Santiago Manrique Zuniga

Coarse-Grain MD Simulation Studies of FGFR family RTKs

Background

I completed a BSc in Biochemistry at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany and did my undergraduate research project at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Department of Physical Biochemistry.

Between October 2009 and March 2011 I continued at Ruhr-University Bochum and at University College London to obtain my MSc degree in Biochemistry. I wrote my Master-Thesis at the Max Planck Institute Dortmund, Department of Structural Biology.

Since October 2011 I am a graduate student at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where I am doing my DPhil with Prof Mark Sansom in the Structural Bioinformatics and Computational Biochemistry Unit. My research is funded by the Wellcome Trust Graduate Program in Structural Biology.

Research

The current focus of my study is on dimerisation processes of transmembrane helices of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors (FGFR) 3 and 4. MD Simulations will give first insights into the role of various cancer related TM point mutations by comparing dimerisation dynamics, binding interfaces etc. These simulations will help to predict large-scale conformational changes of whole FGFR dimers and provide a good input for crystallographical and EM studies.

Publications

Mangino G, Percario ZA, Fiorucci G, Vaccari G, Acconcia F, Chiarabelli C, Leone S, Noto A, Horenkamp FA, Manrique S, Romeo G, Polticelli F, Geyer M, Affabris E
HIV-1 Nef induces proinflammatory state in macrophages through its acidic cluster domain: involvement of TNF alpha receptor associated factor 2.
PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e22982