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Department of Chemistry

Ann Dixon

Associate Professor - Reader

Developing methods for describing the assembly, interactions, and three-dimensional structures of membrane proteins using biophysical and computational techniques, including NMR spectroscopy. Of particular interest are membrane proteins associated with immune receptors such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and the B-cell receptor (BCR). We are also interested in understanding and exploring the wide functionality of membrane-active helical peptides.

Ann dot Dixon at warwick dot ac dot uk

02476 1 50037

Office C5.16

Dixon Group

Groups at Warwick

Affiliations

  • Senior Tutor, Department of Chemistry
  • Athena Swan Chair, Department of Chemistry
  • Treasurer, British Biophysical Society
  • Executive Committee Member, British Biophysical Society

Biography

  • 2005-present Assistant Prof. / Associate Prof. / Reader, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
  • 2004-2005 Cancer Research UK Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, UK
  • 2002-2004 American Cancer Society Fellow, Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, USA
  • 1999-2002 ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Biophysics, CBER-FDA, National Institutes of Health, USA
  • 1995-1999 PhD in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, USA

I am working on the following projects at the moment:

  • Project number 1
  • Project number 2
  • Project number 3

I am currently interested in developing methods for describing the assembly, interactions and three-dimensional structures of membrane proteins -particularly membrane proteins associated with immune receptors such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and the B-cell receptor (BCR). I am also interested in understanding and exploring the wide functionality of membrane-active helical peptides such as membrane curvature sensors and membrane-lytic antimicrobial peptides.

Ann teaches:

Year 1 Spectroscopy (CH155)

Year 2 Spectroscopy (CH222)

Year 3 Bio-organic Chemistry (CH3F5)

Year 3 Analytical Chemistry Group Project (CH3F2)

Year 3 Molecular Pharmacology (CH3F9)

Year 4 Biophysical Chemistry (CH412)

I am supervising the following PhD students:

  • Miss Rhiannon Brooks, Membrane curvature-sensing proteins and peptides
  • Miss Eleanor Jayawant, Structure and activity of modified cyclic peptides
  • Mr Ciaran Guy, De Novo design of transmembrane domain interactions

At the moment I am unable to accept any further applications, but if you get in touch I'll see if a member of my team might be able to help.

A C-terminal amphipathic helix is necessary for the in vivo tubule-shaping function of a plant reticulon, Breeze, E., Dzimitrowicz, N., Kriechbaumer, V., Brooks, R., Botchway, S.W., Brady, J.P., Hawes, C., Dixon, A.M., Schnell, J.R., Fricker, M.D., Frigerio, L., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2016, 113, 10902-10907.

De novo Design of Transmembrane Helix-Helix Interactions and Measurement of Stability in a Biological Membrane. Nash, A., Notman, R., and Dixon, A.M., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Biomembranes, 2015, 1848, 1248-1257.

The brown adipocyte protein CIDEA promotes lipid droplet fusion via a phosphatidic acid-binding, David Barneda, Joan Planas-Iglesias, Maria L Gaspar, Dariush Mohammadyani, Sunil Prasannan, Dirk Dormann, Gil-Soo Han, Stephen A Jesch, George M Carman, Valerian Kagan, Malcolm G Parker, Nicholas T Ktistakis, Judith Klein-Seetharaman, Ann M Dixon, Susan Henry, Mark Christian, eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.07485.

Differential Transmembrane Domain GxxxG Motif Pairing Impacts MHC Class II Structure, Dixon, A.M., Drake, L., Hughes, K.T., Sargent, E., Hunt, D., Harton, J.A., Drake, J.R. J. Biol. Chem., 2014, 289, p. 11695-703.

NMR evidence for oligosaccharide release from the DC-SIGNR (CLEC4M) carbohydrate recognition domain at low pH, Probert, F., Mitchell, D.A., Dixon, A.M., FEBS J., 2014, 281, p. 3739-3750.

One Motif to Bind Them: A Small-XXX-Small Motif Affects Transmembrane Domain 1 Oligomerization, Function, Localization, and Cross-talk Between Two Yeast GPCRs, Lock, A., Forfar, R., Weston, C., Bowsher, L., Upton, G.J.G., Reynolds, C.A., Ladds, G., Dixon, A.M., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Biomembranes, 2014, 1838, p. 3036-3051.