Photo of Joana Paulino, PhD

Joana Paulino, PhD

Assistant Professor
Academic Office Location:
Molecular Biology and Biophysics
UConn Health
263 Farmington Avenue
lab L3080
Farmington, CT 06030-3305
Phone: 860-679-2269
Website(s):

The Paulino Laboratory

Molecular Biology and Biophysics

Very little research is focused on women’s health. I believe in science as a tool for social change. As a scientist, I am committed to utilizing my knowledge to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable. Our research focuses on viral infections connected to negative pregnancy outcomes.

Education
DegreeInstitutionMajor
BScInstitute of Chemistry, University of São PauloChemistry
MScInstitute of Chemistry, University of São PauloBiochemistry
PhDInstitute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State UniversityMolecular Biophysics

Post-Graduate Training
TrainingInstitutionSpecialty
PostdoctoralNational High Magnetic Field LaboratoryNuclear Magnetic Resonance at 1.5 GHz
PostdoctoralUniversity of California San FranciscoBiochemistry and Biophysics

Awards
Name of Award/HonorAwarding Organization
Travel Award, Molecular Biophysics of MembranesBPS Conference
Exceptional Poster AwardFASEB Science Research Conference on Molecular Biophysics of Membranes
Employee of the MonthNational High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Travel Stipend57th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference

We are a membrane protein biophysics and structural biology research group investigating viral-host protein interactions that allow viruses to bypass the host’s native immunity.

Currently, we focus on the ability of the Zika virus to bypass the placental barrier, causing microcephaly in the developing embryo. For this purpose, we combine cryo-electron microscopy and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, protein biophysics, and mammalian cell culture to characterize the molecular mechanisms relevant to this disease.

