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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Professor Michele Vendruscolo

Professor of Biophysics

Our research

In the last 15 years our research has been focused on the development of methods of characterising the structure, dynamics and interactions of proteins in previously inaccessible states. These methods are based on the use of experimental data, in particular from nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, as structural restraints in molecular dynamics simulations. Through this approach it is possible to obtain information about a variety of protein conformations, as for example those populated during the folding process, and about protein interactions in complex environments, including those generating aggregate species that are associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Application to neurodegenerative diseases

More recently, these studies have led us to investigate the physico-chemical principles of proteins homeostasis and their application to the development of therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerative diseases. Starting from the observation that proteins are expressed in the cell at levels close to their solubility limits, we are developing approaches to prevent or delay misfolding disorders based on the enhancement of our quality control mechanisms against protein aggregation.

Watch Professor Vendruscolo discuss his research

Take a tour of the Una Finlay Laboratory in the Centre for Misfolding Diseases

Publications

Design of Tau Aggregation Inhibitors Using Iterative Machine Learning and a Polymorph-Specific Brain-Seeded Fibril Amplification Assay
A Santambrogio, RI Horne, MA Metrick, ZF Brotzakis, D Rinauro, E Vourkou, K Papanikolopoulou, EMC Skoulakis, S Linse, B Caughey, M Vendruscolo
(2025)
(doi: 10.1101/2025.03.09.642189)
Detection of protein oligomers with nanopores.
RI Horne, SE Sandler, M Vendruscolo, UF Keyser
– Nature Reviews Chemistry
(2025)
9,
224
(doi: 10.1038/s41570-025-00694-7)
PLUMED Tutorials: A collaborative, community-driven learning ecosystem.
GA Tribello, M Bonomi, G Bussi, C Camilloni, BI Armstrong, A Arsiccio, S Aureli, F Ballabio, M Bernetti, L Bonati, SGH Brookes, ZF Brotzakis, R Capelli, M Ceriotti, K-T Chan, P Cossio, S Dasetty, D Donadio, B Ensing, AL Ferguson, G Fraux, JD Gale, FL Gervasio, T Giorgino, NSM Herringer, GM Hocky, SE Hoff, M Invernizzi, O Languin-Cattoën, V Leone, V Limongelli, O Lopez-Acevedo, F Marinelli, P Febrer Martinez, M Masetti, S Mehdi, A Michaelides, MH Murtada, M Parrinello, PM Piaggi, A Pietropaolo, F Pietrucci, S Pipolo, C Pritchard, P Raiteri, S Raniolo, D Rapetti, V Rizzi, J Rydzewski, M Salvalaglio, C Schran, A Seal, A Shayesteh Zadeh, TFD Silva, V Spiwok, G Stirnemann, D Sucerquia, P Tiwary, O Valsson, M Vendruscolo, GA Voth, AD White, J Wu
– Journal of Chemical Physics
(2025)
162,
092501
(doi: 10.1063/5.0251501)
AlphaFold prediction of structural ensembles of disordered proteins.
ZF Brotzakis, S Zhang, MH Murtada, M Vendruscolo
– Nature communications
(2025)
16,
1632
(doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56572-9)
Design of Protein Sequences with Precisely Tuned Kinetic Properties
ZF Brotzakis, M Vendruscolo, G Skretas
(2025)
(doi: 10.1101/2025.02.13.638027)
Lipid-induced condensate formation from the Alzheimer's Aβ peptide triggers amyloid aggregation.
G Šneiderienė, A González Díaz, SD Adhikari, J Wei, T Michaels, T Šneideris, S Linse, M Vendruscolo, K Garai, TPJ Knowles
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(2025)
122,
e2401307122
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2401307122)
Sustainable and Surfactant-Free Synthesis of Negatively Charged Acrylamide Nanogels for Biomedical Applications.
D Mazzali, G Rath, A Röntgen, V Roy Chowdhury, M Vendruscolo, M Resmini
– Macromolecules
(2025)
58,
1206
(doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02128)
Structural commonalities determined by physicochemical principles in the complex polymorphism of the amyloid state of proteins
S Errico, G Fani, S Ventura, J Schymkowitz, F Rousseau, A Trovato, M Vendruscolo, F Bemporad, F Chiti
– Biochemical Journal
(2025)
482,
87
(doi: 10.1042/bcj20240602)
Transient interactions between the fuzzy coat and the cross-β core of brain-derived Aβ42 filaments.
M Milanesi, ZF Brotzakis, M Vendruscolo
– Science Advances
(2025)
11,
eadr7008
(doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adr7008)
Estimation of Ligand Binding Free Energy Using Multi-eGO.
B Stegani, E Scalone, FB Toplek, T Löhr, S Gianni, M Vendruscolo, R Capelli, C Camilloni
– J Chem Inf Model
(2024)
65,
351
(doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c01545)
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Telephone number

01223 763873

Email address

mv245@cam.ac.uk

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