I was awarded my PhD in Computational Biophysics from the University of Western Australia (2012) for my work on combining molecular modelling and simulation approaches with fluorescence spectroscopy experiments to study mechanosensitive ion channels.
Following this, I carried out Postdoctoral work at the University of Queensland and Curtin University, funded by Early Career Fellowships from the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Australian National Health and Research Council (NHMRC). In 2019, I joined UTS under a UTS Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and started my own research group. In 2021, I returned to the University of Queensland as a Senior Lecturer.
Apart from my research I am passionate about supporting diversity and equity in STEM and teaching the next generation of scientists to be 'critical thinkers'. I practice mindful leadership and aim to integrate kindness and gratitude into how I lead my research team.
Our research combines computer simulations and biophysical chemistry experiments to study biomolecular systems with a particular focus on understanding how small molecules interact with biological membranes. We aim to use the knowledge and tools from our research to help develop new pharmaceuticals or understand fundamental processes such as membrane permeation. In addition, we are interested in studying the structure and function of proteins. Our group collaborates with scientists from different fields including structural biologists, molecular and cell biologists as well as peptide and physical chemists to address challnges in biomedical sciences.
https://www.scientia.global/dr-evelyne-deplazes-combining-simulations-experiments-to-explore-interactions-between-membranes-small-molecules/
Journal Article: Biochemical interactions between the Atm1-like transporter from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans and heavy metals
Rottet, Sarah, Iqbal, Shagufta, Xifaras, Rachel, Singer, Michael T., Scott, Colin, Deplazes, Evelyne and Callaghan, Richard (2023). Biochemical interactions between the Atm1-like transporter from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans and heavy metals. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 744 109696, 109696. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2023.109696
Journal Article: Influence of force field choice on the conformational landscape of rat and human islet amyloid polypeptide
Moore, Sandra J., Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2023). Influence of force field choice on the conformational landscape of rat and human islet amyloid polypeptide. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 91 (3), 338-353. doi: 10.1002/prot.26432
Journal Article: The concentration-dependent effect of hydrocortisone on the structure of model lung surfactant monolayer by using an in silico approach
Islam, Mohammad Zohurul, Hossain, Sheikh I., Deplazes, E., Luo, Zhen and Saha, Suvash C. (2022). The concentration-dependent effect of hydrocortisone on the structure of model lung surfactant monolayer by using an in silico approach. RSC Advances, 12 (51), 33313-33328. doi: 10.1039/d2ra05268g
High-Resolution Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
(2023–2024) ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
A peptide-based adjuvant therapy to reduce the toxicity of Amphotericin B
(2021–2023) Gilead Sciences Research Scholars Program in Anti-Fungals
60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (2015 Ian Potter Grant)
(2015–2016) Ian Potter Foundation
Developing a cell-free, structural model of fungal cell walls
Doctor Philosophy
Characterising the membrane interactions and cytotoxic activity of the anti-fungal peptide Lactofungin
Doctor Philosophy
Targeting alterations in cell membrane biophysics for disease intervention
Doctor Philosophy
Research Projects
The projects we work on are at the interface of physical chemistry, structural biology, biophysics and biomedical/biomolecular sciences. These projects are suitable for students with a background in any of these disciplines.
Our research combines computer simulations and biophysical chemistry experiments to study biomolecular systems with a particular focus on understanding how small molecules interact with biological membranes. We aim to use the knowledge and tools from our research to help develop new pharmaceuticals or understand fundamental processes such as membrane permeation. In addition, we are interested in studying the structure and function of proteins.
The following are some of our current projects that are suitable for 3rd and 4th-year undergraduate students, Honours or Masters students. Feel free to contact me for more information and also with your own research ideas. We always aim to adapt the project to the student’s interests, background knowledge and skills.