Accepting Lab Rotation Students: Fall Block 2024, Spring 1 and 2 Block 2025

Journal Articles

  • Emulating Membrane Protein Environments─How Much Lipid Is Required for a Native Structure: Influenza S31N M2.
    Wright, Anna K; Paulino, Joana; Cross, Timothy A Journal of the American Chemical Society 2022 Feb;144(5):2137-2148
  • Imaging active site chemistry and protonation states: NMR crystallography of the tryptophan synthase α-aminoacrylate intermediate.
    Holmes, Jacob B; Liu, Viktoriia; Caulkins, Bethany G; Hilario, Eduardo; Ghosh, Rittik K; Drago, Victoria N; Young, Robert P; Romero, Jennifer A; Gill, Adam D; Bogie, Paul M; Paulino, Joana; Wang, Xiaoling; Riviere, Gwladys; Bosken, Yuliana K; Struppe, Jochem; Hassan, Alia; Guidoulianov, Jevgeni; Perrone, Barbara; Mentink-Vigier, Frederic; Chang, Chia-En A; Long, Joanna R; Hooley, Richard J; Mueser, Timothy C; Dunn, Michael F; Mueller, Leonard J Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2022 Jan;119(2):
  • Bi-paratopic and multivalent VH domains block ACE2 binding and neutralize SARS-CoV-2.
    Bracken, Colton J; Lim, Shion A; Solomon, Paige; Rettko, Nicholas J; Nguyen, Duy P; Zha, Beth Shoshana; Schaefer, Kaitlin; Byrnes, James R; Zhou, Jie; Lui, Irene; Liu, Jia; Pance, Katarina; QCRG Structural Biology Consortium; Zhou, Xin X; Leung, Kevin K; Wells, James A Nature chemical biology 2021 Jan;17(1):113-121
  • An ultrapotent synthetic nanobody neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 by stabilizing inactive Spike.
    Schoof, Michael; Faust, Bryan; Saunders, Reuben A; Sangwan, Smriti; Rezelj, Veronica; Hoppe, Nick; Boone, Morgane; Billesbølle, Christian B; Puchades, Cristina; Azumaya, Caleigh M; Kratochvil, Huong T; Zimanyi, Marcell; Deshpande, Ishan; Liang, Jiahao; Dickinson, Sasha; Nguyen, Henry C; Chio, Cynthia M; Merz, Gregory E; Thompson, Michael C; Diwanji, Devan; Schaefer, Kaitlin; Anand, Aditya A; Dobzinski, Niv; Zha, Beth Shoshana; Simoneau, Camille R; Leon, Kristoffer; White, Kris M; Chio, Un Seng; Gupta, Meghna; Jin, Mingliang; Li, Fei; Liu, Yanxin; Zhang, Kaihua; Bulkley, David; Sun, Ming; Smith, Amber M; Rizo, Alexandrea N; Moss, Frank; Brilot, Axel F; Pourmal, Sergei; Trenker, Raphael; Pospiech, Thomas; Gupta, Sayan; Barsi-Rhyne, Benjamin; Belyy, Vladislav; Barile-Hill, Andrew W; Nock, Silke; Liu, Yuwei; Krogan, Nevan J; Ralston, Corie Y; Swaney, Danielle L; García-Sastre, Adolfo; Ott, Melanie; Vignuzzi, Marco; QCRG Structural Biology Consortium; Walter, Peter; Manglik, Aashish Science (New York, N.Y.) 2020 Dec;370(6523):1473-1479
  • Comparative host-coronavirus protein interaction networks reveal pan-viral disease mechanisms.
    Gordon, David E; Hiatt, Joseph; Bouhaddou, Mehdi; Rezelj, Veronica V; Ulferts, Svenja; Braberg, Hannes; Jureka, Alexander S; Obernier, Kirsten; Guo, Jeffrey Z; Batra, Jyoti; Kaake, Robyn M; Weckstein, Andrew R; Owens, Tristan W; Gupta, Meghna; Pourmal, Sergei; Titus, Erron W; Cakir, Merve; Soucheray, Margaret; McGregor, Michael; Cakir, Zeynep; Jang, Gwendolyn; O'Meara, Matthew J; Tummino, Tia A; Zhang, Ziyang; Foussard, Helene; Rojc, Ajda; Zhou, Yuan; Kuchenov, Dmitry; Hüttenhain, Ruth; Xu, Jiewei; Eckhardt, Manon; Swaney, Danielle L; Fabius, Jacqueline M; Ummadi, Manisha; Tutuncuoglu, Beril; Rathore, Ujjwal; Modak, Maya; Haas, Paige; Haas, Kelsey M; Naing, Zun Zar Chi; Pulido, Ernst H; Shi, Ying; Barrio-Hernandez, Inigo; Memon, Danish; Petsalaki, Eirini; Dunham, Alistair; Marrero, Miguel Correa; Burke, David; Koh, Cassandra; Vallet, Thomas; Silvas, Jesus A; Azumaya, Caleigh M; Billesbølle, Christian; Brilot, Axel F; Campbell, Melody G; Diallo, Amy; Dickinson, Miles Sasha; Diwanji, Devan; Herrera, Nadia; Hoppe, Nick; Kratochvil, Huong T; Liu, Yanxin; Merz, Gregory E; Moritz, Michelle; Nguyen, Henry C; Nowotny, Carlos; Puchades, Cristina; Rizo, Alexandrea N; Schulze-Gahmen, Ursula; Smith, Amber M; Sun, Ming; Young, Iris D; Zhao, Jianhua; Asarnow, Daniel; Biel, Justin; Bowen, Alisa; Braxton, Julian R; Chen, Jen; Chio, Cynthia M; Chio, Un Seng; Deshpande, Ishan; Doan, Loan; Faust, Bryan; Flores, Sebastian; Jin, Mingliang; Kim, Kate; Lam, Victor