Conference Program
10:00 – 10:30
Registration
10:30 – 10:40
Welcome
10:40 – 11:40
Keynote Session – Prof. Harry Low (Imperial College, London)
ESCRT-III-like proteins in bacteria: their role in membrane stress and repair
Membrane remodelling and repair in response to cellular stress is a fundamental requirement for all life. This process is mediated by protein families including Vipp1 (cyanobacteria), PspA (bacteria), and ESCRT-III (eukaryotes). In this talk, we will explore the structural and evolutionary evidence that shows these proteins to be homologous, suggesting a common origin predating the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). Cryo-EM and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are combined to reveal the remarkable capabilities of Vipp1 to build highly dynamic structures including, rings, sheets and spirals around membrane. Collectively, our data suggests a mechanism for Vipp1-mediated membrane stress response and repair in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. It also has implication for how other homologues such as PspA, or the antibiotic induced LiaH, mitigate membrane stress across bacteria.
11:40 – 12:40
Talk Session 1 – (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
11:40 – 12:00
Dr Maria Fando CCP4 general presentation
12:00 – 12:20
Dr August Silale – Newcastle University — “A molecular motor that energizes transport across the bacterial outer membrane”
12:20 – 12:40
William Houppy – Northumbria University (Newcastle) — “QM/MM Study of Alginate Lyase Mechanisms (with the wrong substrate)”
12:40 – 13:40
🍽️ Lunch
13:40 – 15:10
Talk Session 2 – (Diamond: 20 min talk, 10 min Q&A) (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
13:40 – 14:10
Dr Adam Crawshaw – Diamond Light Source — “X-ray diffraction from protein microcrystals at Diamond”
14:10 – 14:30
Éilís McClay – University of Glasgow — “Exploring the Human Proteasome Regulation by Divalent Cations”
14:30 – 14:50
Joshua Ratliffe – Newcastle University — “Investigating Oxidation-Induced Formation and Structure of Disulphide-Linked Conjugates by p62/SQSTM1”
14:50 – 15:10
Lucy Schofield – University of York — “Structural and Conformational Analysis of Post-Translational Modifications in the Protein Data Bank”
15:10 – 15:30
☕ Coffee
15:30 – 17:00
Talk Session 3 – (Diamond: 20 min talk, 10 min Q&A) (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
15:30 – 16:00
Dr Abbey Telfer – Diamond Light Source — “Exploring time resolved serial crystallography for structural biology at synchrotrons and XFELs”
16:00 – 16:20
Dr Jennifer Miles – University of Leeds — “Using motif scaffolding to create designed binders against Aurora-A kinase”
16:20 – 16:40
Dr Thomas McCorvie
– Newcastle University — “TBA”
16:40 – 17:00
William Hall – Durham University — “A programmable crosslinker for modular assembly and functionalisation of TRAP protein cages”
18:00 – 20:00
🍽️ Dinner / Social
09:00 – 10:30
Talk Session 4 – (Diamond: 20 min talk, 10 min Q&A) (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
09:00 – 09:30
Dr Christian Orr – Diamond Light Source — “Using long-wavelength X-ray diffraction to localise light atoms in macromolecular crystals”
09:30 – 09:50
Dr Francesca Mazzotta – Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research — “LEGO-like peptide assembly if honeycomb multichannel nanofibrils”
09:50 – 10:10
Robbie Burton – Newcastle University — “Crystallographic Fragment Mapping of Cyclin H: Unravelling Transcriptional and Cell Cycle Regulation”
10:10 – 10:30
Abykhair Muhammad – Durham University — “Understanding gold-coordinated TRAP-cage interaction using computationally designed protein, mono-TRAP”
10:30 – 11:20
☕ Coffee & Posters
11:20 – 12:40
Talk Session 5 – (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
11:20 – 11:40
Dr Jonathon Liston – Durham University — “CryoMPNN: training artificial intelligence for flexible proteins”
11:40 – 12:00
Katie McLennan – Newcastle University — “CRISPR-mediated tagging of endogenous proteins to enable structural biology”
12:20 – 12:40
Isabel Cormack – Durham University — “Structure, Function, and Applications of Two Phage Recombinases from Extreme Environments”
12:40 – 13:40
🍽️ Lunch
13:40 – 15:10
Talk Session 6 – (Diamond: 20 min talk, 10 min Q&A) (15 min talk, 5 min Q&A)
Chair: TBA
13:40 – 14:10
Dr Megan Lambert – Diamond Light Source — “Room-Temperature Fragment-based Screening at VMXi: Optimisation of a High-Throughput Experiment”
14:10 – 14:30
Dr Alexander Konstrantinov – UKRI, STFC, Research Complex at Harwell, CCP-EM/CCP4 — “Bayesian Optimisation of Macromolecular Crystallographic Model Refinement”
14:30 – 14:50
Arpan Banerjee – Indian Institute of Technology Bombay — “Subunit conformational alteration and surface charge distribution regulating the allosteric switch in NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenases (GDHs) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a structural point of view”
14:50 – 15:10
Dr Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi – Newcastle University — “Giving GALK1 a stab on the back: the study of GALK1 inactivation through its allosteric site”
15:10 – 15:30
☕ Coffee
15:30 – 16:30
Careers Panel
Lead: TBA
Academic Professor:
Prof Paul Race (Newcastle University)
Industry Team Leader:
Dr Claire Jennings (CPI-UK – Darlington)
Facility Manager:
Dr Arnaud Basle (Newcastle University)
Beamline Scientist:
Dr Adam Crawshaw (DLS)
Research Associate:
Dr Paul Bond (University of York)
Software Engineer:
Dr Maria Fando (STFC – Oxford)
16:30 – 16:45
Prizes & Close