Research and Development – Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry

A vital part of PIPAC’s package of services is basic and applied research conducted independently or in cooperation with client companies.

Institute Personnel and their Research Interests

- - Armando Victor M. Guidote, Jr., Ph.D.
    Research Interests:
    Organic Chemistry, Natural Products, Chemistry Education
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Armando Jerome H. de Jesus, Jr., Ph.D.
    Research Interests:
    Molecular dynamics simulations, Membrane-protein interactions, Membrane protein-small molecule interactions
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Ronaldo M. Fabicon, Ph.D.
    Research Interests:
    Industrial Chemistry
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Crisanto M. Lopez, Dr.rer.nat
    Research Interests:
    Infection Biology, Fungal Biotechnology
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Giselle Grace F. Lim-Co Yu Kang, Ph.D
    Research Interests:
    Biochemistry, Enzymes, Analytical Chemistry
    Click here to see the list of her publications.
  - Gilbert U. Yu, D.Eng
    Research Interests:
    Materials Science (Polymers and Supramolecules), Chemical Education, Development of Lab Experiment Modules
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Ian Ken D. Dimzon, Ph.D
    Research Interests:
    Applied Analytical Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Chemical Metrology
    Click here to see the list of his publications.
  - Anna Carissa M. San Esteban, Ph.D
    Research Interests:
    Electrochemistry (corrosion, electrocatalytic processes); Coordination Chemistry (coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks)
    Click here to see the list of her publications.

Selected Publications

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2017

Armando J. de Jesus; Hang Yin

Computational Design of Membrane Curvature-Sensing Peptides Book Chapter

In: Samish, Ilan (Ed.): vol. 1529, pp. 417-437, Humana Press, New York, NY, 2017, ISBN: 978-1-4939-6637-0.

Abstract | Links | Tags: CHARMM, curvature-sensing peptides, membrane curvature, molecular dynamics, protein–lipid interactions

2015

Lei Yan; Armando J. de Jesus; Ryo Tamura; Victoria Li; Kui Cheng; Hang Yin

Curvature sensing MARCKS-ED peptides bind to membranes in a stereo-independent manner Journal Article

In: Journal of Peptide Science, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 577-585, 2015.

Abstract | Links | Tags: MARCKS‐ED, membrane curvature, simulation, unnatural peptides

@article{Yan2015,

title = {Curvature sensing MARCKS-ED peptides bind to membranes in a stereo-independent manner},

author = {Lei Yan and Armando J. de Jesus and Ryo Tamura and Victoria Li and Kui Cheng and Hang Yin},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/psc.2772},

doi = {10.1002/psc.2772},

year  = {2015},

date = {2015-06-22},

journal = {Journal of Peptide Science},

volume = {21},

number = {7},

pages = {577-585},

abstract = {Membrane curvature and lipid composition plays a critical role in interchanging of matter and energy in cells. Peptide curvature sensors are known to activate signaling pathways and promote molecular transport across cell membranes. Recently, the 25‐mer MARCKS‐ED peptide, which is derived from the effector domain of the myristoylated alanine‐rich C kinase substrate protein, has been reported to selectively recognize highly curved membrane surfaces. Our previous studies indicated that the naturally occurring l‐MARCKS‐ED peptide could simultaneously detect both phosphatidylserine and curvature. Here, we demonstrate that d‐MARCKS‐ED, composed by unnatural d‐amino acids, has the same activities as its enantiomer, l‐MARCKS‐ED, as a curvature and lipid sensor. An atomistic molecular dynamics simulation suggests that d‐MARCKS‐ED may change from linear to a boat conformation upon binding to the membrane. Comparable enhancement of fluorescence intensity was observed between d‐ and l‐MARCKS‐ED peptides, indicating similar binding affinities. Meanwhile, circular dichroism spectra of d‐ and l‐MARCKS‐ED are almost symmetrical both in the presence and absence of liposomes. These results suggest similar behavior of artificial d‐ and natural l‐MARCKS‐ED peptides when binding to curved membranes. Our studies may contribute to further understanding of how MARCKS‐ED senses membrane curvature as well as provide a new direction to develop novel membrane curvature probes.},

keywords = {MARCKS‐ED, membrane curvature, simulation, unnatural peptides},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}