Dr. Fernando Danilo González Nilo, Ph.D. in Chemistry (52), is a full professor and Director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology (CBIB) at Universidad Andres Bello. The CBIB of the University Andres Bello houses a trans-disciplinary team whose primary goal is to develop research strategies that bring together the benefits of computational and experimental validation methods. The CBIB highly integrated approach favors an iterative research cycle based on observation, modeling, simulation, and validation. A high-performance computing system supports this approach, enabling the development and use of high-performance molecular simulation and bioinformatics tools in areas as diverse as Bionanotechnology, Drug Delivery, Molecular, and Protein Engineering, theoretical Biophysics. The computer system is tightly integrated into the Chemical Synthesis, Protein Engineering, Cell biology, and Thermogravimetry laboratories. This arrangement is central to CBIB design to develop multidisciplinary initiatives that allow exploring new questions in integrative biology.

CBIB team takes part in multiple theoretical-experimental projects through collaborative efforts with national and international groups specialized in biophysics, enzymatic catalysis, computer-based drug design, transmembrane proteins, and bio- and nano-technology, among others. Another line that my group is focused, within the CBIB, in the development and implementation of advanced methods in Molecular Dynamics simulations for the analysis and characterization of the structural determinants that govern the activation and conductance of K channels (SHAKER, HSlo, TRPV, and TRPM) and Hemichannels in collaboration with CINV.

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1. A physiologic rise in cytoplasmic calcium ion signal increases pannexin1 channel activity via a c-terminus phosphorylation by CaMKII. Ximena López, Nicolás Palacios-Prado, Juan Güiza, Rosalba Escamilla, Paola Fernández, José L. Vega, Maximiliano Rojas, Valeria Marquez-Miranda, Eduardo Chamorro, Ana M. Cárdenas, María Constanza Maldifassi, Agustín D. Martínez, Yorley Duarte, Fernando D. González-Nilo* & Juan C. Sáez*. 2021. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.
2. Dynamin-2 R465W mutation induces long range perturbation in highly ordered oligomeric structures. Hinostroza F, Neely A, Araya-Duran I, Marabolí V, Canan J, Rojas M, Aguayo D, Latorre R, González-Nilo FD*, Cárdenas AM*. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 23;10(1):18151. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75216-0. PMID: 33097808 Free PMC article.
3. Structural determinants of TRPV4 inhibition and identification of new antagonists with antiviral activity. Doñate-Macian P, Duarte Y, Rubio-Moscardo F, Pérez-Vilaró G, Canan J, Díez J, González-Nilo F, Valverde MA*. Br J Pharmacol. 2020 Sep 21. doi: 10.1111/bph.15267. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32959389
4. Novel TRPV1 Channel Agonists With Faster and More Potent Analgesic Properties Than Capsaicin. Duarte Y, Cáceres J, Sepúlveda RV, Arriagada D, Olivares P, Díaz-Franulic I, Stehberg J, González-Nilo F. Front Pharmacol. 2020 Jul 14;11:1040. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.01040. eCollection 2020. PMID: 32760273 Free PMC article.
5. A folding reaction at the C-terminal domain drives temperature sensing in TRPM8 channels. Díaz-Franulic I, Raddatz N, Castillo K, González-Nilo FD, Latorre R. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Aug 18;117(33):20298-20304. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2004303117. Epub 2020 Aug 3. PMID: 32747539 Free PMC article.
6. The molecular nature of the 17β-Estradiol binding site in the voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+(BK) channel β1   subunit.  Granados, S.  T., Castillo, K., Bravo-Moraga, F., Sepúlveda, R.  V., Carrasquel-Ursulaez,W.,  Rojas, M., Carmona, E., Lorenzo-Ceballos, Y., González-Nilo, F., González, C., Latorre, R.  & Torres, Y.  P., 1 dic 2019.  Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 9965.
7. Integration of target discovery, drug discovery and drug delivery:  A review on computational strategies.  Duarte, Y., Márquez-Miranda, V., Miossec, M. J. & González-Nilo, F., 1 jul 2019.  Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology. 11, 4, e1554.
8. Structural determinants of 5′,6′-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid binding to and activation   of   TRPV4   channel. Berna-Erro, A., Izquierdo-Serra, M., Sepúlveda, R. V., Rubio-Moscardo, F., Doñate-Macián, P., Serra, S. A., Carrillo-Garcia, J., Perálvarez-Marín, A., González-Nilo, F., Fernández-Fernández, J.   M.   & Valverde, M.   A.,   1 dic 2017. Scientific Reports. 7, 1, 10522.
9. Molecular determinants of BK channel functional diversity and functioning. Latorre, R., Castillo, K., Carrasquel-Ursulaez, W., Sepulveda, R. V., Gonzalez-Nilo, F., Gonzalez, C.  & Alvarez, O.,  1  ene  2017. Physiological Reviews. 97, 1, p. 39-87 49 p.
10. β1-subunit-induced structural rearrangements of the  Ca2+-  and  voltage-activated   K+   (BK)   channel.   Castillo, J. P., Sánchez-Rodríguez, J. E., Hyde, H. C., Zaelzer, C. A., Aguayo, D., Sepúlveda, R. V., Luk, L. Y. P.,  Kent, S. B. H., Gonzalez-Nilo, F. D., Bezanilla, F. & Latorre, R.,  7  jun  2016.  Proceedings of the National   Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113, 23, p. E3231-E3239.