Molecular interactions in biological solids: from cardiac regulation to amyloid disease Seminar

Speaker information

Phil Williamson,Molecular interactions in biological membranes Biological membranes are ubiquitous in nature and play a vital role in defining the interface of the cell with its environment and its intracellular compartmentalisation. In order to facilitate the transfer of information and materials across these barriers cells have evolved families of integral membrane proteins. The goal of our research is to understand the function of these proteins in their native lipid environment and for this purpose; we are developing solid-state NMR techniques which enable us to probe the structure and dynamics of these systems at an atomic level. In conjunction with other biophysical techniques, this method allows us to characterise how membrane proteins interact with other proteins, the surrounding lipids and other small molecules and to determine how these interactions modulate their function.