Congratulations to Ana MILINSKI on the successful acceptance of her PhD thesis!
Her work, supervised by Dr. Roland H. Stote and Prof. Annick Dejaeger, is entitled:
“Structural dynamics of the nuclear receptor PPARgamma.”
Summary of Research Work:
During my PhD, I used computational (in silico) approaches to study the structural dynamics of the PPARγ protein. This research was part of a collaborative project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), where we combined molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with infrared (IR) spectroscopy analyses. By comparing our molecular simulations with experimental data, particularly in terms of secondary structure content and IR spectra, we were able to validate and leverage simulated data to analyze the correlated motions of our protein of interest. Correlated motions are low-frequency movements involving the entire protein, which play a crucial role in biological processes such as allosteric transitions, ligand recognition, and enzymatic activity.
The developed approach was applied to various forms of the PPARγ nuclear receptor, including the wild-type form, two mutated forms (cancer-associated mutations), and the protein bound to various ligands (both protein and small molecules). We highlighted differences in correlated motions across these PPARγ systems. Furthermore, we studied the effect of electronic polarization on the correlated motions of this protein, which deepened our understanding of its dynamic behavior.
Link to 2 Key Publications:
Skills Acquired at IGBMC:
Over the past four years at IGBMC, I have developed skills in molecular modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, and data analysis. I gained experience in literature research, synthesis, writing, as well as both written and oral presentations.
Life at IGBMC:
I spent wonderful years at IGBMC and met many people for whom I am truly grateful. I especially appreciated the quality of the research and teaching. I am also thankful to the administrative staff for their excellent work and organization within the institute.
Collaborations:
My main project was a collaboration with Prof. Petra Hellwig's team at UMR 7140 in Strasbourg.
I also participated (on a more occasional basis) in projects between my team and:
- Odd André Karlsen's team at the University of Bergen in Norway
- Benoît Marteyn's team at the IBMC Institute, Strasbourg
Funding and partners:
The project was funded by the ANR (3 years). For the fourth year, I received a half-ATER (assistant lecturer) position at the University.
Future Projects:
My future has already begun - I started working in September 2024 at the biotechnology company Apmonia Therapeutics in Reims, France, as a Research Engineer. My project focuses on designing cancer treatments, specifically, I am responsible for modeling peptides targeting extracellular matrix proteins.