Hartmann, Lissy M., Garcia, Alvaro, Deplazes, Evelyne and Cranfield, Charles G. (2022). Determining the Pore Size of Multimeric Peptide Ion Channels Using Cation Conductance Measures of Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes. Methods in Molecular Biology. (pp. 81-92) New York, NY: Humana Press Inc.. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1843-1_7
Hossain, Sheikh I., Islam, Mohammad Z., Saha, Suvash C. and Deplazes, Evelyne (2022). Drug meets monolayer: understanding the interactions of sterol drugs with models of the lung surfactant monolayer using molecular dynamics simulations. Methods in molecular biology. (pp. 103-121) edited by Charles G. Cranfield. New York, NY United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1843-1_9
Polypeptide and protein modeling for drug design
O’Mara, Megan L. and Deplazes, Evelyne (2014). Polypeptide and protein modeling for drug design. Encyclopedia of computational neuroscience. (pp. 1-9) New York, United States: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_732-1
Polypeptide and protein modeling for drug design
O'Mara, Megan and Deplazes, Evelyne (2014). Polypeptide and protein modeling for drug design. Encyclopedia of computational neuroscience. (pp. 2439-2447) edited by Dieter Jaeger and Ranu Jung. Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-6675-8_732
Rottet, Sarah, Iqbal, Shagufta, Xifaras, Rachel, Singer, Michael T., Scott, Colin, Deplazes, Evelyne and Callaghan, Richard (2023). Biochemical interactions between the Atm1-like transporter from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans and heavy metals. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 744 109696, 109696. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2023.109696
Moore, Sandra J., Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2023). Influence of force field choice on the conformational landscape of rat and human islet amyloid polypeptide. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 91 (3), 338-353. doi: 10.1002/prot.26432
Islam, Mohammad Zohurul, Hossain, Sheikh I., Deplazes, E., Luo, Zhen and Saha, Suvash C. (2022). The concentration-dependent effect of hydrocortisone on the structure of model lung surfactant monolayer by using an in silico approach. RSC Advances, 12 (51), 33313-33328. doi: 10.1039/d2ra05268g
Vinca alkaloid binding to P-glycoprotein occurs in a processive manner
Iqbal, Shagufta, Flux, Caitlin, Briggs, Deborah A., Deplazes, Evelyne, Long, Jiansi, Skrzypek, Ruth, Rothnie, Alice, Kerr, Ian D. and Callaghan, Richard (2022). Vinca alkaloid binding to P-glycoprotein occurs in a processive manner. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes, 1864 (10) 184005, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2022.184005
Hossain, Sheikh I., Seppelt, Mathilda, Nguyen, Natalie, Stokes, Chelsea and Deplazes, Evelyne (2022). The role of ion-lipid interactions and lipid packing in ion-induced pores and transient defects caused by phenolic compounds. Biophysical Journal, 121 (18), 3520-3532. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.08.001
Concentration-dependent cortisone adsorption and interaction with model lung surfactant monolayer
Islam, Mohammad Zohurul, Hossain, Sheikh I., Deplazes, Evelyne and Saha, Suvash C. (2022). Concentration-dependent cortisone adsorption and interaction with model lung surfactant monolayer. Molecular Simulation, 48 (18), 1627-1638. doi: 10.1080/08927022.2022.2113397
Structural and biochemical characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii ZnuA
Alquethamy, Saleh, Ganio, Katherine, Luo, Zhenyao, Hossain, Sheikh I., Hayes, Andrew J., Ve, Thomas, Davies, Mark R., Deplazes, Evelyne, Kobe, Boštjan and McDevitt, Christopher A. (2022). Structural and biochemical characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii ZnuA. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 231 111787, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2022.111787
The impact of chromate on Pseudomonas aeruginosa molybdenum homeostasis
