Research focus in brief
The study of structural disorder has already progressed way beyond simply establishing the disordered status of a protein. The current idea is that detailed experimental and theoretical characterization of the structural ensemble of disordered proteins in isolation, their structure in complex with their physiological partner(s), and the thermodynamics and kinetics of their interactions with their partners, whether stable (like in complexes) or fuzzy and transient (like in phase-separated bodies), hold the key to understanding these proteins and extending the structure–function paradigm to the disordered state. In this spirit, we undertake three different lines of research to push the frontiers of the field of structural disorder. Our studies have shown that structural disorder is prevalent in eukaryotic proteomes, disordered proteins carry out unique functions and they play important roles in serious diseases, such as cancer and neurodegeneration.

Recently, the focus of the lab turned to understanding the role of structural disorder in liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins in cell physiology and disease, with a primary focus on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).