L; Li, Fei; Li, Junrui; Li, Yen-Li; Li, Yang; Liu, Xi; Lo, Megan; Lopez, Kyle E; Melo, Arthur A; Moss, Frank R; Nguyen, Phuong; Paulino, Joana; Pawar, Komal Ishwar; Peters, Jessica K; Pospiech, Thomas H; Safari, Maliheh; Sangwan, Smriti; Schaefer, Kaitlin; Thomas, Paul V; Thwin, Aye C; Trenker, Raphael; Tse, Eric; Tsui, Tsz Kin Martin; Wang, Feng; Whitis, Natalie; Yu, Zanlin; Zhang, Kaihua; Zhang, Yang; Zhou, Fengbo; Saltzberg, Daniel; QCRG Structural Biology Consortium; Hodder, Anthony J; Shun-Shion, Amber S; Williams, Daniel M; White, Kris M; Rosales, Romel; Kehrer, Thomas; Miorin, Lisa; Moreno, Elena; Patel, Arvind H; Rihn, Suzannah; Khalid, Mir M; Vallejo-Gracia, Albert; Fozouni, Parinaz; Simoneau, Camille R; Roth, Theodore L; Wu, David; Karim, Mohd Anisul; Ghoussaini, Maya; Dunham, Ian; Berardi, Francesco; Weigang, Sebastian; Chazal, Maxime; Park, Jisoo; Logue, James; McGrath, Marisa; Weston, Stuart; Haupt, Robert; Hastie, C James; Elliott, Matthew; Brown, Fiona; Burness, Kerry A; Reid, Elaine; Dorward, Mark; Johnson, Clare; Wilkinson, Stuart G; Geyer, Anna; Giesel, Daniel M; Baillie, Carla; Raggett, Samantha; Leech, Hannah; Toth, Rachel; Goodman, Nicola; Keough, Kathleen C; Lind, Abigail L; Zoonomia Consortium; Klesh, Reyna J; Hemphill, Kafi R; Carlson-Stevermer, Jared; Oki, Jennifer; Holden, Kevin; Maures, Travis; Pollard, Katherine S; Sali, Andrej; Agard, David A; Cheng, Yifan; Fraser, James S; Frost, Adam; Jura, Natalia; Kortemme, Tanja; Manglik, Aashish; Southworth, Daniel R; Stroud, Robert M; Alessi, Dario R; Davies, Paul; Frieman, Matthew B; Ideker, Trey; Abate, Carmen; Jouvenet, Nolwenn; Kochs, Georg; Shoichet, Brian; Ott, Melanie; Palmarini, Massimo; Shokat, Kevan M; García-Sastre, Adolfo; Rassen, Jeremy A; Grosse, Robert; Rosenberg, Oren S; Verba, Kliment A; Basler, Christopher F; Vignuzzi, Marco; Peden, Andrew A; Beltrao, Pedro; Krogan, Nevan J Science (New York, N.Y.) 2020 Dec;370(6521):
  • The Droserasin 1 PSI: A Membrane-Interacting Antimicrobial Peptide from the Carnivorous Plant Drosera capensis.
    Sprague-Piercy, Marc A; Bierma, Jan C; Crosby, Marquise G; Carpenter, Brooke P; Takahashi, Gemma R; Paulino, Joana; Hung, Ivan; Zhang, Rongfu; Kelly, John E; Kozlyuk, Natalia; Chen, Xi; Butts, Carter T; Martin, Rachel W Biomolecules 2020 Jul;10(7):
  • Functional stability of water wire-carbonyl interactions in an ion channel.
    Paulino, Joana; Yi, Myunggi; Hung, Ivan; Gan, Zhehong; Wang, Xiaoling; Chekmenev, Eduard Y; Zhou, Huan-Xiang; Cross, Timothy A Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020 Jun;117(22):11908-11915
  • Achieving 1 ppm field homogeneity above 24 T: Application of differential mapping for shimming Keck and the Series Connected Hybrid magnets at the NHMFL.
    Litvak, Ilya M; Griffin, Adrian; Paulino, Joana; Mao, Wenping; Gor'kov, Peter; Shetty, Kiran K; Brey, William W Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997) 2019 Apr;301109-118
  • Influenza A M2 Channel Clustering at High Protein/Lipid Ratios: Viral Budding Implications.
    Paulino, Joana; Pang, Xiaodong; Hung, Ivan; Zhou, Huan-Xiang; Cross, Timothy A Biophysical journal 2019 Mar;116(6):1075-1084
  • Self-association and folding in membrane determine the mode of action of peptides from the lytic segment of sticholysins.
    Ros, Uris; Carretero, Gustavo P B; Paulino, Joana; Crusca, Edson; Pazos, Fabiola; Cilli, Eduardo M; Lanio, Maria E; Schreier, Shirley; Alvarez, Carlos Biochimie 2019 Jan;156109-117
  • NMR spectroscopy up to 35.2T using a series-connected hybrid magnet.
    Gan, Zhehong; Hung, Ivan; Wang, Xiaoling; Paulino, Joana; Wu, Gang; Litvak, Ilya M; Gor'kov, Peter L; Brey, William W; Lendi, Pietro; Schiano, Jeffrey L; Bird, Mark D; Dixon, Iain R; Toth, Jack; Boebinger, Gregory S; Cross, Timothy A Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997) 2017 Nov;284125-136
  • Solid state NMR: The essential technology for helical membrane protein structural characterization.
    Cross, Timothy A; Ekanayake, Vindana; Paulino, Joana; Wright, Anna Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997) 2014 Feb;239100-9

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