Author：SIAIS
Date：24 June 2015
On June8, 2015, invited by Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies (SIAIS), Dr.Sergio Pantano,Head of Biomolecular Simulations at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay,delivered a lecture titled Coarse-Grained biosimulations: bridging the gap between in-silico and in-vivo.
Computer simulations have become a reliable tool for the study of molecular systems, facilitating the study of different conditions as temperature, concentrations, mutations, etc. However, the computational cost of highly detailed molecular simulations challenges the possibility to match biologically relevant size and timescales. Simplified or Coarse-grained methods, which decrease the complexity of molecular systems keeping a good description of molecular interactions, reduce drastically the cost of computer simulations allowing for a direct comparison with experimental data. In the lecture, Dr. Pantano presented examples of application of a Coarse-Grained model called Sirah (www.sirahff.com) to the development of a new generation of fluorescent sensors to follow cyclic nucleotides in-vivo; the structural characterization of Capsular polysaccharide 14 from pneumococcus pneumonia; and the disassembly process of the entire capsid of the Triatoma Virus.
Biography of Dr. Sergio Pantano
Dr. Pantano received hisBachelor Degree in Physics from Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina and then his Mater Degree and Ph. D in Computational Biophysics from International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy. In 2001, he became a researcher (Assegnista di Ricerca) at the Sector of Statistical and Biological Physics. SISSA, Trieste, Italy. In 2004, he joined the Venetian Institute for Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padua, Italy, working as an independent researcher.From 2007, he served as the head of Biomolecular Simulations at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay.
Pantano’s primary expertise is in development and application of biomolecular modeling and simulations. Pantano’s group at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo is developing a top-down Coarse-Grained force field for biomacromolecules (see http://www.sirahff.com). This work is carried out in close collaboration with experimental partners. Current research lines include development of fluorescent sensors for in vivo imaging of cyclic nucleotides signaling, gating mechanism of connexin channels, uncoating mechanisms in the Triatoma Virus, and study of conformational aspects of large macromolecular aggregates.
