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
Methods of probing the interactions between small molecules and disordered proteins.
GT Heller, FA Aprile, M Vendruscolo
Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS
(2017)
74
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
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
A natural product inhibits the initiation of α-synuclein aggregation and 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
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
Principles of protein structural ensemble determination
M Bonomi, GT Heller, C Camilloni, M Vendruscolo
Curr Opin Struct Biol
(2017)
42
Targeting disordered proteins with small molecules using entropy
GT Heller, P Sormanni, M Vendruscolo
Trends in Biochemical Sciences
(2015)
40
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

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Telephone number

01223 763842, 01223 763845 (shared)