Research interests

I specialise in structural biology and biochemistry of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), including SUMOylation, ubiquitylation, ADP-ribosylation, and phosphorylation. I study these PTMs particularly with regards to how they are catalysed by dedicated enzymes and how they impact cellular processes such as DNA repair, transcription, and protein degradation. More broadly, I’m interested in all biological processes regulated by interactions between macromolecules, trying to understand them at different levels, from atomic to systemic. Recently, I have developed a particular interest in proteins that self-assemble into homofilaments and other multimers as part of their function - this concerns particularly proteins that work as transcription factors, or which either catalyse, or are regulated by, SUMOylation and ubiquitylation.

While most of my current projects concern human proteins and pathways, I’m interested in various model systems as well, including yeast and bacteria. I always consider proteins and pathways in the light of their evolutionary history.

The main techniques that I use are protein crystallography; biochemistry; biophysical methods such as ITC, SAXS, and MALS; electron microscopy; computational techniques, especially structural bioinformatics; and, increasingly, cellular approaches. I like collaborating with chemists, mass spectrometrists, optical microscopists, and system biologists (not to mention fellow structural biologists/biochemists).

I have a secondary, semi-professional interest in philosophy and history of science, and some non-professional interests I won’t bore you with here.