Maunders, Eve A., Ngu, Dalton H. Y., Ganio, Katherine, Hossain, Sheikh I., Lim, Bryan Y. J., Leeming, Michael G., Luo, Zhenyao, Tan, Aimee, Deplazes, Evelyne, Kobe, Boštjan and McDevitt, Christopher A. (2022). The impact of chromate on Pseudomonas aeruginosa molybdenum homeostasis. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13 903146, 1-19. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.903146
Concentration-dependent effect of the steroid drug prednisolone on a lung surfactant monolayer
Islam, Mohammad Zohurul, Krajewska, Martyna, Hossain, Sheikh I., Prochaska, Krystyna, Anwar, Azraf, Deplazes, Evelyne and Saha, Suvash C. (2022). Concentration-dependent effect of the steroid drug prednisolone on a lung surfactant monolayer. Langmuir, 38 (14), 4188-4199. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02817
Islam, Mohammad Zohurul, Hossain, Sheikh I., Deplazes, Evelyne and Saha, Suvash C. (2022). The steroid mometasone alters protein containing lung surfactant monolayers in a concentration-dependent manner. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, 111 108084, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2021.108084
Structural basis of dimerization and nucleic acid binding of human DBHS proteins NONO and PSPC1
Knott, Gavin J, Chong, Yee Seng, Passon, Daniel M, Liang, Xue-hai, Deplazes, Evelyne, Conte, Maria R, Marshall, Andrew C, Lee, Mihwa, Fox, Archa H and Bond, Charles S (2022). Structural basis of dimerization and nucleic acid binding of human DBHS proteins NONO and PSPC1. Nucleic Acids Research, 50 (1), 522-535. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab1216
Aguilar, Mibel, Bassereau, Patricia, Bastos, Margarida, Beales, Paul, Bechinger, Burkhard, Bonev, Boyan, Brand, Izabella, Chalouhi, Edward, Clarke, Ronald J., Deplazes, Evelyne, Fraternali, Franca, Fuchs, Patrick, Hoogenboom, Bart, Lund, Reidar, Mahmoudi, Najet, Milán Rodríguez, Paula, O'Shea, Paul, Pabst, Georg, Pal, Sreetama, Rice, Amy, Sanderson, John, Seddon, John, Sengupta, Durba, Siegel, David P., Srivastava, Anand, Utterström, Johanna, Vácha, Robert, Van 'T Hag, Leonie, Vijayakumar, Aishwarya and Zoranić, Larisa (2021). Peptide-membrane interactions and biotechnology; enabling next-generation synthetic biology: general discussion. Faraday Discussions, 232, 463-481. doi: 10.1039/d1fd90068d
Aguilar, Marie-Isabel, Al Nahas, Kareem, Barrera, Francisco N., Bassereau, Patricia, Bechinger, Burkhard, Brand, Izabella, Chattopadhyay, Amitabha, Clarke, Ronald J., Degrado, William F., Deplazes, Evelyne, Fletcher, Marcus, Fraternali, Franca, Fuchs, Patrick, Garcia-Saez, Ana J., Gilbert, Robert, Hoogenboom, Bart W., Jarin, Zack, O'Shea, Paul, Pabst, Georg, Pal, Sreetama, Sanderson, John M., Seddon, John M., Sengupta, Durba, Siegel, David P., Srivastava, Anand, Tieleman, D. Peter, Tripathy, Madhusmita, Utterström, Johanna, Vácha, Robert ... Voth, Gregory A. (2021). Theoretical and experimental comparisons of simple peptide-membrane systems; towards defining the reaction space: general discussion. Faraday Discussions, 232, 149-171. doi: 10.1039/d1fd90065j
The interaction of steroids with phospholipid bilayers and membranes
Crowley, Jackson, Withana, Minduli and Deplazes, Evelyne (2021). The interaction of steroids with phospholipid bilayers and membranes. Biophysical Reviews, 14 (1), 163-179. doi: 10.1007/s12551-021-00918-2
Theoretical and experimental studies of complex peptide-membrane systems: General discussion
Aguilar, Mibel, Al Nahas, Kareem, Barrera, Francisco, Bassereau, Patricia, Bastos, Margarida, Beales, Paul, Bechinger, Burkhard, Bonev, Boyan, Brand, Izabella, Chattopadhyay, Amitabha, Clarke, Ronald J., Degrado, William, Deplazes, Evelyne, Garcia Saez, Ana J., Hoogenboom, Bart, Lund, Reidar, Milán Rodríguez, Paula, O'Shea, Paul, Pabst, Georg, Pal, Sreetama, Roux, Aurélien, Sanderson, John, Semeraro, Enrico Federico, Sengupta, Durba, Siegel, David P., Van 'T Hag, Leonie, Vijayakumar, Aishwarya and Zoranić, Larisa (2021). Theoretical and experimental studies of complex peptide-membrane systems: General discussion. Faraday Discussions, 232, 256-281. doi: 10.1039/d1fd90066h
