Scientific activity

The objective of our ongoing work is to understand the physical chemical bases governing the structure, stability, dynamics and interactions of different biological molecules such as peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates. This investigation is conducted on systems with different levels of complexity, ranging from isolated molecules to macromolecular assemblies, membrane mimetics, cells and tissues. Many of these systems have biomedical, pharmacological or biotechnical importance.

We determine the structure of nucleic acids and their complexes. We also characterize the interactions between proteins and DNA and proteins and RNA, and the roles of ribonucelo-protein complexes in gene regulation through control of metabolism, transport and subcellular localization of mRNA.

We also study processes that determine the assembly and functional properties of Abeta1-40/42 oligomers, RNase A oligomers and PrP. The aim of this work is to understand diseases arising from aberrant conformations, neurodegenerative illnesses, and in general, the process of aging.

We have a great deal of experience in the study of protein folding and the design of peptides with a defined structure. This expertise allows us to establish structure-function relationships in proteins and protein-inhibitor complexes implicated in, for example, angiogenesis, the immune response and antiviral activity.

Moreover, we are also interested in determining the structural organization and stability of proteins, as well as their mode of ligand binding. We investigate the role of carbohydrates as recognition signals. The systems that we study include carbohydrate receptors, murein hydrolases, pneumococcal virulence factors and different allergens and toxins.

Methods Development

The experience of our research Department is in the fields of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology, Biophysics, Glycobiology and Biothermodynamics. Our Department investigates and develops the methodology necessary for:

-Solving problems of molecular heterogeneity, such as isoforms, modifications and conformational heterogeneity.

- Increasing the usefulness of NMR Spectroscopy through the development of new pulse sequences, reduced dimensionality and automatic assignment methods.

- Resolving molecular interactions in complex media using Fluorescence MicroSpectroscopy or Single Cell Spectroscopy, or conditions that require the use of cells and microorganisms, like microarrays of carbohydrates.