Biomedical Research Center SAS
Topic
Theoretical study of possible mechanisms of allosteric activation of calcium pump SERCA
PhD. program
biophysics
Name of the supervisor
RNDr. Magdaléna Májeková, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University
Annotation
Recent knowledge pointed out importance of disrupted calcium signaling in many pathological processes. A key role in the maintaining calcium homeostasis is ensured by calcium ATPase of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum SERCA, which pumps calcium ions from cytoplasm into lumen. The activity of SERCA, which can be decreased under pathological conditions, can be enhanced by activators. Their mechanism of action, so far unknown, could be based on the interference with the modulation effects of ATP. The main goal of the dissertation will be to contribute to a knowledge on modulation effects of ATP and mechanisms of allosteric activation of SERCA by means of molecular modeling and molecular dynamics methods. The work demands previous experience with the methods mentioned above as well as with high performance computing.