Andrea Balan holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the State University of Campinas (1990), a Master's in Biotechnology from the University of São Paulo (1994) and PhD in Biological Sciences (Microbiology), also from the University of São Paulo (1999). She did postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences - USP, National Biosciences Laboratory - LNBio/CNPEM (Campinas), California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, USA) and at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, England), all in the area of #8203;#8203;Protein Structure and Function. Her area of #8203;#8203;expertise mainly involves the structural and functional characterization of transport proteins and their role in the mechanisms of virulence, pathogenesis and drug resistance. The group applies X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, in addition to biophysical techniques for the characterization of proteins. The group developed a platform for exposure of peptides for studies of protein-protein interaction and antibody generation and develops two platforms for inhibition of ABC transporters, using drug discovery based on fragments and production of synthetic antibodies (sybodies). Additionally, she works with the structural characterization and engineering of proteins of biotechnological interest, including membrane proteins involved with drug exclusion. She is vice-coordinator of the Residency in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of São Paulo, NIDUS/INOVA USP, for the training of graduate students, graduates and researchers. She is also coordinator of the Professional Master's Graduate Program at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (ICB/FCF). She is a CNPq productivity fellow - level 2. Website: http://www.balangroup.org/research/ (Source: Lattes Curriculum)
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Proteins involved in the capture and assimilation of ions, specifically anions, are of great importance in cells as they make such elements available for biological functions, including participation in the regulation of metabolism and activation/repression of essential pathways. Sulfate and phosphate perform essential functions in cells and the lack of these anions has implications for c…
ABC transporters present great medical and pharmaceutical relevance since they are related to the development of the phenomenon of multiple drug resistance (MDR) in the treatment of cancer, bacterial resistance, infectivity and pathogenesis. Although extensively studied in many organisms, there are few functional or structural studies on these transporters in Mycobacterium tuberculosis an…
Membrane proteins are considered the new challenges of Structural Biology given their medical relevance. More than 50% of the targets of the pharmaceutical industry involve these proteins that represent about 30% of genomes of organisms. With the aim to set up a platform for expression and production of membrane proteins in our laboratory for use in functional and structural studies, we h…
This project aims to characterize functionally and structurally the pathway of sulfate assimilation in Xanthomonas citri, the causal agent of citrus canker, with emphasis on the ABC transporter involved in the uptake of this ion and enzymes responsible for the oxide/ reduction to sulfide. The research is based on two main steps aimed at, first, for the characterization of proteins involve…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Membrane proteins account for between 25% and 30% of all sequences transcribed in the genomes of organisms, performing a wide variety of vital functions for cellular metabolism, one of the reasons that make them relevant to the pharmaceutical industry, accounting for a total of 50% of all targets for drug production. Antibodies, nanobodies and sybodies (synthetic antibodies) have been an …
Cyanide is a toxic compound that causes poisoning through inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. Due to its great affinity with metals, it is widely used as leaching for gold recovery. Cyanide is a weak acid; its dissociation constant is 9.22 at 25°C. This characteristic limits its bioremediation since it must necessarily be done at a pH greater than 9 to avoid its volatilization, and…
Mycobacterium tuberculosis has eleven serine/threonine kinases, of which PknF has been associated with the regulation of the ABC-type transporter (ATP-Binding Cassette) Rv1747, whose function is still unknown. PknF has two domains connected by a transmembrane helix, the extracellular domain (sensor, ePknF) and the intracellular domain (catalytic, cPknF). Unlike other canonical ABC transpo…
ABC transporters are membrane proteins involved in a wide range of biological activities such as cellular metabolism and signaling, adhesion, biofilm formation, and pathogenesis, in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Among these, the PstSCABPhoU, together with the two-component system PhoR/PhoB, participates in the transport of phosphate and other pathogenesis factors in Xanthomonas c…
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This disease is one of the greatest problems faced by the world, according to the World Health Organization. Due to its complex pharmacological regimen and the high incidence of adverse reactions, the compliance of patients to the treatment is often low, fact that facilitates and promotes the selection of resi…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Membrane proteins correspond to 25% to 30% of all transcribed sequences in known genomes and perform a range of essential functions in cellular metabolism, representing 50% of the targets in the pharmaceutical industry. ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter family of membrane proteins has been largely involved in drug transport and resistance, in cancer cells and in microrganisms, allowi…
In recent studies performed by our group we identified and functionally characterized four ATP-binding cassette transporters involved in sulfur assimilation, three for alkane (SsuABC1, SsuABC2 and NrtTUWA), which is odd compared to other microorganisms, and one for sulfate, (SbpCysUWA). The sulfate uptake system has been the target of the doctoral project from Cristiane Pereira (FAPESP Pr…
Membrane proteins corresponding to 25% to 30% of all transcribed sequences in known genomes and perform a range of essential functions in cellular metabolism. Substantial progress has been made in tackling many of the bottlenecks for expression, purification and determining of the crystal structures of alfa-helical membrane proteins. In addition, they represent 50% of the targets of the p…
| 1 / 1 | Ongoing research grants |
| 5 / 4 | Completed research grants |
| 2 / 2 | Ongoing scholarships in Brazil |
| 16 / 13 | Completed scholarships in Brazil |
| 3 / 3 | Completed scholarships abroad |
| 27 / 23 | All research grants and scholarships |
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