Scientists demonstrate new technique that could revolutionise the study of diseases
An international research collaboration, including expertise from the University of Southampton, has made a ground-breaking discovery that could transform the study of cancer, metabolic and heart diseases.
Scientists working across three continents have demonstrated a new technique that allows protein complexes to be introduced to analysis equipment straight from a natural membrane.
The radical new approach, led by Oxford University and involving Professor Syma Khalid from Southampton’s School of Chemistry, has been published in Science.
Understanding protein complexes, and in particular how they are able to move other molecules across biological membranes, is key to developing new therapeutics for a wide range of diseases.
“That it is now possible to study protein complexes in the act of transporting their molecular cargo, using mass spectrometry, is simply remarkable,” Professor Khalid says. “Given we still know so little about the movement of molecules in and out of cellular compartments that are bounded by membranes, these exciting developments in mass spectrometry will lead to a wealth of new information that has not been previously accessible.”