Cyndy Thooi

08
May
2025
Frances Brodsky elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Frances Brodsky elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

frances brodskyCongratulations to Professor Frances Brodsky on being elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Cellular and Developmental Biology Section of Biological Sciences, in recognition of her outstanding scientific and leadership achievements.

We are proud to see Frances join the ranks of such distinguished individuals whose, in the words of Academy President L.L. Patton, “accomplishments speak volumes about the human capacity for discovery, creativity, leadership, and persistence. They are a stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding.”

Frances’s research focuses on membrane traffic in cells, and on the structure and function of clathrin and adaptor proteins that regulate these processes in health and disease.

Find out more about the Brodsky lab: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/structural-and-molecular-biology/brodsky-lab/ 

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Uncategorised
27
Mar
2025

Thalassinos Lab at UCL Characterises the Structure of a Disease-Associated Conformational Intermediate of Alpha-1-Antitrypsin

For the past 15 years at UCL, the Thalassinos Lab has been studying alpha-1-antitrypsin, focusing on understanding the early misfolding events and how monomers form higher-order oligomers. Despite numerous models reported in the literature, the formation of the dimer as the first step towards higher-order oligomers has always been intriguing, with many different models of the dimer being reported.

Using a combination of cyclic ion mobility and top-down electron capture dissociation, the team has identified and characterised an intermediate misfolded metastable state, where approximately 12% of the molecule at the C-terminus is displaced. Their data supports a polymer mediated by an intermolecular C-terminal domain insertion but also establishes a previously unobserved progression of pathogenic structural changes, thus extending the mechanism of alpha-1-antitrypsin polymerization. Importantly, this intermediate was also observed in alpha-1 protein extracted from human tissue.

Previous proposed intermediates were extrapolated from in vitro studies using methods that study the bulk average. The unique ability of ion mobility mass spectrometry to separate co-existing conformers and perform native top-down fragmentation, along with performing these analyses on ex vivo material, has been crucial. This highlights the power of ion mobility for studying early misfolding events.

The Thalassinos Lab extends their gratitude to the Irving and Lomas labs for their collaboration, and all the patients who provided material for this study. 

For more information: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/jacs.4c18139?ref=article_openPDF

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in News, Publications
26
Jul
2024
Brian Ho’s group published paper in PLOS Journal

Brian Ho’s group published paper in PLOS Journal

Brian Ho’s group recently published a paper in PLOS Journal on 18th July 2024.

Interbacterial competition plays an important role in the dynamics of microbial communities, however the impact of such competition on host defenses is less clear. In this work, we use a zebrafish model to reductively investigate the host response to distinct forms of bacterial antagonism in well-defined bacterial communities. We looked at bacterial killing mediated by the type VI secretion system (T6SS) and observed that this form of bacterial antagonism resulted in prolonged inflammatory responses and an increase in host death, independent of any specific effector or bacterial species. By contrast, bacterial killing mediated by colicins, despite being significantly more efficient in eliminating sensitive bacteria, induced minimal host responses, resulting in a substantially better host outcome. Altogether, these results provide insight into the roles of different antibacterial systems that pathogens and commensals use inside their host.

Full paper can be accessed here.

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Publications
31
May
2024
ISMB Symposium 2024

ISMB Symposium 2024

Welcome to the ISMB Symposium 2024! The Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB) will hold this year’s biennial ISMB Symposium at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th June.

Traditionally, the Symposium gathers eminent guest speakers and our own ISMB scientists to present talks on the core research themes of the Institute in a two-day event. This year’s programme offers an excellent line-up of speakers, introduced by our postdoctoral fellows and phd students. There will be poster and networking sessions.

The Symposium will close with the ISMB Summer Party in Bentham House on 26th June, 17:30-19:30. Please join us in this opportunity to connect with peers, share thoughts about emerging bioscience research, and be a part of the discussions on our scientific future.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

It is free to attend this event however registration is essential. Please click here to register. Deadline for registration is Monday, 17th June.

ISMB Symposium 2024 Programme and Abstracts

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Uncategorised
17
May
2024
Kristine Arnvig’s group published paper in Nucleic Acids Research Journal

Kristine Arnvig’s group published paper in Nucleic Acids Research Journal

Kristine Arnvig’s research group recently published a paper in the Nucleic Acids Journal. Full paper can be accessed here (doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae338) .

Unexpected complexity of vitamin B12-sensing RNA elements in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) lacks the ability to produce vitamin B12, yet this co-factor plays a significant role in Mtb’s metabolism and gene regulation. Research conducted by Tine Arnvig’s team reveals an intriguing additional layer of control exerted by vitamin B12-sensing RNA elements, known as riboswitches, over metabolic and virulence genes in this pathogen. Beyond uncovering the B12-dependent inhibition of translation initiation, the team also uncovered two novel translated uORFs, which influence riboswitch regulation. In one instance, they identified a crucial translational link between the uORF and its downstream gene, facilitating translation re-initiation independently of Shine-Dalgarno sequences, alongside stop codon suppression, resulting in the synthesis of a frameshifted fusion protein. Essentially, Mtb demonstrates the capacity to generate similar proteins with differing N-termini, akin to eukaryotic alternative splicing. Lead author Dr. Terry Kipkorir remarks, “[This] represents yet another example of how Mtb breaks the mould in our understanding of gene expression control.’

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Publications
17
May
2024
Birkbeck’s Annual Science Week 2024, 29th May – 3rd June

Birkbeck’s Annual Science Week 2024, 29th May – 3rd June

Join us for Birkbeck’s Annual Science Week festival at the Faculty of Science  which runs from Wednesday 29th – Monday 3rd June 2024 in-person and online.

This is not one to be missed, where we will host engaging and interactive evening events, including the annual Rosalind Franklin Lecture and the Andrew and Kathleen Booth Memorial Lecture.

All events will continue into the evening with opportunities to take a tour of our laboratories on the Wednesday and explore poster exhibitions presented by Natural Sciences (Wednesday), Computing and Mathematical Sciences (Thursday) and Psychological Sciences (Friday).

Attendees will be able to meet the speaker, as well as current faculty researchers and students over a drinks reception which will follow each School event.

Book your place, don’t miss out! 

Science week 2024

 

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Events
03
May
2024
Centre for Doctoral Training in Accelerated Medicines Design & Development

Centre for Doctoral Training in Accelerated Medicines Design & Development

The UCL Faculties of Engineering, Mathematical & Physical Sciences and Life Sciences will lead seven new government-funded Centres for Doctoral Training and be a partner in a further two.

EPSRC has agreed to provide funding for a new Centre for Doctoral Training in Accelerated Medicines Design & Development (AMD&D) (~£7M) with the first student intake scheduled for autumn 2025.

Our CDT will recruit over 50 PhD students to develop the advanced laboratory and computational skills needed to accelerate medicines design and overcome the major obstacles in medicines development. The CDT is a partnership between UCL, the University of Nottingham, and a network of industrial and clinical partners from across the UK pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical technologies sector.

Prof Gareth Williams is the UCL CDT Director and will run the CDT together with UCL Co-Directors Prof Simon Gaisford, Prof Helen Hailes, Professor Rio Torii, Professor Jonathan Knowles and colleagues from Nottingham who are CoIs on the grant.

Read the article on UCL website here.

Posted by Cyndy Thooi in Uncategorised