Rosa D' Agostino

I'm involved in the design, expression, purification and characterisation of proteins (enzymes) for product development, and support the identification and creation of new enzymes or mutants with improved properties enabling high quality scaled manufacture.

Main responsibilities: - Cloning, protein expression, Inclusion Bodies (IBs) refolding and purification of soluble T-Cell Receptors (TCR or ImmTAXs) - Biophysical characterisation of the discovered TCR or ImmTAC molecules by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) - 5' RACE, RNA extraction - Present experimental data internally and externally and participate in discussions at team meetings

During my master degree, I worked in the laboratory of Structural Biology to complete my master internship. My project was focused on the biochemical characterization of two peroxisomal enzymes essential for plasmalogen biosynthesis, a modulator of cell membrane dynamics. I had the chance to follow this project from the beginning, starting from the cloning phase ending to the purification and crystallisation step. Therefore, I was able to draft protocols for many expression trials in both E.coli and P.pastoris (testing both the full length and several short constructs of DHAPAT). Moreover, I became acquainted to several biochemistry techniques as well as molecular biology methods.