Assoc. Prof. Torres, Jaume
Structure and function of membrane proteins, specifically small viral proteins and water channel aquaporins. The final goal is to understand and modulate activity, and ultimately harness these properties for biotechnological applications using a variety of biophysical and structural methods. Specific examples are the envelope protein of SARS coronavirus or non-structural proteins in flaviviruses. Another topic is the use of water channel aquaporins to develop biomimetic membranes that are used in water desalination and purification, exploring activation properties of aquaporins in different environments such as lipids or amphiphilic block copolymers (BCPs). The role of lipid modulators of membrane proteins is an emerging field, with implications in bioengineering, storage and transport, biotechnology and drug discovery.
Research Areas
membrane proteins, biophysics, biomimetic membranes, viral proteins, structural biology
Project Officer
Senior Research Fellow
- Surya, W., Honey, S.S., and Torres, J. “Flavivirus Zika NS4A Protein Forms Large Oligomers in Liposomes and in Mild Detergent.” Scientific Reports 14, no. 1 (2024): 12533. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63407-y
- Torres, J., Pervushin, K., and Surya, W. “Prediction of Conformational States in a Coronavirus Channel Using Alphafold-2 and DeepMSA2: Strengths and Limitations.” Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 23 (2024): 3730–3740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2024.10.021
- Zhao, Y., Wang, Y.N., Lai, G.S., Torres, J., and Wang, R. “Proteoliposome-Incorporated Seawater Reverse Osmosis Polyamide Membrane: Is the Aquaporin Water Channel Effect in Improving Membrane Performance Overestimated?” Environmental Science & Technology 56, no. 6 (2022): 2899–2909. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c08857
- Sharma, L., Ye, L., Yong, C., Seetharaman, R., Kho, K., Surya, W., Wang, R., and Torres, J. “Aquaporin-Based Membranes Made by Interfacial Polymerization in Hollow Fibers: Visualization and Role of Aquaporin in Water Permeability.” Journal of Membrane Science 654 (2022): 120551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2022.120551
- Tan, C.L.-J., and Torres, J. “Positive Cooperativity in the Activation of E. coli Aquaporin Z by Cardiolipin: Potential for Lipid-Based Aquaporin Modulators.” Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids 1866, no. 5 (2021): 158899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbalip.2021.158899