Biophysics of Membrane Reactions of the Brain

On May 11-14, 2026, the Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting, Biophysics of Membrane Reactions in the Brain, co-organized with the participation of the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, takes place at the University of Bucharest, Romania.

This highly interdisciplinary Thematic Meeting brings together basic science with cutting edge applications to study neurological disorders, brain disease, and cell signalling pathways implicated in drug addiction. The central theme of the meeting is the study of membrane reactions which are part of cellular signalling pathways implicated in brain physiology and disease. The key topics that we will address in the meeting include (i) the dynamic assembly and interactions of signalling complexes at membrane interfaces of the brain; (ii) transport of cargo within cells by motor proteins; (iii) transport of therapeutic cargo to cells; (iv) optogenetics and photo-pharmacology applications to study neurological disorders; (v) neuronal circuits and how these respond to environmental stress. (vi) fundamental aspects of membranes and membrane reactions, from the experimental and computational perspectives. (vii) cellular signalling pathways of membrane-bound receptor kinases and G-Protein Coupled Receptors.

Neurological disorders, brain disease, and drug addiction, inflict tremendous personal suffering and financial costs. The highly complex cellular signaling pathways involved in these conditions involve multiple protein partners and other cellular components that interact with each other, and studies of model systems that focus on isolated or reduced components may provide somewhat limited information for how the signaling complex assembles and function. The timely Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting Biophysics of Membrane Reactions in the Brain brings together biologists, chemists, physicists, computational scientists, who will address cutting-edge advances in experimental and computational approaches that bring within reach the development of realistic models of entire cellular signaling pathways.

SCHEDULE

Monday, May 11, 2026

14:00 – 16:00
Registration and Get-Together

16:00 – 16:30
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Welcome from the Chairs
Welcome from Carmen Chifiriuc, Vice-Rector of Research
Welcome from Marian Preda, University fo Bucharest Rector
Welcome from Andrei Luca, Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Session I: Membrane Reactions in the Brain
Ana-Nicoleta Bondar, University of Bucharest, Romania, Chair

16:30 – 17:10
Keynote Lecture: Gabriela Popescu, University of Buffalo, USA
NMDA Receptor: Operation and Modulatory Mechanisms

17:10 – 17:35
Future of Biophysics: Kota Katayama, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan
Spectroscopic Insights into the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Biased GPCR Signaling

17:35 – 18:00
Biophysics Meets Philosophy: Andrei Ionuţ Mărăşoiu, University of Bucharest, Romania
Representation and Design in Network Models of Category Deficits

18:00 – 18:25
Vasanthi Jayaraman, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA
Subtype-Specific Conformational Landscapes Govern NMDA Receptor Gating

18:25 – 20:00
Welcome Buffet & Networking

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

8:30 – 18:30
Registration/Information

Session II: Neurological Disorders
David Minh, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA, Chair

9:00 – 9:25
David Minh, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
ML Mapping of GPCR Intracellular Pocket Conformations to Multidimensional Pharmacological Efficacy

9:25 – 9:50
Marçal Vilar, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Spain
Cleavage at the Membrane: How Gamma-Secretase Complex Modulates Neuronal Complexity

9:50 – 10:15
Liviu Movileanu, Syracuse University, USA
Membrane Protein Engineering for Sensing Transient Molecular Hallmarks in Neurodegeneration

10:15 – 10:30
Lila Gordon, NIH, USA *
Correlating Clathrin Structures with Endocytic Defects in Alzheimer’s Disease

10:30 – 11:00
Coffee Break & Posters

Session III: Understanding the Aqueous and the Membrane Environments
Mariana Pinteala, Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry, RAS, Romania, Chair

11:00 – 11:25
William Wimley, Tulane University, USA
PH-Responsive Peptide Nanoparticles Deliver Macromolecules to Cells via Endosomal Membrane Nanoporation

11:25 – 11:50
Ingela Parmryd, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Membrane Topography Variations and Quantitative Biology - Pitfalls and Solutions

11:50 – 12:15
Elena Pohl, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
Mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein 4 in Brain: Putative Functions and Molecular Mechanisms