Deplazes, Evelyne, Tafalla, Beatriu Domingo, Murphy, Christopher, White, Jacqueline, Cranfield, Charles G. and Garcia, Alvaro (2021). Calcium ion binding at the lipid–water interface alters the ion permeability of phospholipid bilayers. Langmuir, 37 (48) acs.langmuir.1c02016, 14026-14033. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02016
Shape matters: the interaction of gold nanoparticles with model lung surfactant monolayers
Hossain, Sheikh I., Luo, Zhen, Deplazes, Evelyne and Saha, Suvash C. (2021). Shape matters: the interaction of gold nanoparticles with model lung surfactant monolayers. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 18 (183) 20210402, 1-10. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0402
Conformation of the solute-binding protein AdcAII influences zinc uptake in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Župan, Marina L., Luo, Zhenyao, Ganio, Katherine, Pederick, Victoria G., Neville, Stephanie L., Deplazes, Evelyne, Kobe, Boštjan and McDevitt, Christopher A. (2021). Conformation of the solute-binding protein AdcAII influences zinc uptake in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 11 729981, 1-15. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.729981
A trap-door mechanism for zinc acquisition by Streptococcus pneumoniae AdcA
Luo, Zhenyao, Morey, Jacqueline R., Deplazes, Evelyne, Motygullina, Alina, Tan, Aimee, Ganio, Katherine, Neville, Stephanie L., Eleftheriadis, Nikolaos, Isselstein, Michael, Pederick, Victoria G., Paton, James C., Cordes, Thorben, Harmer, Jeffrey R., Kobe, Bostjan and McDevitt, Christopher A. (2021). A trap-door mechanism for zinc acquisition by Streptococcus pneumoniae AdcA. mBio, 12 (1) e01958-20, 1-14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01958-20
Tangella, Lokeswari P., Arooj, Mahreen, Deplazes, Evelyne, Gray, Elin S. and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2021). Identification and characterisation of putative drug binding sites in human ATP-binding cassette B5 (ABCB5) transporter. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 19, 691-704. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.12.042
Hossain, Sheikh I., Saha, Suvash C. and Deplazes, Evelyne (2021). Phenolic compounds alter the ion permeability of phospholipid bilayers via specific lipid interactions. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 23 (39), 22352-22366. doi: 10.1039/d1cp03250j
The role of structure and biophysical properties in the pleiotropic effects of statins
Murphy, Christopher, Deplazes, Evelyne, Cranfield, Charles G. and Garcia, Alvaro (2020). The role of structure and biophysical properties in the pleiotropic effects of statins. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (22) 8745, 1-29. doi: 10.3390/ijms21228745
Deplazes, Evelyne, Hartmann, Lissy M., Cranfield, Charles G. and Garcia, Alvaro (2020). Structural characterization of a cation-selective, self-assembled peptide pore in planar phospholipid bilayers. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 11 (19), 8152-8156. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02335
Yu, Tsz Tin, Kuppusamy, Rajesh, Yasir, Muhammad, Hassan, Md. Musfizur, Alghalayini, Amani, Gadde, Satyanarayana, Deplazes, Evelyne, Cranfield, Charles, Willcox, Mark D. P., Black, David StC and Kumar, Naresh (2020). Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of biphenylglyoxamide-based small molecular antimicrobial peptide mimics as antibacterial agents. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (18) 6789, 1-38. doi: 10.3390/ijms21186789
Role of ion-phospholipid interactions in zwitterionic phospholipid bilayer ion permeation
Deplazes, Evelyne, Tafalla, Beatriu Domingo, Cranfield, Charles G. and Garcia, Alvaro (2020). Role of ion-phospholipid interactions in zwitterionic phospholipid bilayer ion permeation. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 11 (15), 6353-6358. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01479
