Research Fellow in the Structural Biology of Protein-Protein Interaction Modulators

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge?

Do you have an established background in structural biology?

Are you interested in synthetic biology, protein-protein interactions and targeted degradation?

Do you want to further your career in one of the UKs leading research intensive Universities?

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) regulate virtually all biological processes. Therefore, methods and reagents that intervene in and modulate PPIs are critical to improve our understanding of cellular processes and for developing treatments of diseases of unmet medical need. As a Research Fellow in Structural Biology you will join a BBSRC-funded team focused on exploiting supramolecular peptide assembly to generate modules that regulate PPIs in new ways. The research will use the diversity of available and possible de novo coiled coils (CCs) as scaffolds for new PPI modules. We will explore two applications of this technology: (i) the disruption of endogenous PPIs to effect downstream changes to the processes that they are involved in; and (ii) the formation of new PPIs to target specified proteins for degradation and to couple these to the intracellular ubiquitination machinery. You will assist the Investigators in delivering this research programme by determining ternary structures of protein complexes and coiled-coil based protein-protein interaction modulators, as well as understanding binding modes and affinities using a variety of biophysical techniques.

The post is associated with a £1.7 million 42-month collaborative research programme led by Professor Andy Wilson , funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) , and bringing together the University of Leeds , the Woolfson group (University of Bristol), and Itzhaki group (University of Cambridge). This large and diverse programme focuses on Coiled-coil Technology for Regulating Intracellular Protein-protein Interactions .

You will be part of a large team based in The Wilson , and The Edwards groups in the School of Chemistry , the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology with access to a superb infrastructure for research in structural biology, including protein production facilities, crystallization robotics, NMR equipment including a 950 MHz Bruker Ascend Aeon NMR magnet, mass spectrometry and instrumentation for biophysical analyses.

Your application should include:

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: Andrew Wilson, Professor of Organic Chemistry

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 1409

Email: A.J.Wilson@leeds.ac.uk