular complexes (docking) and the speed, precision and accuracy of these predictions is constantly increasing.
Computer predictions, however, are not always accurate, so it is important to experimentally validate them. What has largely been missing to achieve this goal is a concerted effort by different branches of the life sciences such as biology and informatics. Here we strive to merge biochemical data, experimental structural validation and computational docking in an efficient workflow, and to apply it to biologically relevant cases such as the interactions between antibodies and pathogens or between chemokines, proteins responsible for controlling cellular trafficking.