Label-free, real-time phospholipase-A isoform assay
Garcia, Alvaro, Deplazes, Evelyne, Aili, Samira, Padula, Matthew P., Touchard, Axel, Murphy, Christopher, Lankage, Upeksha Mirissa, Nicholson, Graham M., Cornell, Bruce and Cranfield, Charles G. (2020). Label-free, real-time phospholipase-A isoform assay. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 6 (8), 4714-4721. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00632
Molecular dynamics simulation of small molecules interacting with biological membranes
Martinotti, Carlo, Ruiz-Perez, Lanie, Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2020). Molecular dynamics simulation of small molecules interacting with biological membranes. ChemPhysChem: a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry, 21 (14), 1486-1514. doi: 10.1002/cphc.202000219
Sabapathy, Thiru, Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2020). Revisiting the interaction of melittin with phospholipid bilayers: the effects of concentration and ionic strength. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (3) 746, 746. doi: 10.3390/ijms21030746
Effect of H3O+ on the structure and dynamics of water at the interface with phospholipid bilayers
Deplazes, Evelyne, Sarrami, Farzaneh and Poger, David (2020). Effect of H3O+ on the structure and dynamics of water at the interface with phospholipid bilayers. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 124 (8) acs.jpcb.9b10169, 1361-1373. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b10169
Deplazes, Evelyne, Chin, Yanni K.‐Y., King, Glenn F. and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2019). The unusual conformation of cross‐strand disulfide bonds is critical to the stability of β‐hairpin peptides. Proteins, 88 (3) prot.25828, 485-502. doi: 10.1002/prot.25828
Competing for the same space: protons and alkali ions at the interface of phospholipid bilayers
Deplazes, Evelyne, White, Jacqueline, Murphy, Christopher, Cranfield, Charles G. and Garcia, Alvaro (2019). Competing for the same space: protons and alkali ions at the interface of phospholipid bilayers. Biophysical Reviews, 11 (3), 483-490. doi: 10.1007/s12551-019-00541-2
The effect of H3O+ on the membrane morphology and hydrogen bonding of a phospholipid bilayer
Deplazes, Evelyne, Poger, David, Cornell, Bruce and Cranfield, Charles G. (2018). The effect of H3O+ on the membrane morphology and hydrogen bonding of a phospholipid bilayer. Biophysical Reviews, 10 (5), 1371-1376. doi: 10.1007/s12551-018-0454-z
Moore, Sandra J., Sonar, Krushna, Bharadwaj, Prashant, Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2018). Characterisation of the structure and oligomerisation of Islet Amyloid Polypeptides (IAPP): a review of molecular dynamics simulation studies. Molecules, 23 (9) 2142, 1-37. doi: 10.3390/molecules23092142
The Biological and Biophysical Properties of the Spider Peptide Gomesin
Tanner, John D., Deplazes, Evelyne and Mancera, Ricardo L. (2018). The Biological and Biophysical Properties of the Spider Peptide Gomesin. Molecules, 23 (7) 1733, 1-19. doi: 10.3390/molecules23071733
Molecular simulations of venom peptide-membrane interactions: progress and challenges
Deplazes, Evelyne (2018). Molecular simulations of venom peptide-membrane interactions: progress and challenges. Peptide Science, 110 (3) e24060, e24060. doi: 10.1002/pep2.24060
Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A., Deplazes, Evelyne, Pineda, Sandy S., Brust, Andreas, Marth, Tano, Wilhelm, Patrick, Martel, Nick, Ramm, Grant A., Mancera, Ricardo L., Alewood, Paul F., Woods, Gregory M., Belov, Katherine, Miles, John J., King, Glenn F. and Ikonomopoulou, Maria P. (2018). Gomesin peptides prevent proliferation and lead to the cell death of devil facial tumour disease cells. Cell Death Discovery, 4 (1) 19, 19. doi: 10.1038/s41420-018-0030-0
The effect of hydronium ions on the structure of phospholipid membranes
Deplazes, Evelyne, Poger, David, Cornell, Bruce and Cranfield, Charles G. (2017). The effect of hydronium ions on the structure of phospholipid membranes. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20 (1), 357-366. doi: 10.1039/c7cp06776c
