Kristyna Pluhackova, Junior Research Group Leader for Molecular Dynamics at the University of Stuttgart’s Cluster of Excellence SimTech, presented latest research of her group at the DPG Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, held on March 16th-March 21st in Regensburg. With over 5,000 participants, the meeting is one of Europe’s largest and most dynamic physics conferences.
Kristyna was personally invited by Prof. Stefan Klumpp, one of the chairpersons of the DPG Division of Biological Physics. Her talk, titled
“Killing to survive – how protein-lipid interactions drive programmed cell death”
was based on the recent publication with Viktoria Korn (doctoral researcher in the Cluster of Excellence) in Communications Chemistry:
Vastly different energy landscapes of the membrane insertions of monomeric gasdermin D and A3
The study investigates how gasdermins, a family of pore-forming proteins involved in pyroptosis (a type of programmed cell death), interact with different membrane environments. Using molecular dynamics simulations, the authors show that gasdermin D and A3 follow fundamentally different pore formation pathways. In native-like E. coli membranes, gasdermin A3 prefers to remain on the membrane surface, while gasdermin D inserts more easily due to favorable interactions between its charged and polar residues and specific lipid components like phosphatidylethanolamine.
This molecular distinction sheds light on how subtle differences in protein sequence and membrane composition can control cell death pathways — with major implications for understanding immune responses and disease mechanisms.
Her talk also featured findings from other recent research highlights of her group, including:
- “Ninjurin-1 Protein – Charon of cell life”
- “Mysterious sorcery unmasked! How charged residues influence the membrane insertion of gasdermin-A3”
- “Proteolytic pore formation in lipid membranes by Gasdermin-A3”
“Understanding the mechanics of cell death at the molecular level opens new avenues for biomedical research, especially in cancer and immunology,” Kristyna said after the talk.
More about the DPG Spring Meeting
Molecular Dynamics Research Group – SimTech