Isabelle Rouiller laboratory
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Associate Professor
Isabelle Rouillerisabelle.rouiller@unimelb.edu.au
+61 3 9035 4902
Research Overview
The Rouiller lab utilises cryo-electron microscopy as a structural biology approach to study how molecular machines function. Using the single particle and tomography techniques, we determine the structures of molecular machines "in action" along their biological pathways. The systems we study include:
- The AAA ATPase p97 activity in health and disease: p97 is an essential protein for cell homeostasis that plays a major role in multiple cellular functions, including membrane. Our studies aim at understanding how p97 perform its functions at the molecular level in order to develop inhibitors to be used for the treatment of cancer and multisystem proteinopathy (e.g. Inclusion Body Myopathy with early-onset Paget disease and Frontotemporal Dementia- IBMFD and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis- ALS).
- Transporters: We are studying the molecular mechanism that drive transport of substrates, proteins and ions across membranes. The systems we are studying include Anthrax toxins, ABC transporters (e.g. the MalFGK2 transporter), RND transporters (e.g. the mycolic acid transport from Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and ion transporters (e.g. the mechanosensitive ion channel TACAN).
- Viral glycoproteins (e.g. Influenza Hemagglutinin) involved in host pathogen interactions. We are interested in the structural implication these proteins for vaccine development and immune response.
Rouiller lab
Staff
Dr Sudipta Bhattacharyya, Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Mohsen Kazemi, Postdoctoral Fellow
Ms Sepideh Valimehr, PhD candidate
Ms Nazanin Mohebali, PhD candidate
Mr Ian Noel Costas Cancelas, MSc candidate (McGill University)
Collaborators
Dr David Ascher, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Professor Rikard Blunck, Université de Montréal, CANADA
Professor Ella Bossy-Wetzel, University of Central Florida, USA
Dr Till Böcking, University of New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Professor Franck Duong, University of British Columbia, CANADA
A/Professor Andres Finzi, Université de Montréal, CANADA
Professor Ted Fon, McGill University, CANADA
A/Prof Paul Gooley, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Dr Slavica Jonic, Sorbonne Université, FRANCE
Dr Helene Khlein, Université de Montréal, CANADA
A/Prof Connie Krawczyk, McGill University, CANADA
Dr Nathalie Landry, Medicago Inc, CANADA
Dr Megan Maher, La trobe University, AUSTRALIA
A/Prof Justine Mintern, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Professor Michael Parker, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Professor Jurgen Sygush, Université de Montréal, CANADA
Professor Leann Tilley, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Professor Brian Ward, McGill University, CANADA
Dr Nicholas Williamson, University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Professor Helen Zgurskaya, University of Oklahoma, USA
Funding
STEM-M Stimulus Fund - University of Melbourne
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD students, Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.
Research Publications
For complete list of publications, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=rouiller+i
Brianne J. Lindsay, Michal Bonar, Kristin Hunt, Alex Makarkov, Sabrina Chierzi, Connie Krawczyk, Nathalie Landry, Brian Ward, Isabelle Rouiller. The Morphological Characterization of Plant Generated Virus-Like Particles by Electron Microscopy for Protection against the Influenza Virus. Vaccine 2018; 36(16):2147-2154 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X18303165?via%3Dihub
Lucien Fabre, Huan Bao, Franck Duong, Isabelle Rouiller. Negative Stain Single-particle EM of the Maltose Transporter in Nanodiscs Reveals Asymmetric Closure of MalK2 and Catalytic Roles of ATP, MalE, and Maltose. J Biol Chem 2017; 292 (13): 5457-5464 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392688/
Lucien Fabre, Eugenio Santelli, Driss Mountassif, Annemarie Donoghue, Aviroop Biswas, Rikard Blunck, Dorit Hanein, Niels Volkmann, Robert Liddington, Isabelle Rouiller. Structure of anthrax lethal toxin prepore complex suggests a pathway for efficient cell entry. J Gen Physiol 2016; 148 (4): 313-324 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037343/pdf/JGP_201611617.pdf
Driss Mountassif, Lucien Fabre, Yusef Zaid, Dalhia Halawani, Isabelle Rouiller. Cryo-EM of the pathogenic VCP variant R155P reveals long-range conformational changes in the D2 ATPase ring. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2015;468(4):636-41 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X15308731?via%3Dihub