Aurore Sylvie Sandra Lamy 

Contatti: aurore.lamy@phd.unipi.it

ORCID: 0009-0008-4743-7476

Supervisori tesi: Prof. Gazzano Angelo, Prof. Pageat Patrick,
Dott. Durairaj Rajesh

Titolo Progetto: Study of vomeronasal type-2 receptors (V2Rs) in mammals: Evaluation of their functionality, identification of ligands.

Abstract: The project focuses on the chemical communication between animals, that is based on the release and perception of semiochemicals. These signals are capable of inducing physiological and behavioral responses in animals when perceived by chemosensory receptors. The receptors of interest in this project are vomeronasal type-2 receptors (V2Rs) located in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in mammals. V2Rs detect a wide range of molecules from small volatile compounds to proteins, but little is known about these interactions at the molecular scale. The objective is to improve our understanding of V2R sequences and structures to study the interactions with different ligands. As part of this project, we will use bioinformatic tools to study the protein sequences, create structural models and perform dockings. This project will also include an experimental part to confirm the expression in the VNO of the studied V2Rs by in situ hybridization and to validate the studied interactions by immunofluorescence. This knowledge will allow us to improve the methods used to solve concrete problems of domestic and farm animals in the future and to develop semiochemical-based products. 

Pubblicazioni:

  • Lamy A, Durairaj R, Pageat P. (2025) Chemosensory Receptors in Vertebrates: Structure and Computational Modeling Insights. Int J Mol Sci. 10;26(14):6605. 
  • Mahdizadeh SJ, Stier M, Carlesso A, Lamy A, Thomas M, Eriksson LA. (2024) Multiscale In Silico Study of the Mechanism of Activation of the RtcB Ligase by the PTP1B Phosphatase. J Chem Inf Model. 12;64(3):905-917. 

Comunicazioni orali a congresso:

  • “Preliminary results on computational analysis of vomeronasal type-2 receptors (V2Rs) in mammals” (Oral presentation) ROE 2024, Asturias, Spain, May 2024. 

Poster a congresso: 

  • “Artificial intelligence for the structural study of chemical communication receptors”, Montpellier Omics Days 2025, Montpellier, France, February 2025. 
  • “Performing advanced validation on bovine vomeronasal type 1 receptors (Bos taurus) using computational approach”, 16th Meeting on Chemical Signals in Vertebrates (CSIV2024), Frankfurt, Germany, July 2024. 
  • “Study of chicken olfactory receptors (CORs) using in silico approach”, ECRO 2023, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, September 2023.