Agwa, Akello J., Lawrence, Nicole, Deplazes, Evelyne, Cheneval, Olivier, Chen, Rachel M., Craik, David J., Schroeder, Christina I. and Henriques, Sonia T. (2017). Spider peptide toxin HwTx-IV engineered to bind to lipid membranes has an increased inhibitory potency at human voltage-gated sodium channel hNa(V)1.7 (vol 1859, pg 835, 2017). Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Biomembranes, 1859 (11), 2277-2277. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2017.08.008
A potential new, stable state of the E-cadherin strand-swapped dimer in solution
Schumann-Gillett, Alexandra, Mark, Alan E., Deplazes, Evelyne and O'Mara, Megan L. (2017). A potential new, stable state of the E-cadherin strand-swapped dimer in solution. European Biophysics Journal, 47 (1), 59-67. doi: 10.1007/s00249-017-1229-3
Agwa, Akello J., Lawrence, Nicole, Deplazes, Evelyne, Cheneval, Olivier, Chen, Rachel M., Craik, David J., Schroeder, Christina I. and Henriques, Sónia T. (2017). Spider peptide toxin HwTx-IV engineered to bind to lipid membranes has an increased inhibitory potency at human voltage-gated sodium channel hNaV1.7. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. Biomembranes, 1859 (5), 835-844. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2017.01.020
Molecular simulations of disulfide-rich venom peptides with ion channels and membranes
Deplazes, Evelyne (2017). Molecular simulations of disulfide-rich venom peptides with ion channels and membranes. Molecules, 22 (3) 362, 362. doi: 10.3390/molecules22030362
Troeira Henriques, Sonia, Deplazes, Evelyne, Lawrence, Nicole, Cheneval, Olivier, Chaousis, Stephanie, Inserra, Marco, Thongyoo, Panumart, King, Glenn F., Mark, Alan E., Vetter, Irina, Craik, David J. and Schroeder, Christina Ingrid (2016). Interaction of tarantula venom peptide ProTx-II with lipid membranes is a prerequisite for its inhibition of human voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 291 (33), 17049-17065. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.729095
Deplazes, Evelyne, Troeira Henriques, Sonia, Smith, Jennifer J., King, Glenn F., Craik, David J., Mark, Alan E. and Schroeder, Christina I. (2016). Membrane-binding properties of gating modifier and pore-blocking toxins: membrane interaction is not a prerequisite for modification of channel gating. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes, 1858 (4), 872-882. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2016.02.002
Deplazes, Evelyne, Davies, Josephine, Bonvin, Alexandre M. J. J., King, Glenn F. and Mark, Alan E. (2016). Combination of Ambiguous and Unambiguous Data in the Restraint-driven Docking of Flexible Peptides with HADDOCK: The Binding of the Spider Toxin PcTx1 to the Acid Sensing Ion Channel (ASIC) 1a. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 56 (1), 127-138. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5b00529
Deplazes, Evelyne, Begg, Stephanie L., van Wonderen, Jessica H., Campbell, Rebecca, Kobe, Bostjan, Paton, James C., MacMillan, Fraser, McDevitt, Christopher A. and O'Mara, Megan L. (2015). Characterizing the conformational dynamics of metal-free PsaA usingmolecular dynamics simulations and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Biophysical Chemistry, 207, 51-60. doi: 10.1016/j.bpc.2015.08.004
Saez, Natalie J., Deplazes, Evelyne, Cristofori-Armstrong, Ben, Chassagnon, Irene R., Lin, Xiaozhen, Mobli, Mehdi, Mark, Alan E., Rash, Lachlan D. and King, Glenn F. (2015). Molecular dynamics and functional studies define a hot spot of crystal contacts essential for PcTx1 inhibition of acid-sensing ion channel 1a. British Journal of Pharmacology, 172 (20), 4985-4995. doi: 10.1111/bph.13267
Widespread convergence in toxin resistance by predictable molecular evolution
