Mark your calendars - New BMMP Seminar season 2026

[Ragothaman Yennamalli]

Dear all,

Please mark your calendars for 10th July 2026 at 4PM. We will have our first seminar of this season with Dr. Atanu Das from CSIR-NCL giving a talk. 

Details of the Seminar:
Title: Dissecting the α-Synuclein Aggregation Landscape to Predict Parkinson’s Disease Onset
Date: 10th July 2026, Friday
Time: 4:00-5:00 PM (India Standard Time)
Format: GMeet: Gmeet Meeting link: https://acesse.one/en5f9iv

Abstract: A major challenge in Parkinson’s disease is to identify molecular properties that can quantitatively predict clinically relevant outcomes such as disease onset.1-3 Although α-synuclein aggregation is central to disease pathology, it remains unclear which stages of the aggregation process carry predictive information. In this work, we systematically examine multiple candidate descriptors spanning both early and late stages of α-synuclein assembly.4 We quantify the kinetics of initial homo- and heterodimer formation and determine the binding free energies between the two filaments constituting homo- and heterodimeric fibrils. Surprisingly, most descriptors show little or no predictive power. In contrast, early heterodimerization kinetics strongly predict disease onset, whereas the binding affinity of homodimeric fibrils exhibits only a moderate correlation. These findings indicate that clinically relevant information is encoded primarily in specific early intermolecular interactions rather than in the stability of mature aggregates. We propose a mechanistic framework in which transient heterotypic encounters selectively modulate aggregation pathways and ultimately determine disease timescales.

We look forward to your participation in what promises to be an enlightening and engaging session. Please share them among your students and encourage them to participate.

Thanks and Regards,
BMMP-India Governance Team (bm-mp.in)

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Ragothaman M Yennamalli, Ph.D.

Associate Professor,

School of Computational and Integrative Sciences.

Jawaharlal Nehru University,

New Delhi - 110067.

https://yennamalli-lab.in/

https://www.jnu.ac.in/content/ragothaman

Indian Ambassador, Biophysical Society USA

Chair, Publications Committee, ISCB USA

Executive Committee Member, APBioNet

Associate Editor, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Associate Editor, Bioinformatics and Biology Insights

Special Issue Editor, Biophysical Journal

Editorial Board, BMC Bioinformatics

Editorial Board, Scientific Reports

Early Career Researcher Review Board, Protein Science

"When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." -George Washington Carver
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[Ragothaman Yennamalli]

Dear all,