Protein Modelling Laboratory

Overview

The Protein Modeling Laboratory employs computational biophysical methods to investigate the molecular structure and dynamics of proteins. Its members possess a diverse range of expertise, traversing the spectrum from fundamental research in protein modeling techniques to applications with biotechnological and biomedical implications. Founded in 1999, the laboratory initially centered on redox proteins (e.g., cytochromes, haem-copper oxidases, laccases, and hydrogenases), but has steadily expanded its scope to encompass new research domains, including ABC transporters, viral fusion mechanisms, enzyme engineering, and more. The interaction with experimental laboratories is essential for our current research, which is primarily focused on the design of non-conventional biologicals to combat viral infection and engineering enzymes for the production of high-value compounds.

Group leaders:

Cláudio M. Soares, PI

Diana Lousa, PI

Highlights

Celebrating 2024!

The ProtModel, APB, Multiscale Modeling and Molecular Simulation Labs were all together celebrating 2024 achievements! Looking forward to another year of teamwork and progress!

Happy holidays!

Congratulations to our EvaMobs team members on successfully defending their MSc theses!

Benedita Pereira, Madalena Marques, from the Master Programme in Biotechnology of NOVA FCT, and Rafael Salgueiro, from the NOVA Master Programme in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, have successfully defended their theses, which were conducted as part of the EvaMobs project.

Benedita's research focused on the computational design of next-generation antiviral biologics targeting Zika virus. Madalena combined computational design with laboratory protein production and characterization of antiviral proteins targeting Influenza A hemagglutinin. Rafael used language models to improve the design strategy of Monobodies.

Our team members did a great job contributing to the progress of EvaMobs! Wishing them all the best for the next chapter!

First-edition MCBBi student sucessfully defends his Master Thesis

On March 8^th, João Correia, a graduate of the first edition of the Master Programme in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, attained a perfect score of 20 while defending his thesis entitled "Validation and Optimization of a Structure-based Enzyme Engineering Platform". He dedicated his efforts to enhancing scoring methods implemented within the laboratory's enzyme engineering platform. Congratulations, João!

ITQB-NOVA, 08.03.2024

Mariana Valério completes Ph.D. Journey with great success

Exciting News! On December 14^th, Mariana Valério successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis entitled "Unlocking Viral Entry: The Key Role of Fusion Proteins". Her work explored the insights of viral entry mechanisms into host cells. Congratulations, Mariana!