Ujvari, Beata, Casewell, Nicholas R., Sunagar, Kartik, Arbuckle, Kevin, Wuester, Wolfgang, Lo, Nathan, O'Meally, Denis, Beckmann, Christa, King, Glenn F., Deplazes, Evelyne and Madsen, Thomas (2015). Widespread convergence in toxin resistance by predictable molecular evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112 (38), 11911-11916. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1511706112
Walczewska-Szewc, Katarzyna, Deplazes, Evelyne and Corry, Ben (2015). Comparing the Ability of Enhanced Sampling Molecular Dynamics Methods To Reproduce the Behavior of Fluorescent Labels on Proteins. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 11 (7), 3455-3465. doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00205
Bacterial mechanosensitive channels: models for studying mechanosensory transduction
Martinac, Boris, Nomura, Takeshi, Chi, Gamma, Petrov, Evgeny, Rohde, Paul R., Battle, Andrew R., Foo, Alexander, Constantine, Maryrose, Rothnagel, Rosalba, Carne, Sonia, Deplazes, Evelyne, Cornell, Bruce, Cranfield, Charles G., Hankamer, Ben and Landsberg, Michael J. (2014). Bacterial mechanosensitive channels: models for studying mechanosensory transduction. Antioxidants and Redox Signaling, 20 (6), 952-969. doi: 10.1089/ars.2013.5471
Structural investigation of MscL gating using experimental data and coarse grained MD simulations
Deplazes, Evelyne, Louhivuori, Martti, Jayatilaka, Dylan, Marrink, Siewert J. and Corry, Ben (2012). Structural investigation of MscL gating using experimental data and coarse grained MD simulations. PLoS Computational Biology, 8 (9) e1002683, e1002683. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002683
Nomura, Takeshi, Cranfield, Charles G., Deplazes, Evelyne, Owen, Dylan M., Macmillan, Alex, Battle, Andrew R., Constantine, Maryrose, Sokabe, Masahiro and Martinac, Boris (2012). Differential effects of lipids and lyso-lipids on the mechanosensitivity of the mechanosensitive channels MscL and MscS. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (22), 8770-8775. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1200051109
ExiFRET: Flexible tool for understanding FRET in complex geometries
Deplazes, Evelyne, Jayatilaka, Dylan and Corry, Ben (2012). ExiFRET: Flexible tool for understanding FRET in complex geometries. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 17 (1) 011005, 011005.1-011005.11. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.17.1.011005
Testing the use of molecular dynamics to simulate fluorophore motions and FRET
Deplazes, Evelyne, Jayatilaka, Dylan and Corry, Ben (2011). Testing the use of molecular dynamics to simulate fluorophore motions and FRET. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 13 (23), 11045-11054. doi: 10.1039/c1cp20447e
Resolutions of the Coulomb operator
Varganov, Sergey A., Gilbert, Andrew T. B., Deplazes, Evelyne and Gill, Peter M. W. (2008). Resolutions of the Coulomb operator. Journal of Chemical Physics, 128 (20) 201104, 201104.1-201104.4. doi: 10.1063/1.2939239
Deplazes, E., van Bronswijk, W., Zhu, F., Barron, L.D., Ma, S., Nafie, L.A. and Jalkanen, K.J. (2008). A combined theoretical and experimental study of the structure and vibrational absorption, vibrational circular dichroism, Raman and Raman optical activity spectra of the L-histidine zwitterion. Theoretical Chemistry Accounts, 119 (1-3), 155-176. doi: 10.1007/s00214-007-0276-8
Islam, M. Z., Hossain, S. I., Deplazes, E., Bhowmick, S. and Saha, S. C. (2021). Molecular dynamics study of prednisolone concentration on cholesterol based lung surfactant monolayer. International Conference on Mechanical Engineering, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 18–20 December 2019. Melville, NY, United States: A I P Publishing. doi: 10.1063/5.0037471
Schroeder, Christina, Agwa, Akello, Mueller, Alexander, Chow, Chun Yuen, Peigneur, Steve, Lawrence, Nicole, Deplazes, Evelyne, Mark, Alan, Craik, David, Tytgat, Jan, King, Glenn, Vetter, Irina and Henriques, Sonia Troeira (2018). The use of peptide-membrane interactions in the design of selective and potent sodium channel inhibitors. 35th European Peptide Symposium, Dublin City University, Ireland, 26-31 August 2018. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.
