Biophotonic Nanoswitches
Recent mapping of all physical interactions between proteins
in a given
cell has confirmed the notion that interactions between proteins are
highly regulated and underpin all cellular processes. Researchers and
technologists have been presented with a major challenge - how to ask
specific questions of such complex systems especially when protein
interactions change with time in a given cell and result in different
end states (read more).
To visit the Intracellular Biophotonic Nanoswitches Group
website, click here.
Chemical
Biology
of Terpenes
With more than 55,000 known compounds serving myriad functions in all
forms of life, the terpenoids are the largest as well as the most
structurally and stereochemically diverse family of natural products
found on earth (read more).
Dihydrofolate
Reductase & the Physical Basis of Enzyme Catalysis
The hallmarks of catalysis by enzymes are selectivity, specificity, and
speed. However, despite their central role, the physical basis of the
enormous catalytic power of enzymes is not well understood (read more).
Medicinal Chemistry
The movement of white blood cells, especially neutrophils and
lymphocytes, from the blood to the tissues is the key event underlying
inflammation. Understanding the mechanism by which these cells adhere
to the cells lining the blood vessels is clearly important, as this
would be a potential target for anti-inflammatory therapy. Research at
Cardiff has found that changes in the concentration of calcium cations
within the cells is crucial for this and there is increasing evidence
that the calcium cation-activatable protease calpain-1 is also involved
(read more).
Synthetic Biology
Terpene synthases catalyse complex, multistep reactions that
generate thousands of structurally diverse hydrocarbons of biological
and commercial importance. Unlike many other biochemical reactions,
terpene biosynthesis is essentially carbocationic in nature. Previous
work in our lab has revealed many of the mechanistic details of the
conversion of FPP by aristolochene synthase (AS), but the key step, the
generation of the positively charged eudesmane cation from the
uncharged intermediate germacrene A is only poorly understood (read more).