Almost 30 % of all genomes sequenced to date encode membrane proteins. These play vital roles in many areas of cell biology such as signalling, the selective uptake or removal of molecules from the cell and the maintenance of cellular pH or ion concentration. Despite their importance in physiology and drug discovery there is a relative paucity in the number of structures solved. The goal of my research is in understanding the structure and mechanism of these dynamic proteins through the use of X-ray crystallography in combination with other biochemical and biophysical techniques.
In particular my group is focussed on secondary active transporters. These proteins harness electrochemical gradients to transport ions or molecules across membranes. We have solved the structure of a number of transporters and are probing their mechanisms through a combination of X-ray crystallography, biochemistry, site-directed mutagenesis, chemistry and computational chemistry.
Biomedical Science
Research Centres:
Warwick Antimicrobial Interdisciplinary Centre (WAMIC)
