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Centre for Misfolding Diseases

Gabriella (Gabi) Heller is the Rosalind Franklin Research Fellow at Newnham College. Her research focuses on intrinsically disordered proteins, biomolecules lacking a single, rigid three-dimensional structure that instead exist as a dynamic equilibrium of conformationally distinct states. These proteins are highly prevalent in diseases such as dementia and cancer, yet are often considered therapeutically 'untargetable' as they are unamenable to traditional drug discovery techniques.  Gabriella aims to understand whether and how intrinsically disordered proteins can be targeted by small molecule therapeutics using a combination of computational and experimental techniques. 

Publications

Multistep Inhibition of α-Synuclein Aggregation and Toxicity in Vitro and in Vivo by Trodusquemine
M Perni, P Flagmeier, R Limbocker, R Cascella, FA Aprile, C Galvagnion, GT Heller, G Meisl, SW Chen, JR Kumita, PK Challa, JB Kirkegaard, SIA Cohen, B Mannini, D Barbut, EAA Nollen, C Cecchi, N Cremades, TPJ Knowles, F Chiti, M Zasloff, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson
– ACS Chem Biol
(2018)
13,
2308
Sequence Specificity in the Entropy-Driven Binding of a Small Molecule and a Disordered Peptide.
GT Heller, FA Aprile, M Bonomi, C Camilloni, A De Simone, M Vendruscolo
– J Mol Biol
(2017)
429,
2772
Methods of probing the interactions between small molecules and disordered proteins
GT Heller, FA Aprile, M Vendruscolo
– Cell Mol Life Sci
(2017)
74,
3225
Simultaneous quantification of protein order and disorder.
P Sormanni, D Piovesan, GT Heller, M Bonomi, P Kukic, C Camilloni, M Fuxreiter, Z Dosztanyi, RV Pappu, MM Babu, S Longhi, P Tompa, AK Dunker, VN Uversky, SCE Tosatto, M Vendruscolo
– Nature chemical biology
(2017)
13,
339
A natural product inhibits the initiation of α-synuclein aggregation & suppresses its toxicity
M Perni, C Galvagnion, A Maltsev, G Meisl, MBD Müller, PK Challa, JB Kirkegaard, P Flagmeier, SIA Cohen, R Cascella, SW Chen, R Limboker, P Sormanni, GT Heller, FA Aprile, N Cremades, C Cecchi, F Chiti, EAA Nollen, TPJ Knowles, M Vendruscolo, A Bax, M Zasloff, CM Dobson
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(2017)
114,
E1009
Attenuating the Toxicity of Amyloid-Beta Aggregation with Specific Species
R Limbocker, B Mannini, M Perni, S Chia, G Heller, FS Ruggeri, J Habchi, G Meisl, PK Challa, M Zasloff, TPJ Knowles, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson
– Biophysical Journal
(2017)
112,
494A
Principles of protein structural ensemble determination.
M Bonomi, GT Heller, C Camilloni, M Vendruscolo
– Current opinion in structural biology
(2017)
42,
106
Targeting disordered proteins with small molecules using entropy.
GT Heller, P Sormanni, M Vendruscolo
– Trends Biochem Sci
(2015)
40,
491
Topological Complexity in Protein Structures
E Flapan, G Heller
– Computational and Mathematical Biophysics
(2015)
3,
Vocabulary, Syntax, and Narrative Development in Typically Developing Children and Children With Early Unilateral Brain Injury: Early Parental Talk About the "There-and-Then" Matters
ÖE Demir, ML Rowe, G Heller, S Goldin-Meadow, SC Levine
– Developmental Psychology
(2015)
51,
161
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01223 763845 (shared)

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