Vanessa A. Leone, PhD
Assistant Professor
Locations
- Biophysics
- MFRC 3040F
Contact Information
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow, NHLBI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 2013-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2009-2013
PhD, Functional and Structural Genomics, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS), Trieste, Italy, 2009
BS, Biochemistry, University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, 2005
Biography
Research Interests
My research interests focus on protein structure, protein/protein interactions and their dynamics, and the effects of mutations, with particular emphasis on mitochondrial-related processes. I use a broad set of computational structural biology methods, including protein structure prediction (physics or AI-based methods), molecular dynamics, and free-energy calculations, tailored to address specific questions and involving methodological development as needed.
Lab Members
Carlos Herrada, Graduate Student
Kesaban Roy Choudhuri, Postdoctoral Researcher
Publications
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Structural transport and inhibition mechanism of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier.
(Lacabanne D, Ruprecht JJ, Sichrovsky M, Forrest LR, Leone V, Tavoulari S, Kunji ERS.) Trends Biochem Sci. 2026 Feb;51(2):142-157 PMID: 41353022 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105024324581 12/07/2025
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(Jaques LM, Davies JFS, Sheldon-Towler JJ, Kelly DJ, Leone V, Mulligan C.) Commun Biol. 2025 Aug 12;8(1):1201 PMID: 40797014 PMCID: PMC12344293 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105013272218 08/13/2025
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Molecular basis of pyruvate transport and inhibition of the human mitochondrial pyruvate carrier.
(Sichrovsky M, Lacabanne D, Ruprecht JJ, Rana JJ, Stanik K, Dionysopoulou M, Sowton AP, King MS, Jones SA, Cooper L, Hardwick SW, Paris G, Chirgadze DY, Ding S, Fearnley IM, Palmer SM, Pardon E, Steyaert J, Leone V, Forrest LR, Tavoulari S, Kunji ERS.) Sci Adv. 2025 Apr 18;11(16):eadw1489 PMID: 40249800 PMCID: PMC12007569 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105003302158 04/18/2025
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PLUMED Tutorials: A collaborative, community-driven learning ecosystem.
(Tribello GA, Bonomi M, Bussi G, Camilloni C, Armstrong BI, Arsiccio A, Aureli S, Ballabio F, Bernetti M, Bonati L, Brookes SGH, Brotzakis ZF, Capelli R, Ceriotti M, Chan KT, Cossio P, Dasetty S, Donadio D, Ensing B, Ferguson AL, Fraux G, Gale JD, Gervasio FL, Giorgino T, Herringer NSM, Hocky GM, Hoff SE, Invernizzi M, Languin-Cattoën O, Leone V, Limongelli V, Lopez-Acevedo O, Marinelli F, Febrer Martinez P, Masetti M, Mehdi S, Michaelides A, Murtada MH, Parrinello M, Piaggi PM, Pietropaolo A, Pietrucci F, Pipolo S, Pritchard C, Raiteri P, Raniolo S, Rapetti D, Rizzi V, Rydzewski J, Salvalaglio M, Schran C, Seal A, Shayesteh Zadeh A, Silva TFD, Spiwok V, Stirnemann G, Sucerquia D, Tiwary P, Valsson O, Vendruscolo M, Voth GA, White AD, Wu J.) J Chem Phys. 2025 Mar 07;162(9) PMID: 40035582 PMCID: PMC12317779 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-86000483661 03/04/2025
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From snapshots to ensembles: Integrating experimental data and dynamics
(Leone V, Marinelli F.) Current Opinion in Structural Biology. December 2025;95 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-105015421270 12/01/2025
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Insights into autoregulation of a membrane protein complex by its cytoplasmic domains.
(Leone V, Bradshaw RT, Koshy C, Lee PS, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Heinz V, Ziegler C, Forrest LR.) Biophys J. 2023 Feb 07;122(3):577-594 PMID: 36528790 PMCID: PMC9941749 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85145984239 12/19/2022
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Chloride-dependent conformational changes in the GlyT1 glycine transporter.
(Zhang YW, Uchendu S, Leone V, Bradshaw RT, Sangwa N, Forrest LR, Rudnick G.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Mar 09;118(10) PMID: 33658361 PMCID: PMC7958241 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85102461090 03/05/2021
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(Leone V, Waclawska I, Kossmann K, Koshy C, Sharma M, Prisner TF, Ziegler C, Endeward B, Forrest LR.) J Gen Physiol. 2019 Mar 04;151(3):381-394 PMID: 30728216 PMCID: PMC6400524 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85062413313 02/08/2019
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(Zhou W, Leone V, Krah A, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) J Phys Chem B. 2017 Apr 20;121(15):3297-3307 PMID: 27715045 PMCID: PMC5593136 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85020184139 11/04/2016
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(Leone V, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) J Gen Physiol. 2016 Dec;148(6):441-457 PMID: 27821609 PMCID: PMC5129741 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85008474337 11/09/2016
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(Leone V, Pogoryelov D, Meier T, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Mar 10;112(10):E1057-66 PMID: 25713346 PMCID: PMC4364180 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84924401794 02/26/2015
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HIV-1 integrase binding to its cellular partners: a perspective from computational biology.
(Quy VC, Carnevale V, Manganaro L, Lusic M, Rossetti G, Leone V, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Raugei S, Del Sal G, Giacca M, Carloni P.) Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20(21):3412-21 PMID: 24001231 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84903727821 09/05/2013