Researcher's Profile

Research interests: 

• GABA_A Receptor Functional Studies, Subtype Pharmacology and Mutational Analysis
• GABA_A Receptors as Drug and Diagnostic Targets
• In silico membrane protein structure prediction & validation
• Drug – Receptor analyses (Docking, Virtual screening, Experiment Guided Structure Validation)

Margot Ernst obtained her undergraduate training in Chemistry at the University of Vienna, and her PhD degree as a Fulbright scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, U.S.A. She started her scientific career by investigating inorganic molecules with "high- performance" computational methods. After a Post Doc at the Karl Franzens University Graz she started Medical School, where she was fascinated by the world of biomolecules and their physiology. Thus, she combined the best of both worlds and, after joining the Sieghart lab at the Medical University Vienna, specialized in computational studies of biomolecules and their interactions with drugs. She developed one of the first structural models of a GABA_A receptor. Her models stimulated experimental studies that led to the discovery of a new binding site at GABA_A receptors (Ramerstorfer et al 2011). The first (efficacy-) selective ligand for the a6b3g2 GABA_A receptor subtype was discovered in her lab, and jointly with the Mihovilovic lab she continues to develop tool compounds with defined subtype preferences.

Career highlights:

• Since 03/2021 Vice Speaker in the MolTag Doctoral Program
• 2017 Associated Professor (tenured) at Medical University of Vienna
• 2015 Bilateral FWF project I 2306 awarded to investigate the role of alpha-6 containing GABA_A receptors in neuropsychiatric disorders. See: https://scilog.fwf.ac.at/videos/was-das-gehirn-heilt
• 2014 Habilitation and Tenure Track contract at the Medical University of Vienna
• 2011 Discovery of a new binding site on GABA_A receptors (Faculty of thousand selected in 2013)

Ongoing projects as co-supervisor:

• Dominik SCHNALZER: Developing Labelled Ligands as Tool Compounds for Mechanistic Studies on the GABA_A-Receptor and Other Ion Channels

Completed projects as supervisor:

• Florian VOGEL: GABA_A receptors - functional and pharmacological studies, finished 11/2023
• Konstantina BAMPALI: Structural basis of allosteric GABA_A receptor modulation, finished 10/2019
  
• David SIEBERT: Synthesis of binding site selective GABA_A receptor ligands, finished 02/2018
• Roshan PUTHENKALAM: Understanding subtype selective allosteric modulation of GABA_A receptors; finished 02/2016
• Pantea MIRHEYDARI: Towards subtype selective modulators of GABA_A receptors, finished 07/2015

Completed projects as co-supervisor:

• Daria GOLDMANN: Selectivity Profiling of Ligands towards GABA_A and TRPV1 Receptors, finished 09/2015
• Andreas JURIK: Comparative Modeling Studies for Profiling of the GABA Transporter System, finished 05/2015
• Denise LUGER: Molecular determinants of anxiolytic and anticonvulsive properties of valerenic acid and derivatives; finished 11/2015
• Lukas RYCEK: Lead optimization of PPARg and GABA_A agonist, finished 04/2015
• Laurin WIMMER: Synthesis of bioactive molecules for the investigation of ion channels and transporters, finished 02/2016
• Marco STADLER: Natural compounds as scaffolds for novel GABA_A receptor modulating anticonvulsants, finished 03/2019
• Marco NIELLO: Pharmacological characterization and selectivity profile of different synthetic cathinones among monoamine transporters, finished 12/2019
• Maria Teresa IORIO; New Modifications of an old Scaffold: Pyrazoloquinolinone Derivatives and Analogs as Active Compounds on GABA_A Receptors; finished 02/2020
• Stefanie KICKINGER; Computational Studies of SLC Transporters with Special Focus on the GABA Transporter Subfamily, finished 04/2020
• Ralph GRADISCH: The energy coupling in the human serotonin transporter, finished 10/2023
• Aleksandra GARIFULINA: Modulation of GABA_A Receptors by Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds , finished 03/2024
• Blanca VEGA ALANIS: Synthesis of novel scaffolds as selective ligands for the alpha/beta interface of the GABA_A receptor, finished 03/2024