For an up-to-date description of our project, please see here

Current Group Members

• Petri Kursula, group leader
• Matti Myllykoski, PhD student
• Salla Ruskamo, post-doctoral fellow
• Arne Raasakka, MSc student
• Huijong Han, post-doctoral fellow
• Saara Laulumaa, PhD student
• Maryna Chukhlieb, PhD student

Group photo August 2011, left to right: Petri, Salla, Mari, Matti, Arne

Former Members (>3 months)

• Mari Lehtimäki, scientist
• Chaozhan Wang, post-doctoral fellow
• Ravi Prakash Yadav, visitor (in Hamburg)
• Viivi Majava, PhD student
• Minna Juntunen, post-doctoral fellow
• Rahul Nanekar, MSc student
• Ashok Kumar Patel, visitor
• Teemu Haikarainen, MSc student
• Jenni Lehtonen, BSc student
• Noora Löytynoja, technician/trainee
• Niina Torniainen, BSc student

Recent (2006-2011) Publications

2012

• Myllykoski M., Raasakka A., Han H. & Kursula P. (2012) Myelin 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase: Active-site ligand binding and molecular conformation. PLoS ONE, in press.
• Chen W.-Q., Heymann G., Kursula P., Rosner M., Hengstschläger M., Huppertz H. & Lubec G. (2011) The effects of gigapascal level pressure on protein structure and function. J. Phys. Chem. B, in press.
• Kuczera K. & Kursula P. (2011) Interactions of calmodulin with death-associated protein kinase peptides: experimental and modeling studies. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn., in press.

2011

• Patton G.C., Stenmark P., Gollapalli D.R., Sevastik R., Kursula P., Flodin S., Schüler H., Swales C.T., Eklund H., Himo F., Nordlund P. & Hedstrom L. (2011) Cofactor mobility determines reaction outcome in the IMPDH amd GMPR (β-α)₈ barrel enzymes. Nature Chem. Biol. 7: 950-958.
• Wang C., Neugebauer U., Bürck J., Myllykoski M., Baumgärtel P., Popp J. & Kursula P. (2011) Charge isomers of myelin basic protein: Structure and interactions with membranes, nucleotide analogues, and calmodulin. PLoS ONE 6: e19915.
• Myllykoski M., Baumgärtel P. & Kursula P. (2011) Conformations of peptides derived from myelin-specific proteins in membrane-mimetic conditions probed by synchrotron radiation CD spectroscopy. Amino Acids, in press.
• Patel A.K., Yadav R.P., Majava V., Kursula I. & Kursula P. (2011) Structure of the dimeric autoinhibited conformation of DAPK2, a pro-apoptotic protein kinase. J. Mol. Biol. 409: 369-383.
• Patel A.K., Singh V.K., Bergmann U., Jagannadham M.V. & Kursula P. (2011) Purification, crystallization, and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of MIL, a glycosylated jacalin-related lectin from mulberry (Morus indica) latex. Acta Cryst. F 67: 608-612.
• Fukao T., Sass J.O., Kursula P., Thimm E., Wendel U., Ficicioglu C., Monastiri K., Guffon N., Baric I., Zabot M.T. & Kondo N. (2011) Clinical and molecular characterization of five patients with succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid CoA transferase (SCOT) deficiency. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1812: 619-624.