The importance of peptide-membrane interactions in toxin inhibitions of sodium channels
Schroeder, Christina I., Deplazes, Evelyn, Lawrence, Nicole, Agwa, Akello and Henriques, Sonia T. (2017). The importance of peptide-membrane interactions in toxin inhibitions of sodium channels. 58th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, San Francisco, United States, 15-19 February 2014. St. Louis, MO, United States: Cell Press. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.11.1247
Deplazes, Evelyne, Henriques, Sonia Troeira, King, Glenn F., Craik, David J., Mark, Alan E. and Schroeder, Christina I. (2016). Membrane-binding properties of gating-modifier and pore blocking toxins: membrane interaction is not a prerequisite for modification of channel gating. 60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical-Society, Los Angeles, United States, February 27- March 2 2016. St Louis, United States: Cell Press. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2015.11.220
Deplazes, Evelyne, Davies, Josephine, Bonvin, Alexandre M. J. J. and Mark, Alan E. (2016). On the Combination of Restraint-Driven Docking of Flexible Peptides to Ion Channels - Lessons Learnt from the Complex Formed by the Spider Venom PcTx1 and the Acid Sensing Ion Channel1. 60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical-Society, Los Angeles, CA, United States, February 27- March 2 2016. St Louis, United States: Cell Press. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2015.11.2872
High-Resolution Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
(2023–2024) ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
A peptide-based adjuvant therapy to reduce the toxicity of Amphotericin B
(2021–2023) Gilead Sciences Research Scholars Program in Anti-Fungals
60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (2015 Ian Potter Grant)
(2015–2016) Ian Potter Foundation
(2015) The MAWA Trust
(2014–2016) NHMRC Early Career Fellowships
Developing a cell-free, structural model of fungal cell walls
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Characterising the membrane interactions and cytotoxic activity of the anti-fungal peptide Lactofungin
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Targeting alterations in cell membrane biophysics for disease intervention
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Allosteric modulation of synaptic proteins by endogenous and modified sterols
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
The structural basis of cell specificity in ABC toxins
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
Research Projects
The projects we work on are at the interface of physical chemistry, structural biology, biophysics and biomedical/biomolecular sciences. These projects are suitable for students with a background in any of these disciplines.
Our research combines computer simulations and biophysical chemistry experiments to study biomolecular systems with a particular focus on understanding how small molecules interact with biological membranes. We aim to use the knowledge and tools from our research to help develop new pharmaceuticals or understand fundamental processes such as membrane permeation. In addition, we are interested in studying the structure and function of proteins.
The following are some of our current projects that are suitable for 3rd and 4th-year undergraduate students, Honours or Masters students. Feel free to contact me for more information and also with your own research ideas. We always aim to adapt the project to the student’s interests, background knowledge and skills.