Bujnicki lab - People
  • RNA has recently emerged as an attractive target for new drug development. Our team is developing new methods to study the interactions between RNA and ligands. Recently, we have developed a new machine learning method called AnnapuRNA to predict how small chemical molecules interact with structured RNA molecules. Research published in PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Feb 1;17(2):e1008309. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008309. Read More
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About Laboratory Of Bioinformatics And Protein Engineering

Our group is involved in theoretical and experimental research on nucleic acids and proteins. The current focus is on RNA sequence-structure-function relationships (in particular 3D modeling), RNA-protein complexes, and enzymes acting on RNA.
 
We study the rules that govern the sequence-structure-function relationships in proteins and nucleic acids and use the acquired knowledge to predict structures and functions for uncharacterized gene products, to alter the known structures and functions of proteins and RNAs and to engineer molecules with new properties.
 
Our key strength is in the integration of various types of theoretical and experimental analyses. We develop and use computer programs for modeling of protein three-dimensional structures based on heterogenous, low-resolution, noisy and ambivalent experimental data. We are also involved in genome-scale phylogenetic analyses, with the focus on identification of proteins that belong to particular families. Subsequently, we characterize experimentally the function of the most interesting new genes/proteins identified by bioinformatics. We also use theoretical predictions to guide protein engineering, using rational and random approaches. Our ultimate goal is to identify complete sets of enzymes involved in particular metabolic pathways (e.g. RNA modification, DNA repair) and to design proteins with new properties, in particular enzymes with new useful functions, which have not been observed in the nature.
 
We are well-equipped with respect to both theoretical and experimental analyses. Our lab offers excellent environment for training of young researchers in both bioinformatics and molecular biology/biochemistry of protein-nucleic acid interactions.


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Former members and pictures
                  

Head of the group:
Janusz M. Bujnicki Prof. Ph.D. D.Sc. biology

 

Office Manager:
Katarzyna Grzelak M.Sc. management

 

Bioinformatics/Theory:
 
Biochemistry/Experiment:
 
Senior Researcher:
Filip Stefaniak Ph.D. chemistry
Postdoctoral Researchers:
Tomasz Wirecki Ph.D. chemistry
Sunandan Mukherjee Ph.D. bioinformatics
Angana Ray Ph.D. chemistry
Evgenii Baulin Ph.D. bioinformatics
Satyabrata Maiti Ph.D. computional chemistry
Grigory Nikolaev Ph.D technical sciences
Rui João Loureiro Ph.D. systems biology
Hassan Bassereh Ph.D computational neuroscience and biomedical engeneering

 

 Senior Researcher:
Elżbieta Purta Ph.D. biochemistry
Postdoctoral Researchers:
Tales Rocha de Moura Ph.D. biophys. chemistry

 

 

 

Assistants, Specialists and Software Engineers:
Kuntal Mondal Ph.D. physics
Dominik Sordyl M.Sc. medical biotechnology

 

 

 

Assistants and Specialists (Research Technicians):
Agata Bernat M.Sc. biotechnology
Katarzyna Merdas M.Sc. med. chemistry

 

PhD Students
Seyed Naeim Moafinejad M.Sc. physics
Andrea Cappannini M.Sc. biomedical engineering 
Masoud Amiri Farsani M.Sc. physics 
PhD Students
Nagendar Goud Badepally M.Sc. Bioinformatics