Dimitrios Stamou
(NeuroSim) Single molecule Neuroscience
Life is a property of biological systems that arises/emerges from their molecular heterogeneity. Interestingly, even copies of seemingly identical molecules can exhibit heterogeneity, each with slight differences in structure, chemical identity, or spatial location. While such molecular heterogeneity often doesn't significantly impact biology, and average molecular properties usually suffice to predict phenotypes, there are exceptions. For instance, in cases like single nucleotide polymorphisms, molecular heterogeneity becomes a crucial driver of phenotypic variation.
Our research primarily aims to unravel the biological significance of nanoscopic spatiotemporal molecular heterogeneities. To this end, our laboratory is pioneering innovative technologies to analyze, at the nanoscale, two pivotal classes of membrane proteins in biology and the pharmaceutical industry: G protein-coupled receptors and transporters.
Traditionally, it's been assumed that proteins shift their location and conformation thousands of times every second. However, our single-molecule research has uncovered spatial and temporal 'modes' that are millions of times more stable than previously believed. These modes play a critical role in regulating protein function. In the coming decade, our focus will be on exploring how these remarkably stable modes influence the signaling and pharmacological characteristics of receptors and transporters, particularly in relation to neurotransmission and neurodegeneration.
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