Prof Józef Lewandowski

Professor of Chemistry

J.R.Lewandowski@warwick.ac.uk
+44 (0)2476 1 51355
Lewandowski GroupLink opens in a new window

About Me

My research focuses on the development of solid-state NMR methodology and applications of integrated structural biology approach with emphasis on solution and solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics simulations to study relationships between structure, dynamics, and activity of biomolecular systems. I am particularly interested in atomic resolution characterization of solid and solid-liquid interface biological systems including, but not limited to, protein complexes, fibrils, membrane proteins and antibiotics. Because the line widths in the NMR spectra in the solid-state do not depend on the size of the molecule as they do in solution, solid-state NMR offers unique opportunities to study structure and dynamics of proteins as a part of even very large assemblies. Importantly, solid-state NMR methodology can be applied to soluble and crystallisable systems but also to systems that are not soluble or that cannot be crystallised.

Recently, a large fraction of the efforts in my laboratory concentrates on applications to proteins implicated in natural products biosynthesis, in particular trans-AT polyketide synthases (PKS) and polyketide synthase/non-ribosomal peptide synthase (PKS/NRPS) hybrids.

Groups at Warwick

Lewandowski Group

Affiliations

Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick
C hemical, Structural and Synthetic Biology (CSSB) cluster
Measurement And Modelling (MM) cluster
Warwick Solid-state NMR group
Sir Howard Dalton Centre For Translational Mechanistic Enzymology

Biography

1995-1997 IB, Nordic United World College, Flekke, Norway
1997-1998 MISMaP, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland
1999-2003 BSc in Chemistry and Theater & Dance, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA
2002-2008 PhD (supervisor Prof. R. G. Griffin), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
2008-2011 Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (supervisor Prof. L. Emsley), ENS de Lyon/Centre de RMN à Très Haut Champs, Lyon, France
2011-2015 Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick
2015-2019 Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick
2019-present Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick

Current projects

Current grants:

PI, BBSRC Responsive Mode, BB/W003171/1 (2021-2024): Illuminating and exploiting programmed O-methylation in trans-AT polyketide synthases (with Greg Challis)
PI, BBSRC ALERT21, BB/W020297/1 (2022-2023): Enabling new characterisation methods for dynamic systems through the upgrade of 700 MHz solution NMR spectrometer
co-I, EPSRC/BBSRC, EP/X019640/1 (2023-2028): NMR at 1.2 GHz: A World-Leading UK Facility to Deliver Advances in Biology, Chemistry, and Materials Science

Research interests Publications

Selected publications (for the full list with additional resources visit our group website):

Nat. Chem. 2019, 11, 913–923. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0335-5 | Structural Basis for Chain Release from the Enacyloxin Polyketide Synthase. S. Kosol, S.; A. Gallo; D. Griffiths; T. R. Valentic; J. Masschelein; M. Jenner; E. L. C. de los Santos; L. Manzi; P. K. Sydor; D. Rea; S. Zhou, V. Fülöp, N. J. Oldham, S.-C. Tsai, G. L. Challis, J. R. Lewandowski
Nat. Chem. Biol. 2018 14(3), 270-275. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2549 | Mechanism of intersubunit ketosynthase–dehydratase interaction in polyketide synthases. M. Jenner, S. Kosol, D. Griffiths, P. Prasongpholchai, L. Manzi, A.S. Barrow, J. E. Moses, N. J. Oldham, J. R. Lewandowski, G. L. Challis
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017 39 (35), 12165–12174. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b03875 | Characterization of protein-protein interfaces in large complexes by solid state NMR solvent paramagnetic relaxation enhancements C. Öster, S. Kosol, C. Hartlmüller, J.M. Lamley, D. Iuga, A. Oss, M.-L. Org, K. Vanatalu, A. Samoson, T. Madl, J.R. Lewandowski
Science 2015 348 (6234): 578-581. Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6234/578 | Direct observation of hierarchical protein dynamics, Lewandowski, J.R., Halse, M.E., Blackledge, M., Emsley, L.
Angewandte Chemie 2015 54(51), 15374–15378. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201509168 | Intermolecular interactions and protein dynamics by SSNMR Lamley, J.M., Öster, C., Stevens, R.A., Lewandowski, J.R.
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2015, 17 (34), 21997. | Unraveling the complexity of protein backbone dynamics with combined 13C and 15N solid-state NMR relaxation measurements Lamley, J. M.; Lougher, M. J.; Sass, H. J.; Rogowski, M.; Grzesiek, S.; Lewandowski, J. R.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014 136 (48):16800–16806. Link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja5069992 (Open Access) | Solid-State NMR of a Protein in a Precipitated Complex with a Full-Length Antibody, Lamley, J.M., Iuga, D., Öster, C., Sass, H.J., Rogowski, M., Oss, A., Past, J., Reinhold, A., Grzesiek, S., Samoson, A., Lewandowski, J.R.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014 136, 2833–2842. DOI: 10.1021/ja411633w | Conformational dynamics of a seven transmebrane helical protein Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin probed by solid-state NMR. Good, DB, Wang, S, Ward, ME, Struppe, JO, Brown, LS, Lewandowski, JR, Ladizhansky, V
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011 133:16762-16765. doi://10.1021/ja206815h | Site-specific Measurement of Slow Motions in Proteins. Lewandowski JR, Sass HJ, Grzesiek S, Blackledge M, Emsley
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011 133: 9457-9469. doi://10.1021/ja203736z | Structural Complexity of a Composite Amyloid Fibril Lewandowski JR, van der Wel PC a, Rigney M, Grigorieff N, Griffin RG
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010 132:8252-4. doi://10.1021/ja102744b | Measurement of site-specific 13C spin-lattice relaxation in a crystalline protein Lewandowski JR, Sein J, Sass HJ, Grzesiek S, Blackledge M, Emsley L
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010 132:1032-40. doi://10.1021/ja906426p | High-resolution solid-state NMR structure of a 17.6 kDa protein Bertini I, Bhaumik A, De Paëpe G, Griffin RG, Lelli M, Lewandowski JR, Luchinat C
J. Chem. Phys. 2008 129:245101. doi://10.1063/1.3036928 | Proton assisted recoupling and protein structure determination De Paëpe G, Lewandowski JR, Loquet A, Böckmann A, Griffin RG
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007 129:728-9. doi://10.1021/ja0650394 | Proton assisted insensitive nuclei cross polarization Lewandowski JR, De Paëpe G, Griffin RG

Teaching and supervision