Vanessa A. Leone, PhD

Assistant Professor

Locations

Biophysics
MFRC 3040F

Contact Information

Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 2015-2019
Postdoctoral Fellow, NHLBI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 2013-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2009-2013
PhD, Functional and Structural Genomics, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS), Trieste, Italy, 2009
BS, Biochemistry, University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, 2005

Biography

I received my BS in Biochemistry from the University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, and my PhD in Functional and Structural Genomics at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS) in Trieste, Italy. I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany. I continued my postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, first at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and then at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in Bethesda, MD. Subsequently, I earned a Staff Scientist position at NINDS. I joined the MCW Department of Biophysics faculty in 2024.

Research Interests

My research interests focus on protein structure, protein/protein interactions and their dynamics, and the effects of mutations, with particular emphasis on mitochondrial-related processes. I use a broad set of computational structural biology methods, including protein structure prediction (physics or AI-based methods), molecular dynamics, and free-energy calculations, tailored to address specific questions and involving methodological development as needed.

Insights into autoregulation of a membrane protein complex by its cytoplasmic domains.

(Leone V, Bradshaw RT, Koshy C, Lee PS, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Heinz V, Ziegler C, Forrest LR.) Biophys J. 2023 Feb 07;122(3):577-594 PMID: 36528790 PMCID: PMC9941749 12/19/2022
Chloride-dependent conformational changes in the GlyT1 glycine transporter.

(Zhang YW, Uchendu S, Leone V, Bradshaw RT, Sangwa N, Forrest LR, Rudnick G.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Mar 09;118(10) PMID: 33658361 PMCID: PMC7958241 03/05/2021
Interpretation of spectroscopic data using molecular simulations for the secondary active transporter BetP.

(Leone V, Waclawska I, Kossmann K, Koshy C, Sharma M, Prisner TF, Ziegler C, Endeward B, Forrest LR.) J Gen Physiol. 2019 Mar 04;151(3):381-394 PMID: 30728216 PMCID: PMC6400524 02/08/2019
Predicted Structures of the Proton-Bound Membrane-Embedded Rotor Rings of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli ATP Synthases.

(Zhou W, Leone V, Krah A, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) J Phys Chem B. 2017 Apr 20;121(15):3297-3307 PMID: 27715045 PMCID: PMC5593136 11/04/2016
Structure and mechanism of the ATP synthase membrane motor inferred from quantitative integrative modeling.

(Leone V, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) J Gen Physiol. 2016 Dec;148(6):441-457 PMID: 27821609 PMCID: PMC5129741 11/09/2016
On the principle of ion selectivity in Na+/H+-coupled membrane proteins: experimental and theoretical studies of an ATP synthase rotor.

(Leone V, Pogoryelov D, Meier T, Faraldo-Gómez JD.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Mar 10;112(10):E1057-66 PMID: 25713346 PMCID: PMC4364180 02/26/2015
HIV-1 integrase binding to its cellular partners: a perspective from computational biology.

(Quy VC, Carnevale V, Manganaro L, Lusic M, Rossetti G, Leone V, Fenollar-Ferrer C, Raugei S, Del Sal G, Giacca M, Carloni P.) Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20(21):3412-21 PMID: 24001231 09/05/2013
A new type of Na(+)-driven ATP synthase membrane rotor with a two-carboxylate ion-coupling motif.

(Schulz S, Iglesias-Cans M, Krah A, Yildiz O, Leone V, Matthies D, Cook GM, Faraldo-Gómez JD, Meier T.) PLoS Biol. 2013;11(6):e1001596 PMID: 23824040 PMCID: PMC3692424 07/05/2013
A c subunit with four transmembrane helices and one ion (Na+)-binding site in an archaeal ATP synthase: implications for c ring function and structure.

(Mayer F, Leone V, Langer JD, Faraldo-Gómez JD, Müller V.) J Biol Chem. 2012 Nov 16;287(47):39327-37 PMID: 23007388 PMCID: PMC3501044 09/26/2012
Molecular description of the propagation of chirality from molecules to complex systems: different mechanisms controlled by hydrophobic interactions.

(Marinelli F, Sorrenti A, Corvaglia V, Leone V, Mancini G.) Chemistry. 2012 Nov 12;18(46):14680-8 PMID: 23019089 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84868688876 09/29/2012
Engineering rotor ring stoichiometries in the ATP synthase.

(Pogoryelov D, Klyszejko AL, Krasnoselska GO, Heller EM, Leone V, Langer JD, Vonck J, Müller DJ, Faraldo-Gómez JD, Meier T.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jun 19;109(25):E1599-608 PMID: 22628564 PMCID: PMC3382517 05/26/2012
Promiscuous archaeal ATP synthase concurrently coupled to Na+ and H+ translocation.

(Schlegel K, Leone V, Faraldo-Gómez JD, Müller V.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 17;109(3):947-52 PMID: 22219361 PMCID: PMC3271924 01/06/2012