Carlsson lab
The goals of our research are to improve the atomic level understanding of protein-ligand interactions using computational models and develop novel strategies for drug discovery. Using physics-based methods such as molecular dynamics simulations and molecular docking, we study how small molecules interact with proteins and thereby modulate their function. Many of our research projects involve G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This large family of membrane proteins plays essential roles in human physiology and includes numerous important drug targets. We are also interested in structure-based drug design with focus on enzyme targets involved in cancer and viral infections.We are part of the Dept. of Cell and Molecular Biology and the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) at Uppsala university. Visit our external website to read more about our research.
Research projects
Currently we are performing research in the following areas:
G protein-coupled receptors: Drug design, activation mechanism, evolution
Enzymes: Inhibitor design
Structure-based virtual screening (molecular docking)
Molecular dynamics simulations
Fragment-based drug design
Protein structure prediction
Welcome to our external homepage
Group members
Publications
Part of Molecules, 2024
Part of Science Advances, 2024
Structure-based virtual screening of vast chemical space as a starting point for drug discovery
Part of Current opinion in structural biology, 2024
Design of Drug Efficacy Guided by Free Energy Simulations of the β2-Adrenoceptor
Part of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2023
Part of Molecules, 2023
Part of Nature Communications, 2023
Structure-based virtual screening discovers potent and selective adenosine A1 receptor antagonists
Part of European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2023
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 3473-3517, 2022
- DOI for Importance of Binding Site Hydration and Flexibility Revealed When Optimizing a Macrocyclic Inhibitor of the Keap1-Nrf2 Protein-Protein Interaction
- Download full text (pdf) of Importance of Binding Site Hydration and Flexibility Revealed When Optimizing a Macrocyclic Inhibitor of the Keap1-Nrf2 Protein-Protein Interaction
Structure-Based Discovery of Negative Allosteric Modulators of the Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5
Part of ACS Chemical Biology, p. 2744-2752, 2022
Part of Molecular Neurobiology, p. 5955-5969, 2022
- DOI for The mGlu5 Receptor Protomer-Mediated Dopamine D2 Receptor Trans-Inhibition Is Dependent on the Adenosine A2A Receptor Protomer: Implications for Parkinson's Disease
- Download full text (pdf) of The mGlu5 Receptor Protomer-Mediated Dopamine D2 Receptor Trans-Inhibition Is Dependent on the Adenosine A2A Receptor Protomer: Implications for Parkinson's Disease
Part of Journal of the American Chemical Society, p. 2905-2920, 2022
A practical guide to large-scale docking
Part of Nature Protocols, p. 4799-4832, 2021
Part of PloS Computational Biology, 2021
Fragment-based design of selective GPCR ligands guided by free energy simulations
Part of Chemical Communications, p. 12305-12308, 2021
Part of eLIFE, 2021
Ligand design by targeting a binding site water
Part of Chemical Science, p. 960-968, 2021
Positive allosteric mechanisms of adenosine A(1) receptor-mediated analgesia
Part of Nature, p. 571-576, 2021
Structure-Guided Design of G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Polypharmacology
Part of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, p. 18022-18030, 2021
Docking Finds GPCR Ligands in Dark Chemical Matter
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 613-620, 2020
Energy Landscapes Reveal Agonist Control of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Activation via Microswitches
Part of Biochemistry, p. 880-891, 2020
GPCRmd uncovers the dynamics of the 3D-GPCRome
Part of Nature Methods, p. 777-787, 2020
Part of PloS Computational Biology, 2020
- DOI for Performance of virtual screening against GPCR homology models: Impact of template selection and treatment of binding site plasticity
- Download full text (pdf) of Performance of virtual screening against GPCR homology models: Impact of template selection and treatment of binding site plasticity
Part of ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, p. 361-370, 2020
- DOI for The European Research Network on Signal Transduction (ERNEST): Toward a Multidimensional Holistic Understanding of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Signaling
- Download full text (pdf) of The European Research Network on Signal Transduction (ERNEST): Toward a Multidimensional Holistic Understanding of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Signaling
Part of Nature Communications, 2019
Part of Molecular Neurobiology, p. 7038-7048, 2018
- DOI for Disruption of A2AR-D2R Heteroreceptor Complexes After A2AR Transmembrane 5 Peptide Administration Enhances Cocaine Self-Administration in Rats
- Download full text (pdf) of Disruption of A2AR-D2R Heteroreceptor Complexes After A2AR Transmembrane 5 Peptide Administration Enhances Cocaine Self-Administration in Rats
Docking Screens for Dual Inhibitors of Disparate Drug Targets for Parkinson's Disease
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 5269-5278, 2018
FZD(5) is a G alpha(q)-coupled receptor that exhibits the functional hallmarks of prototypical GPCRs
Part of Science Signaling, 2018
Part of Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018
Part of Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, p. 350-361, 2018
Scavenging of superoxide by a membrane-bound superoxide oxidase
Part of Nature Chemical Biology, p. 788-793, 2018
Part of ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, p. 119-133, 2018
Structure-based screening for GPCR ligands from fragment and lead-like chemical space
Part of Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, 2018
Structure-guided discovery of adenosine receptor ligands
Part of Purinergic Signalling Purinergic Signalling, 2018
Agonist-induced dimer dissociation as a macromolecular step in G protein-coupled receptor signaling
Part of Nature Communications, 2017
Part of Scientific Reports, 2017
- DOI for Fragment optimization for GPCRs by molecular dynamics free energy calculations: Probing druggable subpockets of the A(2A) adenosine receptor binding site
- Download full text (pdf) of Fragment optimization for GPCRs by molecular dynamics free energy calculations: Probing druggable subpockets of the A(2A) adenosine receptor binding site
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 8160-8169, 2017
Part of ACS Chemical Biology, p. 735-745, 2017
Part of ACS Chemical Biology, p. 2652-2661, 2017
Part of Cellular Signalling, p. 85-96, 2017
Structure-Based Screening of Uncharted Chemical Space for Atypical Adenosine Receptor Agonists
Part of ACS Chemical Biology, p. 2763-2772, 2016
Part of MedChemComm, p. 2216-2223, 2015
Fragment-Based Discovery of Subtype-Selective Adenosine Receptor Ligands from Homology Models
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 9578-9590, 2015
Absolute hydration entropies of alkali metal ions from molecular dynamics simulations
Part of Journal of Physical Chemistry B, p. 10255-10260, 2009
Charges for Large Scale Binding Free Energy Calculations with the Linear Interaction Energy Method
Part of Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, p. 380-395, 2009
Predicting Binding Modes from Free Energy Calculations
Part of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, p. 2657-2667, 2008
Part of Biochemistry, p. 2466-2479, 2007
Improving the accuracy of the linear interaction energy method for solvation free energies
Part of Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, p. 2162-2175, 2007
Part of Journal of Biological Chemistry, p. 19905-19916, 2007
Calculations of solute and solvent entropies from molecular dynamics simulations
Part of Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP, p. 5385-5395, 2006