2010

• Wang C., Myllykoski M. & Kursula P. (2010) Biophysical studies on the structure and function of proteins from the vertebrate myelin sheath. Proc. SPIE 7376: 73760V.
• Fukao T., Ishii T., Amano N., Kursula P., Takayanagi M., Murase K., Sakaguchi N., Kondo N. & Hasegawa T. (2010) A neonatal onset succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid CoA transferase (SCOT)-deficient patient with T435N and c.658-666dupAACGTGATT p.N220_I222dup mutations in the OXCT1 gene. J. Inherit. Metab. Dis., in press.
• Suresh S., Wang C., Nanekar R., Kursula P. & Edwardson J.M. (2010) Myelin basic protein and myelin protein 2 act synergistically to cause stacking of lipid bilayers. Biochemistry 49: 3456-3463.
• Majava V., Polverini E., Mazzini A., Nanekar R., Knoll W., Peters J., Natali F., Baumgärtel P., Kursula I. & Kursula P. (2010) Structural and functional characterization of human peripheral nervous system myelin protein P2. PLoS ONE 5: e10300.
• Chen W.-Q., Salmazo A., Myllykoski M., Sjöblom B., Bidlingmaier M., Pollak A., Baumgärtel P., Djinovic-Carugo K., Kursula P. & Lubec G. (2010) Purification of recombinant growth hormone by clear native gels for conformational analyses - Preservation of conformation and receptor binding. Amino Acids 39: 859-869.
• Knoll W., Natali F., Peters J., Nanekar R., Wang C. & Kursula P. (2010) Dynamic properties of a reconstituted myelin sheath. Spectroscopy 24: 585-592.
• de Diego I., Kuper J., Bakalova N., Kursula P. & Wilmanns M. (2010) Molecular basis of the death associated protein kinase-calcium/calmodulin regulator complex. Science Signaling 3:ra6.
• Myllykoski M. & Kursula P. (2010) Expression, purification, and initial characterization of different domains of recombinant mouse 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase, an enigmatic enzyme from the myelin sheath. BMC Res. Notes 3:12.
• Majava V., Wang C., Myllykoski M., Kangas S.M., Kang S.U., Hayashi N., Baumgärtel P., Heape A.M., Lubec G. & Kursula P. (2010) Structural analysis of the complex between calmodulin and full-length myelin basic protein, an intrinsically disordered molecule. Amino Acids 39:59-71.
• Kursula P. (2010) Structural biology insights into the autoantigens of the myelin sheath. In Autoimmune Diseases: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment, Nova Publishers.

2009

• Meriläinen G., Poikela V., Kursula P. & Wierenga R. (2009) The thiolase reaction mechanism: the importance of Asn316 and His348 for stabilizing the enolate intermediate of the Claisen condensation. Biochemistry 48: 11011-11025.
• Myllykoski M., Kuczera K. & Kursula P. (2009) Complex formation between calmodulin and a peptide from the intracellular loop of the gap junction protein connexin43: molecular conformation and energetics of binding. Biophys. Chem. 144: 130-135.
• Behnen M., Murk K., Kursula P., Cappallo-Obermann H., Rothkegel M., Kierszenbaum A. & Kirchhoff C. (2009) Testis-expressed profilins 3 and 4 show distinct functional characteristics and localize in acroplaxome-manchette complex in spermatids. BMC Cell Biol. 10: 34.
• Majava V. & Kursula P. (2009) Domain swapping and different oligomeric states for the complex between calmodulin and the calmodulin-binding domain of calcineurin A. PLoS ONE 4: e5402.
• Bertini I., Kursula P., Luchinat C., Parigi G., Vahokoski J., Wilmanns M. & Yuan J. (2009) Accurate solution structures of proteins from X-ray data and a minimal set of NMR data: calmodulin-peptide complexes as examples. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131: 5134-5144.
• Haikarainen T., Chen W.-Q., Lubec G. & Kursula P. (2009) Structure, modifications, and ligand-binding properties of rat profilin 2a. Acta Cryst. D 65: 303-311.
• Zhang Z., Majava V., Greffier A., Hayes R.L., Kursula P. & Wang K.K.W. (2009) Collapsin response mediator protein-2 is a calmodulin binding protein. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 66: 526-536.