12:15 – 12:30
Nicolas Vitale, Institute of Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences, CNRS, France *
Illuminating Neurosecretion: Optogenetic and Click Chemistry Novel Tools to Highlight the Multiple Roles of Phosphatidic Acid in Neurotransmitter Release

12:30 – 14:00
Lunch & Posters

Session IV: Signaling in the Brain
Kumiko Hayashi, The University of Tokyo, Japan, Chair

14:00 – 14:25
Rohit Menon, University of Regensburg, Germany
Differential Oxytocin Receptor Signaling Drives the Reversal of Social Trauma-Induced Avoidance in Mice

14:25 – 14:50
Christoph Fahlke, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany
Molecular Physiology of Vesicular Glutamate Transporters

14:50 – 15:05
Jan Steinkühler, Kiel University, Germany *
Lipid Nanotubes A Model System for Neuron Signaling and Morphological Plasticity

15:05 – 15:20
Katharina Duerr, University of Oxford, United Kingdom *
Structural Mechanism of Membrane Transport and Allosteric Regulation in KCC2, A Key Regulator of Neuronal Inhibition

15:20 – 15:40
Coffee Break & Posters

Session V: Signaling Across the Membrane Part I
Ching-Ju Tsai, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, Chair

15:40 – 16:05
Leonid Sazanov , Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Austria
How the Twin-Arginine Translocase (Tat) System Transports Folded Proteins Across Membranes Without Leaking Protons?

16:05 – 16:30
Matthias Buck, Case Western Reserve University, USA
Talk Title TBD

16:30 – 16:55
Durba Sengupta, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, India
Specificity and Promiscuity of Phosphoinositide Lipid Interactions with Neuronal GPCRs

16:55 – 17:10
Alina-Maria Halaicu, University of Bucharest, Romania *
Lipid-Dependent Dynamics of FGFR3 Transmembrane Dimers

17:10 – 17:25
Nida Yaren Gilmaz, Bogaziçi University, Turkey *
Network Model-Driven Molecular Simulations Reveal Allosteric Dynamics and Biased Signaling in Class C GPCRs

17:25 – 17:45
Coffee Break & Posters

Session VI: Signaling Across the Membrane Part II
Valerica Raicu, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, Chair

17:45 – 18:10
Ching-Ju Tsai, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
Conformational Ensembles of Rhodopsin-G Protein Complexes Reveal Light Perception and GPCR Signaling Mechanisms

18:10 – 18:35
Jana Selent, Hospital del Mar Research Institute & Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Exploring GPCR Dynamics at Scale Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

18:35
Free time

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

8:30 – 15:00
Registration/Information

Session VII: Receptor Structural Dynamics and Structure-Function Relationships
Kota Katayama, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, Chair

9:00 – 9:25
Keiichi Inoue, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Functions and the Photoreaction Dynamics of Non-Canonical Rhodopsins

9:25 – 9:50
Przemyslaw Nogly, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland
Molecular Mechanisms of Photoreceptors Used in Optogenetics by Time-Resolved Crystallography

9:50 – 10:15
Edina Rosta, University College London, United Kingdom
From Correlation to Causation in Molecular Dynamics: Probing Information Transfer in GPCR Ligand Unbinding

10:15 – 10:35
Coffee Break & Posters

Session VIII: Transport in Cells and Across Cell Membranes
Peter Pohl, Johannes Kepler University Linz - JKU, Austria, Chair

10:35 – 11:00
Tomohiro Shima, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Writing and Reading the Microtubule Lattice: Biophysical Mechanisms of Cellular Architectural Organization

11:00 – 11:25
Kumiko Hayashi, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Force Generation by the Kinesin-3 Family Motor Protein KIF1A and Its Disruption in KIF1A-Associated Neurological Disorder

11:25 – 11:50
Peter Pohl, Johannes Kepler University Linz - JKU, Austria
Light-Controlled Modulation of Neuronal Excitability Using Photoswitchable Lipids

