Macromolecular Structure Laboratory
Research in this laboratory is also related to Cardiovascular.
Head of laboratory:
The research programme in this laboratory has two strands:
- Determination of the molecular structure and function of proteins, focusing primarily on contractile proteins. Dynamic structural changes within proteins are investigated using the spectroscopic techniques of fluorescence, circular dichroic and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. This laboratory collaborates on projects to determine the structure of proteins at atomic resolution using both X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Molecular biology techniques are used to genetically engineer and express muscle proteins we are interested in, to enable new spectroscopic probe sites to be incorporated into relevant proteins and to facilitate NMR and crystallographic studies.
- Understanding cardiovascular disease at a molecular and cellular level. Protein biochemical and structural techniques are applied to understanding the protein defects that occur in disease processes such as familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiac ischaemia. Additionally, this laboratory has developed tissue culture and other experimental models of atherosclerosis, which are used to examine molecular and cellular changes during atherosgensis. Commercial applications of our discoveries in cardiac ischaemia and atherosclerosis are being exploited.
