Research Topics:

Signaling in Insects

We established a strong collabration with the Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary Molecular Biology to investigate insect chemoreception and signaling at the biochemical and structural level. Our methods for recombinant protein production proved highly suitable for these investigations and we are currently exploring how the broad diversity in protein sequences and architectures correlates with specific insect physiological functions.

Overview of the three-dimensional structure of CcapOBP22/CcapOBP69a from the mediterranean fruit fly <i>Ceratitis capitata</i>. Our structural and biochemical investigations revealed a possible binding mode for (E,E)-alpha-farnesene in the ligand-binding pocket of this protein, modelled with sticks and semi-transparent vdW spheres in the figure.

Overview of the three-dimensional structure of CcapOBP22/CcapOBP69a from the mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. Our structural and biochemical investigations revealed a possible binding mode for (E,E)-alpha-farnesene in the ligand-binding pocket of this protein, modelled with sticks and semi-transparent vdW spheres in the figure.

PDB Files:

6HHE - Crystal structure of CcapOBP22/CcapOBP69a

Raw Data in Repository:

Diffraction dataset for PDB ID 6HHE: tgz Archive (3 GB)

Files in Repository:

Model of (E,E)-alpha-farnesene bound to CcapOBP22 (PDB File): Send Request

Publications:

Buezo Montero S, Gabrieli P, Montarsi F, Borean A, Capelli S, De Silvestro G, Forneris F, Pombi M, Breda A, Capelli G, Arcà B.
IgG Antibody Responses to the Aedes albopictus 34k2 Salivary Protein as Novel Candidate Marker of Human Exposure to the Tiger Mosquito
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. (2020)

Buezo Montero S, Gabrieli P, Severini F, Picci L, Di Luca M, Forneris F, Facchinelli L, Ponzi M, Lombardo F, Arcà B.
Analysis in a murine model points to IgG responses against the 34k2 salivary proteins from Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti as novel promising candidate markers of host exposure to Aedes mosquitoes.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 13, e0007806. (2019) - PubMed

Falchetto M*, Ciossani G*, Scolari F, Di Cosimo A, Nenci S, Field LM, Mattevi A, Zhou J-J, Gasperi G**, Forneris F**
Structural and biochemical evaluation of Ceratitis capitata OBP22 affinity for odorants involved in inter-sex communication.
Insect Molecular Biology, 28, 431-443. (2018) *Equal Contribution - **Shared Corresponding Authors - PubMed

This research received support from:

Programmi di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Science for Peace and Security program (SPS)

University Institute of Superior Studies, Pavia (IUSS)

Dipartimenti di Eccellenza Program from MIUR