11:50 – 12:05
Denisa-Sonia Andronic, University of Bucharest, Romania *
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Pore-Forming pHD Peptides

12:05 – 13:30
Lunch & Posters

Session IX: Receptor Dynamics and Function
Laurentiu Spiridon, Institute of Biochemistry, Romanian Academy of Sciences, Chair

13:30 – 13:55
Ana-Nicoleta Bondar, University of Bucharest, Romania
Dynamic Hydrogen-Bond Networks for G Protein Coupled Receptor Activation

13:55 – 14:20
Valerica Raicu, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
4D Fluorescence Intensity Fluctuation Spectrometry Monitors the Localization and Interactions of Ligand-Activated Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors Among Themselves and with Downstream Signaling Effectors

14:20 – 14:45
Satoshi Tsunoda, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan
Channelrhodopsins with Defined Biophysical Properties for Optogenetic Control of Neuronal Activity and Vision Restoration

14:45 – 15:10
Eric Beitz, University of Kiel, Germany
Intrinsic Asymmetry in Monocarboxylate/H+ Transporter Activity

15:10
Free Time

Thursday, May 14, 2026

8:30 – 17:00
Registration/Information

Session X: Drug-Membrane and Drug-Receptor Interactions
Durba Sengupta, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, India, Chair

9:00 – 9:25
Kalina Hristova, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Biophysics of EphA2 Receptor Signaling in the Membrane

9:25 – 9:50
Ran Friedman, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Lithium, the Mysterious Drug

9:50 – 10:15
Konstantin Mineev, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
Insights into the Mechanics of Neurotrophin Receptor Signaling from NMR Spectroscopy

10:15 – 10:40
Mariana Pinteala, Romanian Academy of Sciences, Romania
Nanoplatforms for Gene Therapy and Bioimaging

10:40 – 11:00
Coffee Break & Posters

Session XI: Reactions in Cells and in vivo
Vlad Cojocaru, University of Babes Bolyai Cluj Napoca, Romania, Chair

11:00 – 11:25
Joachim Heberle, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Infrared Nanoscopy for Subcellular Chemical Imaging

11:25 – 11:50
Masha Niv, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Hidden Pockets and Intracellular Ions: Lessons from Bitter Taste GPCRs

11:50 – 12:15
Herbert Nar, Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany
Structure, Function and Drug Interactions of Orphan GPCRs

12:15 – 12:30
Cosmin Trif, Romanian Academy of Sciences, Romania *
Something Sweet: A Tale of a Novel Modulator for Free Fatty Acid Receptor (FFAR1/GPR40)

13:00 – 14:00
Lunch and Group Photo

Session XII: Advanced Computational Approaches to Study Membrane Reactions
Andrei Petrescu, Romanian Academy of Sciences, Romania, Chair

14:00 – 14:25
Hossein Batebi, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Allosteric Communication and Kinetic Regulation in Membrane Proteins

14:25 – 14:50
Florence Tama, Nagoya University, Japan
Seeing Function in Motion: Computational Methods for Protein Dynamics

14:50 – 15:15
Maria Kurnikova, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Molecular Modeling of the Structure and Function of the Glutamate Receptors

15:15 – 15:30
Laurentiu Spiridon, Romanian Academy of Sciences, Romania *
ROBOSAMPLE: Accelerating Protein Conformational Landscape Exploration via Robot Mechanics Simulations

15:30 – 16:00
Coffee Break & Posters

Session XIII: Perspectives in Membrane Receptor Dynamics
Gabriela Popescu, University of Buffalo, USA, Chair

16:00 – 16:25
Jana Shen, University of Maryland, USA
Membrane Crossing of Opioids Revealed by Continuous Constant PH Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Cell Experiments

16:25 – 16:50
Gebhard Schertler, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
From Structural Studies of GPCRs to Engineering OptoGPCRs as Scientific Tools and for Optogenetic Applications

16:50 – 17:05
Closing Remarks and Biophysical Journal Poster Awards

17:05 – 18:15
Dinner Buffet and Networking

* Contributed talks selected from among submitted abstracts

Further details are available here.