2008

• Meriläinen G., Schmitz W., Wierenga R. & Kursula P. (2008) The sulfur atoms of the substrate CoA and the catalytic cysteine are required for a productive mode of substrate binding in bacterial biosynthetic thiolase, a thioester-dependent enzyme. FEBS J. 275: 6136-6148.
• Kursula I., Kursula P., Ganter M., Panjikar S., Matuschewski K. & Schüler H. (2008) Structural basis for parasite-specific functions of the divergent profilin of Plasmodium falciparum. Structure 16: 1638-1648.
• Majava V., Löytynoja N., Chen W.-Q., Lubec G. & Kursula P. (2008) Crystal and solution structure, stability, and post-translational modifications of collapsin response mediator protein 2. FEBS J. 275: 4583-4596.
• Majava V., Petoukhov M.V., Hayashi N., Pirilä P., Svergun D.I. & Kursula P. (2008) Interaction between the C-terminal region of human myelin basic protein and calmodulin: Analysis of complex formation and solution structure. BMC Struct. Biol. 8: 10.
• Kursula P. (2008) Structural properties of proteins specific to the myelin sheath. Amino Acids 34: 175-185.
• Kursula P., Kursula I., Massimi M., Song Y.-H., Downer J., Stanley W.A., Witke W. & Wilmanns M. (2008) High-resolution structural analysis of mammalian profilin 2a complex formation with two physiological ligands: the formin homology 1 domain of mDia1 and the proline-rich domain of VASP. J. Mol. Biol. 375: 270-290.

2007

• Kursula P. & Majava V. (2007) A structural insight into lead neurotoxicity and calmodulin activation by heavy metals. Acta Cryst. F 63: 653-656.
• Fukao T., Kursula P., Owen E.P. & Kondo N. (2007) Identification and characterization of a temperature-sensitive R268H mutation in the human succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid CoA transferase (SCOT) gene. Mol. Genet. Metab. 92: 216-221.
• Stanley W.A., Pursiainen N.V., Garman E.F., Juffer A.H., Wilmanns M. & Kursula P. (2007) A previously unobserved conformation for the human Pex5p receptor suggests roles for intrinsic flexibility and rigid domain motions in ligand binding. BMC Struct. Biol. 7: 24.
• Stenmark P., Ogg D., Flodin S., Flores A., Kotenyova T., Nyman T., Nordlund P. & Kursula P. (2007) The structure of human collapsin response mediator protein 2, a regulator of axonal growth. J. Neurochem. 101: 906-917.
• Stenmark P., Kursula P., Flodin S., Gräslund S., Landry R., Nordlund P. & Schüler H. (2007) Crystal structure of human inosine triphosphatase: Substrate binding and implication of the ITPA deficiency mutation P32T. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 3182-3187.

2006

• Stanley W.A., Filipp F.V., Kursula P., Schüller N., Erdmann R,. Schliebs W., Sattler M. & Wilmanns M. (2006) Recognition of a functional peroxisome type 1 target by the dynamic import receptor Pex5p. Mol. Cell 24: 653-663.
• Kursula P., Flodin S., Ehn M., Hammarström M., Schüler H., Nordlund P. & Stenmark P. (2006) Crystal structure of the synthetase domain of human CTP synthetase, a target for anticancer therapy. Acta Cryst. F 62: 613-617.
• Kursula P., Schüler H., Flodin S., Nilsson-Ehle P., Ogg D.J., Savitsky P., Nordlund P. & Stenmark P. (2006) Crystal structures of the hydrolase domain of human 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase and its complex with a substrate analogue. Acta Cryst. D 62: 1294-1299.

Theses

• Haikarainen T. (2008) Large-scale expression, purification and characterization of mammalian profilins 1, 2a and 4. (MSc Thesis, University of Oulu)
• Myllykoski M. (2008) Large-scale expression and structural characterization of two myelin-specific proteins: 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase and myelin-associated glycoprotein. (MSc Thesis, University of Oulu)
• Nanekar R. (2009) Purification and characterization of two basic proteins from myelin; P2 and myelin basic protein (MBP). (MSc Thesis, University of Skövde, Sweden)
• Lehtonen J. (2008) Myeliiniproteiinien tuoton optimointi Escherichia coli -soluissa. (BSc Thesis, Oulu University of Applied Sciences)
• Torniainen N. (2009) Rekombinantti MBP-proteiinin tuotto Escherichia coli -soluissa sekä proteiinin puhdistus. (BSc Thesis, Oulu University of Applied Sciences)

Pro gradu projects for MSc students are constantly available.