Starting under the mentorship of Maurizio Brunori and Max F. Perutz and in collaboration with Kiyoshi Nagai and Giulio Fermi at the LMB-MRC in Cambridge Beatrice Vallone studied hemoglobin and myoglobin and later pursued time resolved diffraction and scattering studies to understand the relationship between structural dynamics and function.

The Vallone Lab determined in 2004 the structure of liganded and unliganded neuroglobin and has studied in depth the structural dynamics of this protein involved in neuronal protection.

We are now dissecting the role of specific regions of neuroglobin in controlling ligand affinity and binding kinetics.

Main Publications

Extended subnanosecond structural dynamics of myoglobin revealed by Laue crystallography.
Bourgeois D, Vallone B, Arcovito A, Sciara G, Schotte F, Anfinrud PA, Brunori M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Mar 28;103(13):4924-9. Epub 2006 Mar 17.
PMID:16547137
Free PMC Article

The Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric model accounts for the quaternary transition dynamics in wild type and a recombinant mutant human hemoglobin.
Levantino M, Spilotros A, Cammarata M, Schirò G, Ardiccioni C, Vallone B, Brunori M, Cupane A.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Sep 11;109(37):14894-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1205809109. Epub 2012 Aug 27.
PMID: 22927385
Free PMC Article

Pattern of cavities in globins: the case of human hemoglobin.
Savino C, Miele AE, Draghi F, Johnson KA, Sciara G, Brunori M, Vallone B.
Biopolymers. 2009 Dec;91(12):1097-107. doi: 10.1002/bip.21201.
PMID: 19365817

The structures of deoxy human haemoglobin and the mutant Hb Tyralpha42His at 120 K.
Tame JR, Vallone B.
Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2000 Jul;56(Pt 7):805-11.
PMID: 10930827

Free energy of burying hydrophobic residues in the interface between protein subunits.
Vallone B, Miele AE, Vecchini P, Chiancone E, Brunori M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 May 26;95(11):6103-7.
PMID: 9600924
Free PMC Article

Probing the alpha 1 beta 2 interface of human hemoglobin by mutagenesis. Role of the FG-C contact regions.
Vallone B, Bellelli A, Miele AE, Brunori M, Fermi G.
J Biol Chem. 1996 May 24;271(21):12472-80.

Complex landscape of protein structural dynamics unveiled by nanosecond Laue crystallography.
Bourgeois D, Vallone B, Schotte F, Arcovito A, Miele AE, Sciara G, Wulff M, Anfinrud P, Brunori M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jul 22;100(15):8704-9. Epub 2003 Jul 7.
PMID: 12847289
Free PMC Article

Roles for holes: are cavities in proteins mere packing defects?
Vallone B, Brunori M.
Ital J Biochem. 2004 Mar;53(1):46-52. Review.
PMID: 15356962

The structural dynamics of myoglobin.
Brunori M, Bourgeois D, Vallone B.
J Struct Biol. 2004 Sep;147(3):223-34.
PMID:15450292

The role of cavities in protein dynamics: crystal structure of a photolytic intermediate of a mutant myoglobin.
Brunori M, Vallone B, Cutruzzola F, Travaglini-Allocatelli C, Berendzen J, Chu K, Sweet RM, Schlichting I.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Feb 29;97(5):2058-63.
PMID: 10681426
Free PMC Article

Neuroglobin, seven years after.
Brunori M, Vallone B.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2007 May;64(10):1259-68. Review.
PMID: 17385072

A globin for the brain.
Brunori M, Vallone B.
FASEB J. 2006 Nov;20(13):2192-7. Review.
PMID: 17077295

Neuroglobin, nitric oxide, and oxygen: functional pathways and conformational changes.
Brunori M, Giuffrè A, Nienhaus K, Nienhaus GU, Scandurra FM, Vallone B.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Jun 14;102(24):8483-8. Epub 2005 Jun 2.
PMID: 15932948
Free PMC Article

The structure of carbonmonoxy neuroglobin reveals a heme-sliding mechanism for control of ligand affinity.
Vallone B, Nienhaus K, Matthes A, Brunori M, Nienhaus GU.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Dec 14;101(50):17351-6. Epub 2004 Nov 17.
PMID: 15548613
Free PMC Article

The structure of murine neuroglobin: Novel pathways for ligand migration and binding.
Vallone B, Nienhaus K, Brunori M, Nienhaus GU.
Proteins. 2004 Jul 1;56(1):85-92.
PMID: 15162488

The structure of neuroglobin at high Xe and Kr pressure reveals partial conservation of globin internal cavities.
Moschetti T, Mueller U, Schulze J, Brunori M, Vallone B.
Biophys J. 2009 Sep 16;97(6):1700-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2009.05.059.
PMID: 19751675
Free PMC Article

Crystallographic studies with xenon and nitrous oxide provide evidence for protein-dependent processes in the mechanisms of general anesthesia.
Abraini JH, Marassio G, David HN, Vallone B, Prangé T, Colloc’h N.
Anesthesiology. 2014 Nov;121(5):1018-27. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000435.
PMID: 25211169

Engineering the internal cavity of neuroglobin demonstrates the role of the haem-sliding mechanism.
Avella G, Ardiccioni C, Scaglione A, Moschetti T, Rondinelli C, Montemiglio LC, Savino C, Giuffrè A, Brunori M, Vallone B.
Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2014 Jun;70(Pt 6):1640-8. doi: 10.1107/S1399004714007032. Epub 2014 May 29.
PMID: 24914975

Lack of orientation selectivity of the heme insertion in murine neuroglobin revealed by resonance Raman spectroscopy.
Milazzo L, Exertier C, Becucci M, Freda I, Montemiglio LC, Savino C, Vallone B, Smulevich G.
FEBS J. 2020 Feb 8. doi: 10.1111/febs.15241. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 32034988

Ligand pathways in neuroglobin revealed by low-temperature photodissociation and docking experiments.
Ardiccioni C, Arcovito A, Della Longa S, van der Linden P, Bourgeois D, Weik M, Montemiglio LC, Savino C, Avella G, Exertier C, Carpentier P, Prangé T, Brunori M, Colloc’h N, Vallone B.
IUCrJ. 2019 Jul 10;6(Pt 5):832-842. doi: 10.1107/S2052252519008157. eCollection 2019 Sep 1.
PMID: 31576217
Free PMC Article

Proximal and distal control for ligand binding in neuroglobin: role of the CD loop and evidence for His64 gating.
Exertier C, Milazzo L, Freda I, Montemiglio LC, Scaglione A, Cerutti G, Parisi G, Anselmi M, Smulevich G, Savino C, Vallone B.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 29;9(1):5326. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41780-3.
PMID: 30926858
Free PMC Article